Emotion Dysregulation, Parent-Child Relationship Quality, Parenting Stress, and Anxiety of Emerging Adults and Their Parents

Emerging adulthood is a time of great vulnerability for psychological well-being, as during this time, individuals are facing numerous challenges stemming from societal demands in this transitional period. Most notably, emerging adults are some of the most highly anxious cohorts, with over half reporting symptoms of anxiety (Arnett & Colleauges, 2014). Furthermore, anxiety is rising more rapidly for emerging adults than any other age bracket (Goodwin et al., 2020). This research aimed to look internally and examine how emerging adult's emotion dysregulation may potentially influence their levels of anxiety. Further, this study aimed to examine whether parent-child relationship quality moderated the relation between emerging adult emotion dysregulation and emerging adult anxiety. This research conducted a second study that examined the influence of emerging adult emotion dysregulation on their parent's anxiety levels. This study also aimed to test whether parenting stress mediated the relation between emerging adult emotion dysregulation and their parents' anxiety. Study one participants consisted of 449 college students (M age = 20.45 years, SD = 2.85). Furthermore, study two participants were 142 parent-child dyads. This study analyzed secondary data, as both samples used in this study were sourced from a previous project. Findings from study one suggested that emerging adult emotion dysregulation was significantly associated with emerging adult anxiety. The hypothesis that parent-child relationship quality would moderate the relationship between emerging adult emotion dysregulation and emerging adult anxiety was not supported. For study two, results suggested that emerging adult emotion dysregulation was not significantly related to parents' anxiety levels. Additionally, the mediation hypothesis of parenting stress between emerging adult emotion dysregulation and parent anxiety was not supported either. Implications of study findings, recommendations, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Grantor dc:publisher

Florida State University

Year dc:date

2024

Contributors dc:contributor

• Williams, Jacob (author)
• Cui, Ming, 1971- (professor directing dissertation)
• Becker, Martin Swanbrow (university representative)
• Ledermann, Thomas (committee member)
• Kimmes, Jonathan G. (Jonathan Gene) (committee member)
• Florida State University (degree granting institution)
• College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (degree granting college)
• Department of Human Development and Family Science (degree granting department)

• Families--Study and teaching
• Mental health

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

fsu:927796
iid: Williams_fsu_0071E_18598

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:diginole.lib.fsu.edu:fsu_927796