Date of Award:

5-2014

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Human Development and Family Studies

Department name when degree awarded

Family, Consumer, and Human Development

Committee Chair(s)

Lisa K. Boyce

Committee

Lisa K. Boyce

Committee

Kay Bradford

Committee

Lori A. Roggman

Abstract

Most of us have learned ways to manage how, when, and to what extent we experience emotions. These emotion regulation skills are habitual and may seem innate, but for infants and young children these abilities are basic, limited, and unrefined. Developing emotion regulation skills is an important learning task for infants and toddlers; the role of fathers in emotion regulation learning is a growing area of research. This research takes a closer look at early childhood and how father-child interactions may contribute to child emotion regulation.

Theory suggests that during interactions with their parents, children learn emotion regulation skills, but what is the role of fathers in this process? This paper explores the quality of father-child play and how it affects children's emotion regulation and aggression during toddlerhood.

Fathers who used more emotion amplification at 24 months were less intrusive, showed more positive regard, and had children who sought more emotion regulation at 24 months than fathers who used less emotion amplification. Fathers who were more intrusive during play have children who were less likely to see emotion regulation with their fathers than children of fathers who were less intrusive. Children who sought more emotion regulation during play at 24 months demonstrated better emotion regulation at 24 and 36 months. Finally, children with fathers who showed more emotion amplification and positive regard demonstrated better emotional regulation than children with fathers who showed less emotion amplification and positive regard.

When father-child play behaviors were combined in a regression model, results indicate that the combination of these behaviors contribute to children's emotion regulation capacities but not to child aggression. Specifically, paternal positive regard for the child and child emotion regulation-seeking behaviors are important for improved emotion regulation at 24 months. The selected father-child play behaviors were not associated with child aggression.

Studying the potential teaching power of father-child play is an important research area because much of the time fathers spend with children is in a playful context. Early play interactions, regardless of how ordinary they may seem, are learning opportunities for children. Examining father behaviors in a play context may provide further insight into the contributions made by fathers to child emotion regulation. These findings support play as a learning context and father-child interactions as a contributor to child emotion regulation.

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