Reciprocal Positive Affect and Well-Regulated, Adjusted Children: A Unique Contribution of Fathers

SYNOPSIS

Objective. The study investigated real-time, sequential exchanges of affect in both mother–child and father–child dyads within a triadic framework. Child emotion dysregulation was examined as a mechanism by which parent–child reciprocal positive and negative affect are associated with child psychopathology symptoms. Design. Fifty-one mother–father–child (aged 7–12 years) triads participated in an emotion discussion task, and behavioral observations were coded for negative and positive affect. Parents completed measures of child psychopathology symptoms and emotion regulation skills. Results. Although mothers exhibited greater levels of positive emotional reciprocity than fathers, father–child reciprocal positive affect was uniquely associated with child symptoms of psychopathology. Child emotion dysregulation mediated the relation between paternal reciprocal positive affect and child symptoms; mediational models did not hold for mothers. Conclusions. Fathers play a unique role in boys’ and girls’ development of symptoms of psychopathology through child emotion dysregulation.