Vaishali V. Raval

Mothers’ Socialization Goals, Mothers’ Emotion Socialization Behaviors, Child Emotion Regulation, and Child Socioemotional Functioning in Urban India:

Studies examining the link between parental socialization and child functioning in varying cultural contexts are scarce. Focusing on early adolescents in suburban middle-class families in India, the present study examined interrelations among reports of mothers’ socialization goals, socialization behaviors in response to child emotion, child emotion regulation, and child socioemotional functioning. One hundred and ten mothers and one of their children attending seventh grade at middle schools in Gujarat, India participated. Results indicated that suburban Indian mothers were more likely to endorse relational than autonomous socialization goals, and relational socialization goals were related to mothers’ reported explanation-oriented socialization behaviors in response to their children’s anger or sadness. Children’s self-reported regulation of anger and sadness mediated the negative relation between reports of mothers’ explanation-oriented supportive behaviors and child behavior problems. Moreover, children’s self-reported dysregulation partially mediated the positive association between reports of mothers’ nonsupportive behaviors and child behavior problems.

Emotional Expression and Control in School-Age Children in India and the United States.

The present study compared 6- to 9-year-old childrens reports of their decisions to express anger, sadness, and physical pain; methods of controlling and communicating felt emotion; and reasons for doing so in response to hypothetical situations across three groups: old-city India (n = 60), suburban India (n = 60), and suburban United States (n = 60). Both groups of Indian children were less likely to report expressing their anger, sadness, and pain than U.S. children, and were less likely to report direct verbal expression than U.S. children. Indian children reported a desire to maintain social norms as a reason to control anger and sadness more than U.S. children, whereas U.S. children reported a desire to communicate felt emotion as a reason to express all three feelings more than Indian children.

Cultural Variation in Reports of Subjective Experience of Parent–Child Boundary Dissolution Among Emerging Adults

Parent–child boundary dissolution, the loss of psychological distinctiveness between parents and their children, has been linked with maladaptive child functioning in White middle-class groups in Western cultures, though cross-cultural findings are mixed. To further explore this variation, we used mixed methods to compare college students’ reports of frequency and subjective experience of parent beliefs and behaviors indicative of various types of parent–child boundary dissolution in India (n = 110) and the United States (n = 250). Internal reliability estimates were lower in the Indian sample, particularly for infantilization and role reversal. College students in India reported parent beliefs and behaviors considered to be indicative of enmeshment and role reversal in Western family psychology literature more frequently and perceived them more positively than U.S. participants, while no difference was found for psychological control and spousification. Overall, the findings question the cultural relevance of some dimensions of boundary dissolution in India.

Reports of maternal socialization goals, emotion socialization behaviors, and child functioning in China and India.

A body of literature connects parental emotion socialization behaviors to child outcomes, though little research attention has been devoted to parents’ culturally embedded socialization goals that influence their socialization behaviors in diverse samples. In the present study, we examined interrelations among maternal socialization goals, emotion socialization behaviors, and child functioning in families from 2 major Asian countries, China and India. A total of 305 6th and 7th grade children and their mothers across both countries participated. Mothers completed measures of their socialization goals, their responses to children’s emotions, child behavior problems, and children completed a measure of emotion regulation (ER) at a single point in time. Factor analysis of the measure of parental responses to children’s emotions yielded 2 factors (supportive and nonsupportive responses), with some items from the commonly used parent-report measure Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (Fabes, Eisenberg, & Bernzweig, 1990), while others reflected culturally salient socialization approaches in Asia (i.e., child training, explanation). Using these data-driven supportive and nonsupportive response composites, mediation models were tested for the full sample. Reports of mothers’ supportive responses and child ER sequentially mediated the relation between maternal relational socialization goals and child internalizing problems. Reports of child emotion dysregulation mediated the relation between maternal nonsupportive responses and child externalizing problems. Findings of this study highlight the relevance of culturally salient parental socialization goals and socialization behaviors in understanding child functioning in diverse cultural groups.

