Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Cheryl B. McNeil

Committee Co-Chair

Amy Gentzler

Committee Member

Elisa Krackow.

Abstract

The main purposes of this study were to: (a) explore the validity of a relatively new behavioral observation coding system in young children referred for treatment of disruptive behavior, (b) explore which specific foster parent behaviors are most associated with child emotion regulation, and (c) explore whether internalizing or externalizing foster child behavior problems are most associated with child emotion regulation. The sample consisted of 40 foster parent-child dyads who participated in a larger study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Assessments included behavioral observation of child emotion regulation using the Global Dysregulation Scale and a calculation of the percentage of dysregulated 10-second intervals during a clean-up task, parent-report of child emotion regulation using the Emotion Regulation Checklist, parent-report of child behavior problems using the Child Behavior Checklist, and behavioral observation of parent behaviors using the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System. Behavioral observation of child emotion regulation was not found to significantly correlate with the Emotion Regulation Checklist. Behavioral observation of parent commands was found to significantly correlate with child emotion regulation measured on the ERC (r = .38, p = .02); however, parent behaviors were not found to correlate with behavioral observation of child emotion regulation. Child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were not found to correlate with any measures of child emotion regulation. Study findings and implications for future research are discussed.

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