DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/X423-7702
Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6436-4595
Defense Date
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Marcia Winter
Second Advisor
Amy Salisbury
Third Advisor
Fantasy Lozada
Abstract
Emotion dysregulation, or responses to emotions that do not meet the needs of the situational demands or social standards, has been noted as an early risk factor for later psychopathology. Maternal postpartum depression (PPD) has been shown to increase children’s risk of developing maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies. One potential mechanism linking PPD to these outcomes is affect incongruence, or a mismatch between biological and emotional responses to stress. While such incongruence may be adaptive in older individuals who consciously mask their internal stress (e.g., suppressing biological arousal while appearing calms), it may be maladaptive in infants and young children who lack the capacity for such regulation. In early development, this form of unconscious affect incongruence–captured through the interaction between biological and observed affective responses–may help explain how maternal PPD contributes to disruptions in children’s ER development. Therefore, this study aimed to incorporate social- environmental, psychological, and biological factors into a moderated mediation model to better understand the development of maladaptive ER. Participants were 61 mother-child dyads followed from pregnancy through 18 months postpartum. Mothers were between 18 and 40 years old during pregnancy (M = 28.21; SD = 5.98; 68.9% white). While the direct and indirect effects were nonsignificant, the overall model reached significance. Further exploration revealed that only the covariate of temperament was significantly associated with toddler ER. These findings highlight the need for continued research on the biopsychosocial influences on early emotional development.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-4-2025