title: Parent emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation: associations with abused children's school functioning.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Identifying factors associated with school functioning of abused children is important in prevention of long-term negative outcomes associated with school failure. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which parent emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation predicted early school behavior of abused children.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 92 physically abused children ages 4-7 and one of their parents (95.7% mothers). Parents completed a measure of their own emotional expressiveness, and parents and teachers provided reports of children's self-regulatory skills. Children's school functioning was measured by observations of playground aggression and teacher reports of aggression and classroom behavior.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parents' expression of positive and negative emotions was associated with various aspects of children's self-regulation and functioning in the school setting. Links between self-regulation and children's school adjustment were robust; poor self-regulation was associated with higher aggression and lower cooperation and self-directed behavior in the classroom. There was minimal support for a mediating role of children's self-regulation in links between parent expressiveness and children's behavior.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings point to the relevance of parent emotional expressivity and children's self-regulatory processes in understanding physically abused children's functioning at the transition to school. Although further research is needed, findings indicate that increasing parental expression of positive emotion should be a focus in treatment along with reduction in negativity of abusive parents. Further, addressing children's self-regulation could be important in efforts to reduce aggression and enhance children's classroom competence.
authors.affiliation: North Carolina State University, Department of Psychology, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Haskett
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stelter
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Proffit
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nice
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004522:Educational Status; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012927:Social Control, Informal