Family Emotional Expressiveness as a Predictor of Early Adolescent Social and Psychological Adjustment

Abstract

Parents' support of their children's emotional expressiveness was examined in relation to the children's social and psychological adjustment over a 3-year period. Nonhostile expression of emotion within the family (both observed and self-reported) appears to have provided a buffer against psychological problems over the transition to middle school and to have enhanced concurrent and long-term developmental outcomes, as evidenced by greater peer popularity, more positive self-concept for girls, and more positive social behavior in the classroom for boys. Parents' and children's levels of observed emotionality were highly intercorrelated, suggesting that parents were modeling a level of emotional expressiveness that was similar to the level they allowed or supported in their children.