Project 454875

In addition to teaching parents skills to effectively manage children's behaviors, parenting-focused prevention programs have started to also target parents' regulation of their own emotions, which is critical for them to carry out effective parenting skills even in emotionally demanding situations (e.g., child throwing a tantrum, or bidding for attention when parent is working). However, research often assesses emotion regulation through self-report questionnaires unrelated to the context of parenting. This has become a barrier to understanding the effectiveness of parenting programs on how parents self-regulate in the most challenging moments of parent-child interaction - moments that present greater risk for at-risk parenting. The proposed study adopts an innovative approach to assessing the processes underlying how parents balance regulating their parenting behaviors as well as their internal emotional arousal when children's behaviors are difficult to manage. Based on the dynamic, multi-method assessment, this study aims to test the effects of two evidence-based parenting programs (i.e., Triple P - Positive Parenting Program, and Circle of Security) on parental emotion regulation processes in the challenging moments of parenting. Findings will inform the developers of programs, community partners, and key stakeholders on the implementation and further improvement of parenting programs.