Parents are what they are made. Impact of social background on parents’ emotional competencies.
(2009) the 14th European Conference on Developmental Psychology — Location: Vilnius, Lithuania (18.August.2009)
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- Abstract
- Background There is a burgeoning amount of evidence suggesting that parental emotional competences are related to children’s socio-emotional development. Emotional competences consist in the extent to which parents attend to, process, and utilize affect-laden information of an intrapersonal (e.g., managing one’s own emotions) or interpersonal (e.g., managing others’ emotions) nature. Because parental emotional competences play such a prominent role in children’s development, this field is well documented. However, little is known about the influence of social background on these competences. The present study intends to examine the impact of socioeconomic inequalities on parents’ emotional competences. We postulate that socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with difficulties in regulating emotions. Three mechanisms, by which social background influences emotional intelligence, are identified. First, low-income status involves chronic stress, which implies a deleterious impact on parents’ emotional life. Second, low educational level involves less cognitive flexibility, thus emotional intelligence is less well developed. Finally, disadvantaged families attach less importance to emotion regulation as a value in children upbringing. Method This study is based on the first wave of a 3-wave longitudinal research program. A questionnaire assessing social background and emotional competences (TEIQue) has been completed by 100 parents (50 fathers and 50 mothers in the second trimester of pregnancy). Results and Discussion The results globally support our hypothesis. The discussion focuses on the relevance of considering parents’ social background both for research and clinical interventions.
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Galdiolo, S. (2009). Parents are what they are made. Impact of social background on parents’ emotional competencies. the 14th European Conference on Developmental Psychology, Vilnius, Lithuania. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/180379