Kim Stephanie Gyuri, Rodman Alexandra M, Rosen Maya L, Kasparek Steven W, Mayes Makeda, Lengua Liliana J, Meltzoff Andrew N, McLaughlin Katie A
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
Dev Psychopathol. 2024 Oct 4:1-15. doi: 10.1017/S0954579424001081.
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented youth and families with a broad spectrum of unique stressors. Given that adolescents are at increased risk for mental health and emotional difficulties, it is critical to explore family processes that confer resilience for youth in the face of stress. The current study investigated caregiver emotion regulation (ER) as a familial factor contributing to youth ER and risk for psychopathology following stressful life events. In a longitudinal sample of 224 youth ( = 12.65 years) and their caregivers, we examined whether caregiver and youth engagement in ER strategies early in the pandemic mediated the associations of pandemic-related stress with youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms six months later. Leveraging serial mediation analysis, we demonstrated that caregiver and youth rumination, but not expressive suppression or cognitive reappraisal, mediated the prospective associations of pandemic-related stress with youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Greater exposure to pandemic-related stressors was associated with greater caregiver rumination, which, in turn, related to greater rumination in youth, and higher levels of youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms thereafter. Family interventions that target caregiver ER, specifically rumination, may buffer against the consequences of stress on youth engagement in maladaptive ER strategies and risk for psychopathology.
新冠疫情给青少年及其家庭带来了一系列独特的压力源。鉴于青少年出现心理健康和情绪问题的风险增加，探索在压力面前能赋予青少年恢复力的家庭过程至关重要。本研究调查了照顾者的情绪调节（ER）这一家庭因素，它对青少年的情绪调节以及应激性生活事件后出现精神病理学风险有影响。在一个由224名青少年（平均年龄 = 12.65岁）及其照顾者组成的纵向样本中，我们研究了疫情早期照顾者和青少年采用情绪调节策略是否介导了疫情相关压力与六个月后青少年内化和外化症状之间的关联。利用系列中介分析，我们发现照顾者和青少年的沉思，而非表达抑制或认知重评，介导了疫情相关压力与青少年内化和外化症状之间的前瞻性关联。更多地暴露于疫情相关压力源与照顾者更多的沉思有关，而这又与青少年更多的沉思以及随后更高水平的青少年内化和外化症状相关。针对照顾者情绪调节，特别是沉思的家庭干预，可能会缓冲压力对青少年采用适应不良情绪调节策略及精神病理学风险的影响。
