Parenting, emotion regulation and mental wellbeing of adolescents

Emotion regulation (ER) is a vital developmental skill that promotes mental health and resilience, particularly during adolescence.However, much of the existing ER research focuses on adults, overlooking the unique challenges faced by adolescents, especially during crises like COVID-19 and within community populations.Cultural influences on ER remain underexamined, with research primarily centered on Western populations.Furthermore, parenting plays a critical role in shaping the ER, which is essential to promote adolescent wellbeing.However, studies on parenting's impact on ER are limited, and often cross-sectional.To address these gaps, we conducted a comparative analysis of the relationship between ER and mental health symptoms in Iranian and Belgian adolescents (Chapter 2).We then examined the incidence of one of the most prevalent mental health issues among these adolescents-nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI)-before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring the role of ER in this context (Chapter 3).Building on this, we investigated ER and perceived parenting in a community sample of adjudicated youth to better understand these dynamics within this vulnerable population (Chapter 4).Finally, we conducted a longitudinal mediation analysis to explore the effects of parenting on ER and Mental health symptoms, considering culture as a concept that is perceived and internalized by individuals, thus moving beyond a simplistic division of Western and Eastern origins (Chapter 5).This research resulted in four empirical studies, which are summarized below.In Chapter 2, emotion dysregulation was identified as a risk factor for mental health symptoms in a study involving 107 participants from Belgium (52% female; Mean age = 15.23) and 117 participants from Iran (38% female; Mean age = 13.85), with data collected in April 2019.Results of this study also showed cross-country differences regarding suppressive emotion regulation and its association with mental health symptoms.Specifically, while suppression was more prevalent in the Iranian sample, it showed to be more detrimental to mental health in the Belgian sample.In Chapter 3, emotion dysregulation was confirmed as an important risk factor for NSSI.The study included two cohorts: 376 adolescents from Belgium (59.3% female; mean age = 15.64) and 117 from Iran (37.6% female; mean age = 13.85),assessed in April 2019 (before the pandemic), and 200 adolescents, with 156 from Belgium and 44 from Iran, assessed in November 2020 (during the pandemic).The Iranian sample exhibited higher levels of DER and SER, and an increased incidence of NSSI during the COVID-19 pandemic.In contrast, Chapter 1