Research 

Current Projects

Parent Responses to Adolescent Emotions in the Context of Type 1 Diabetes Management

Background: Emotion coregulation—how social partners influence each other's emotions—is linked to physical and mental health (Butler & Randall, 2013) and may be especially important in families with adolescents managing type 1 diabetes (T1D). Parents have identified emotional dynamics as a key factor in diabetes management (Rawdon et al., 2024). However, little is known about how parent–adolescent coregulation relates to physical health in adolescents with T1D. 

Objectives: This study examined associations between parental coregulatory responses (problem definition, solution-focused problem solving, reappraisal, and validation) to adolescent emotional expressions during conflict discussions and four diabetes outcomes: glycemic control (HbA1c), diabetes self-care, depressive symptoms, and health-related quality of life. We hypothesized emotion-focused responses (validation, reappraisal) would predict more beneficial outcomes than problem-focused responses.

Method: Seventy-one adolescents (Mage=12.75 years) with T1D and their primary support parent participated in a recorded conflict discussion. Adolescents self-reported diabetes self-care, depressive symptoms, and quality of life. HbA1c was obtained from medical records. Observational coding assessed adolescent emotional expressions and parental coregulatory behaviors.

Results: Path analyses revealed significant effects of emotion-focused but not problem-focused strategies. However, contrary to predictions, parental reappraisal was associated with worse outcomes: lower self-care in response to anger (β = -0.75, p <.001) and higher HbA1c in response to sadness (β = 1.27, p = .05). Conversely, parental validation showed beneficial effects: higher self-care when responding to sadness (β = 0.77, p = .03), as well as higher quality of life (β = 7.55, p = .003) and lower depressive symptoms (β = -5.46, p = .04) when responding to positive emotions.

Discussion: The effectiveness of parental coregulation strategies varies by adolescent's discrete emotions in chronic illness contexts. Coregulation of negative emotions appears salient for diabetes management (self-care, HbA1c), while positive emotion coregulation may be influential for mental health outcomes (quality of life, depressive symptoms).

In the Eye of the Beholder: Dynamic Associations between Observed and Perceived Mother Behavior Predicting Adolescent Emotions During Mother-Adolescent Conflict

Background: Parent-adolescent emotional dynamics and adolescents’ interpretations of parental behavior are critical for adolescent adjustment (Branje, 2018; Kho et al., 2022); however, few studies have examined their unique and interactive effects on emotional outcomes in real time.

Objectives: This study tested whether adolescent-reported maternal hostility and warmth during a given 30-second interval moderated the effect of maternal emotions—dominant negative (e.g., contempt, anger) and empathy (e.g., validation, interest)—on adolescent emotions at the subsequent interval. We hypothesized that greater maternal dominant negative emotions would predict increased subsequent dominant negative emotions from adolescents and that this relationship would be attenuated by perceptions of hostility and buffered by perceptions of warmth. Similarly, we expected maternal empathy would predict more subsequent empathy from adolescents and that this association would be attenuated by perceived warmth and buffered by perceived hostility. 

Method: Mother-adolescent dyads (N=119) completed a videotaped conflict discussion coded for mother and adolescent emotions using the Specific Affect Coding System (SPAFF; Coan & Gottman, 2007). Adolescents then viewed the interaction and rated maternal hostility and sensitivity every 30 seconds. 

Results: Mixed-effects multilevel hurdle regression analyses revealed adolescent perceptions of maternal warmth moderated the association between mother empathy and subsequent adolescent dominant negative behavior (β=-0.31, p =.02) such that more mother empathy was associated with a lower likelihood of teen dominant negative behavior at mean and low (but not high) levels of perceived warmth. Perception of warmth (β=-0.27, p =.05) additionally moderated this association such that at high levels of perceived warmth (but not mean or low levels), dominant negative behavior from mothers was associated with an increased likelihood of subsequent dominant negative behavior from adolescents. Higher perceived warmth was associated with a higher likelihood of subsequent adolescent empathy (β=-0.45, p <.001). Perceived hostility moderated the association between mother empathy and subsequent adolescent empathy (β=-0.39, p =.05) such that at high levels of hostility, higher maternal empathy was associated with a higher likelihood of adolescent empathy.

Discussion: Findings indicate complex interactive effects of observed mother emotions and adolescents’ perceptions of maternal behavior on downstream adolescent emotions. Perceived maternal warmth uniquely predicted adolescent empathy while moderating the influence of maternal emotional behavior on adolescent dominant negative behavior. Perceived hostility moderated the influence of maternal empathy on adolescent empathy and showed no significant effects when predicting adolescent dominant negative behavior. These results underscore the relevance of adolescent perceptions for interventions addressing parent-adolescent emotion dynamics during real-time interactions. 

Conflict Choreography: Mapping Dyadic Emotion Sequences in Mother-Adolescent Conflict to Predict Adolescent Adjustment

Parent-adolescent emotional dynamics are important for adolescent adjustment (Branje, 2018), and adolescents’ interpretations of parental behavior shape these outcomes (Kho et al., 2022). However, studies examining how observed dyadic emotional states and adolescents’ perceptions of parental behaviors jointly relate to adolescent adjustment are lacking. We hypothesize that emotional sequences characterized by dyadic negativity will predict greater adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms six months later, particularly when adolescents perceive mothers as low in warmth or high in hostility. 

Mother-adolescent dyads (N=119) completed a video-recorded conflict discussion. Emotional behavior was coded second-by-second using the Specific Affect Coding Scheme (SPAFF; Coan & Gottman, 2007). Immediately after, adolescents watched the recording and rated mothers’ warmth and hostility every 30 seconds. Adolescents self-reported their internalizing and externalizing symptoms. 

Analyses are ongoing and will be finalized prior to the conference. We will use grid-sequence analysis to identify common patterns of dyadic emotional states and multidimensional scaling to create clusters (Brinberg et al., 2017). Structural equation modeling will test unique and interactive associations between adolescents’ perceptions, emotional cluster membership, and adolescent adjustment. 

Findings are expected to illuminate how adolescents’ perceptions of maternal behavior interact with observed emotional dynamics, with implications for improving parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent adjustment.