Parent Emotion Socialization Framework During Early Childhood in Eastern Cultures

ABSTRACT Parent emotion socialization (ES), the process through which caregivers influence the development and expression of emotions in children, needs to be interpreted within a sociocultural context. ES literature in Eastern cultures is emerging; existing research has almost exclusively focused on school‐age children and adolescents, and has generally involved families from one or two countries. The current study investigated the factor structure of ES practices among 159 native and immigrant (residing in the US) parents of preschoolers ( M = 4.44, SD = 1.11) from a range of Eastern cultures, including East Asia (32.7%), South Asia (34.6%), and the Middle East (32.7%). Additionally, the study analyzed relations between ES factors and children's emotional and behavioral outcomes. For Eastern parents of preschoolers, three factors were identified, with two factors representing maladaptive practices associated with worse child emotional and behavioral problems and an adaptive factor associated with better outcomes. When comparing families from the three Eastern cultures living inside versus outside the US, results revealed that the functionality and effectiveness (whether practices are neutral or related to better or worse child outcomes) of the majority of ES practices could be generalized across these cultures, except for punitive and minimization responses. This study contributes toward a culture‐informed theory of ES in early childhood among Eastern families, highlighting the importance of cultural diversity in examining parent ES. Findings will facilitate more accurate early intervention efforts supporting children's development in an Eastern cultural context.