Description
Parents have a crucial role in helping children understand their inner world and supporting them in emotion regulation (Thompson, 2006). Traumatic experiences may impact children’s emotion conversations with their parents and the quality of their interaction (Visser et al., 2015). We examined children’s coping in emotion conversations in families with and without traumatic backgrounds, and the association of coping with content of emotion conversations and quality of interactions.299 mother-child dyads from different Israelian and Dutch samples were divided in both/none traumatized. Dyads co-constructed 4 stories about happy, scared, angry and sad events (AEED; Koren-Karie et al., 2003). Transcripts were coded for 1) coping, 2) content, and 3) quality of interaction. Children’s age ranged from 4-18 (Mage=9.9), 49% boys.
Differences were found in coping between dyads based on their trauma exposure. Children of trauma-exposed dyads discussed coping strategies less often. Coping was associated with topic content. Associations that stood out were the association between discussion of interpersonal topics, such as being angry or sad with siblings or peers, and more use of coping, whereas children showed less coping in topics they had less control over, such as ‘trauma’, ‘illnesses and accidents’, ‘separation’. More coping was associated with higher quality interactions.
| Period | 8 Nov 2018 → 10 Nov 2018 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Annual Meeting International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies: ISTSS |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Washington DC, United StatesShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |