THE ROLE OF FAMILY EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIVENESS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDRENS SOCIAL COMPETENCE

This study explored the connection between emotional expression in the child's family environment and children's social competence with school peers by using direct observation of affective dimensions characterizing family expressive ness and by extending prior laboratory-based work to the naturalistic environment. Fifty families of kindergarten students, varying by sociometric status, were videotaped in spontaneous dinner table interactions. Parents completed questionnaires raring the frequency, intensity, and clarity of emotional expressiveness of their own affect. Videotapes were coded for frequency and type of affect exchanged between parent-parent and parent-child dyads. Reported expressiveness and observed parental affect were both found to be meaningful predictors of children's sociometric ratings. Differences were found in the effects of negative affect on boys and girls.