The Moderating Role of Parental Overprotection and Insecure Child–Caregiver Attachment on the Association Between Adaptive Emotion Regulation Strategies and Vegetative Somatoform Symptoms in Childhood

The current study investigates the moderating role of parental overprotection and insecure mother–child attachment on the association between adaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies and vegetative somatoform symptoms in children. A study sample of 221 primary (Grade 4) school children completed questionnaires assessing vegetative somatoform symptoms, ER strategies, and attachment. Their parents completed a questionnaire for parental overprotection. In contrast to our assumption, the relation between the use of adaptive ER strategies and vegetative somatoform symptoms is only moderated by parental overprotection. Insecure child–caregiver attachment plays no moderation role. The results support the assumption that the child–caregiver interaction factor “parental overprotection” plays an important role in explaining the occurrence and maintenance of vegetative somatoform symptoms in children. This underlines the importance for parents to undergo a process of adjustment to support children in an age‐adequate way in regulating their emotions, which does not impair children’s own competences, for example, the autonomous use of adaptive ER strategies.