Intergenerational Transmissionof Emotion Socialization among Fathers: the Moderator Effect of Attachment to Spouse

How parents react to their child's emotions plays an essential role in the child's emotional development and is usefulin subsequent emotional interactions with important people in life. This study aimed to determine the intergenerational transmission of emotion socialization in fathers with primary school children and determine the moderating role of attachment to the spouse in the relationship between perception of parents' emotion socialization and child emotion socialization.

This research is a descriptive correlational study. Its statistical population included all fathers with primary school children living in Tehran in the academic year 2017-2018. The sample included 206 people who were selected by the convenience sampling method based on the cluster sampling method from three regions of Tehran. Data were collected using the coping with children's negative emotions scale, the socialization of emotion scale (revised), and the experiences in close relationship questionnaire and were analyzed by SPSS software version 24 using correlation and hierarchical regression.

The mean (SD) age of the participating fathers was 43.1 (5.2). With increasing the mean (SD) of the perception of supportive reaction scores of father 4.3 (1.2) and mother 4.5 (1), the mean (SD) of the supportive reaction to the child scores 4.9 (0.8) increased (P<0.01). Also, with increasing the mean (SD) of the perception of unsupportive reaction scores of fathers 3.4 (0.8) and mother 3.5 (0.8), the mean (SD) of the unsupportive reaction to child scores 3.1 (0.7) increased (P<0.01). Anxious and avoidant attachment to the spousedid not play a moderating role in the relationship between the perception of parents' socializing emotion (first generation) and socialization of child emotion (third generation).

The study showed that the perception of parents' supportive reaction in fathers was associated with an increase in supportive reaction to the child's negative emotions. The perception of parents' unsupportive reactions in fathers was associated with an increase in unsupportive reactions to the child. Also, anxious andavoidant attachment to the spouse did not play a moderating role in the relationship between the perception of parents' socializing emotion and socializing the child's emotion in fathers.