Abstract

Aspects of emotional competence, defined as "emotion behaviours," have a profound impact on children's social functioning, particularly on the development of prosocial behaviours. The mother-child relationship provides a significant context in which to understand how emotion behaviours are expressed and regulated. The present study examined the contribution of maternal childhood histories of aggression and/or social withdrawal to the prediction of child emotion behaviours, maternal expressions of emotion, and the development of children's prosocial skills. Mothers with childhood histories of aggression and/or social withdrawal from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, a longitudinal, intergenerational study, participated with their 9- to 13-year old children. Dyads (N = 49) discussed conflicts rated as problematic in their relationship. Emotion behaviours, measured as cues to emotion, and dimensions of emotion regulation, were coded using the Emotion Behaviour Coding Scheme. Results partially supported the hypotheses that maternal childhood histories of aggression and/or withdrawal contribute to the prediction of children's emotion behaviours, specifically dimensions of emotion regulation. Furthermore, results suggest that mothers may socialize children's dimensions of emotion regulation via their own emotion behaviours. Finally, children's emotion behaviours predicted specific prosocial skills (empathy, assertiveness, and self-control). Taken together, findings contribute to the current literature, highlighting the importance of examining emotion behaviours and their impact on children's prosocial skills. The influence of maternal risk status and socialization (via emotional expressions) on children's emotion behaviours is also underscored.