Real Mothers, Real Feelings, Real Talk (2008)

Undergraduate: Janee' Avent

Faculty Advisor: Lorraine Taylor
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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This study focuses on understanding the emotional socialization practices in low-income families with preschool aged children. This presentation focuses on connections between emotional socialization practices of the mother and the emotional knowledge of the child. In the first cohort of the study data were collected from a sample of Head Start families in Durham, NC. Twenty mothers participated in the first cohort of the study, which consisted of a series of questionnaires and surveys that assessed parental disciplinary practices, parental depression, and racial socialization practices. A developmental assessment of the target child was conducted as part of this quantitative portion of the study. The second cohort is the “Real Mothers, Real Feelings, Real Talk” study. For this qualitative portion of the study, mothers will be recruited from area Head Start centers in Durham and Orange County to complete a detailed interview about children’s emotional development. . It is expected that the emotional climates of the mother’s childhood home will have a direct influence on the emotional climates of their current home. Mothers who recall growing up in households with typically positive emotions being expressed will allow their children to freely express their emotions. Evaluating young children's emotions is important because emotional expressiveness is expected to be related to children’s success in the transition from preschool to kindergarten and in children’s early success in school and the child’s ability to correctly recognize emotions.