Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0477-9088
Defense Date
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Marcia Winter
Second Advisor
Dr. Amy Halberstadt
Third Advisor
Dr. Rosalie Corona
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Fantasy Lozada
Fifth Advisor
Dr. Naomi Wheeler
Abstract
Social-emotional (SE) skills encompass the ability to recognize and regulate emotions, manage behavior to act on goals, and maintain social relationships (Abrahams et al., 2019). Parents play a crucial role in child SE skill development. According to theories of emotion socialization (ES), the beliefs parents hold about emotions shape parents’ ES behaviors, including teaching children how to understand and express feelings (Eisenberg et al., 1998; Gottman, 1996). Because emotion socialization practices are influenced by cultural values (Raval & Walker, 2019), the parent beliefs and ES strategies that best support children’s SE skill development may vary across families’ racial backgrounds. Although theory suggests that the relationship between parents’ beliefs about emotions and child functioning are reciprocal (Eisenberg et al., 1998; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2007), few studies have examined bidirectional associations between maternal emotion beliefs and child SE competence. Thus, this dissertation examined bidirectional associations between parents’ socialization beliefs about children’s emotions and child SE skills from first to third grade and how these associations differed by race. To better understand the mechanism through which parent beliefs result in changes to SE skills, this dissertation also evaluated parents’ responses to negative emotions as a mediator in the association between first grade parent beliefs and third grade SE skills and evaluated how this indirect effect differed by race.
Data was collected as part of the Durham Health and Child Development Study when children were in first and third grade (N = 111). Mothers completed questionnaires about their beliefs about children’s emotions, their children’s SE skills, and their responses to children’s negative emotions. Data was analyzed using partial least-squares structural equation modelling (pls-sem) in SmartPLS for each aim. The bidirectional associations between parent socialization beliefs and child SE skills were significant and not moderated by race. Overall, results indicate that when children have lower SE skills, their parents may develop stronger beliefs that children can manage their emotions on their own. At the same time, when parents believe more strongly that children can manage their emotions on their own, child SE skills may weaken over time. Findings should be interpreted considering the study's small sample size and missing data. Results have implications for parent behavior change in interventions designed to support child SE skills.
Rights
© Sydney Sumrall 2026
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
8-6-2026