Adolescent Impulsivity and Emotion Dysregulation: The Moderating Role of Parental Socialization of Negative Emotions

This study investigated whether parental socialization of negative emotions moderated the relationship between adolescents’ low executive function or high impulsivity and their current or subsequent emotion dysregulation. Emotion dysregulation, characterized by difficulties in managing the intensity and duration of emotions, is a transdiagnostic factor linked to adverse outcomes. Youth with poor executive functioning and/or high impulsivity are at risk for emotion dysregulation; however, the role of parenting in influencing this trajectory warrants exploration. Self-report and parent-report measures were collected from 116 adolescents and their parents, assessing adolescent executive function (BRIEF), adolescent impulsivity (S-UPP-S), adolescents’ perceptions of their parent’s responses to negative emotions (CCNES-AP), and adolescent emotion regulation difficulties (DERS). Moderation analyses revealed that high levels of unsupportive parental responses significantly moderated the effect of high impulsivity on emotion dysregulation ( b = 10.27, p = .031) cross-sectionally.