Meta-Emotion Philosophy Among Asian Indian Immigrant Mothers in the United States:

We explored the meta-emotion philosophies of Indian immigrant mothers living in the Midwest region of the United States to expand the scarce literature on emotion socialization in diverse families. A total of 15 mothers of teen and preteen children participated in a meta-emotion interview, in which they were asked about their own and their children’s experiences of anger, sadness, and fear. We analyzed interview responses through an open-ended phenomenological approach and found the following major themes: familial context of emotions, subtle communication of emotions, and an overarching philosophy centering on inevitability of negative emotions and the importance of moving on. Mothers differed in how well they believed that they could move on. Overall, the present findings demonstrate the role culture plays in emotional experiences of immigrant mothers and serve as a reminder that theories based on European American families might have limited applicability to other cultural and ethnic groups.

Parental Socialization of Emotion and Child Functioning Among Indian American Families: Consideration of Cultural Factors and Different Modes of Socialization

Indian Americans are among the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States, and yet, we know very little about parenting in these families. Focusing on a key domain of parenting, parental socialization of emotion, we examined how different methods of socialization relate with one another and how these methods may be related to parental acculturation and child functioning. Forty Indian American mothers and their children completed self-report measures. Indian American mothers endorsed relatively equal preference for Indian and American lifestyles. Maternal acculturation was positively related to their positive expressivity and negatively related to nonsupportive responses to their children’s emotions. Different methods of emotion socialization were interrelated in the expected direction: Mothers’ supportive responses to children’s emotions were positively correlated with their positive expressivity and negatively correlated with negative expressivity. Mothers’ acceptance of their emotions was positively correlated with their positive expressivity, and mothers’ regulation of their emotions was positively associated with their supportive responses to children’s emotions and negatively associated with their negative emotional expressivity. Finally, mothers’ regulation of their emotions was negatively correlated with child behavior problems, while mothers’ negative expressivity was positively associated with child behavior problems, highlighting the relevance of different methods of emotion socialization.

Ethnic–racial socialization, model minority experience, and psychological functioning among south Asian American emerging adults: A preliminary mixed-methods study.

Parental communications with their offspring about race and ethnicity are essential in a multiethnic society like the United States, and a body of research has examined this process of ethnic–racial socialization. Characterized as a “model minority,” South Asian Americans are a unique group that is largely invisible in psychological research. Understanding parental messages they receive about race, and their racialized experiences, is critical. Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, in Phase 1, we quantitatively examined interrelations among South Asian American emerging adults’ (n = 54) reports of parental ethnic–racial socialization (cultural socialization, preparation for bias, and promotion of mistrust), ethnic identity, model minority stereotype, and psychological well-being. Cultural socialization was positively associated with ethnic identity, affirmation/belonging to one’s ethnic group, model minority pride and pressure, and model minority achievement orientation. Preparation for bias and promotion of mistrust were positively related to model minority pressure and adjustment problems, and promotion of mistrust was also negatively related to life satisfaction. Subsequently, in Phase 2, we interviewed a separate sample of Indian American emerging adults (n = 10) to explore the content of parental race-related messages and lived experiences. Analyses generated 14 themes organized in 3 domains (cultural socialization and model minority experience, racism and coping, and effects of parental messages). Participants reported accepting the model minority characterization while also considering it unfair, and shared associated challenges and benefits. Participants reported experiencing racism, and messages from their parents to be prepared for such experiences, along with caution about other ethnic groups.

College students from rural hometowns report experiences of psychological sense of community and isolation.

The literature suggests that rural residents experience psychological sense of community (PSOC), as well as isolation, and some researchers indicate that PSOC and isolation may be related to the mental health and wellbeing of rural residents. However, few studies have investigated how rural residents understand and experience these constructs. This study explored experiences of PSOC and isolation among individuals who grew up in rural areas using qualitative methods. Fourteen students enrolled at a Midwestern university who were from small towns or rural areas completed a brief survey and were individually interviewed. A thematic analysis was performed on participants’ interview responses, and 6 themes were identified that were organized in 2 domains: PSOC and isolation. Participants reported feeling connected to their rural hometowns by knowing others and being known, as well as by the support they perceived community members to be providing to each other. In addition, participants felt isolated from people and resources outside their communities and described not wanting to “get stuck” in their hometowns as they perceived others to do. These findings provide information about the scope of these constructs and provide direction for future research examining the relation of PSOC and isolation to the mental health and wellbeing of rural residents.