Child’s emotion regulation and emotional security in the family

The article presents brief review of researches about concepts of emotion regulation and emotional security in child development. Mechanisms of family influence on the child’s emotion regulation development such as the interiorization of parent’s assumptions about emotions and ways of their expression, playing by the parents the role of emotional couch for children, and emotion charging through emotional climate in the family are considered. The role of experiencing parental conflict in the development of the child’s sense of emotional security is analyzed. Concepts ‘attachment system’ and ‘social defense system’ are differentiated. Theory of emotional security by Cummings and Davies is considered. This theory presents ways of the influence of parental conflict on child’s psychopathology. Emotional security is considered to be the result of interrelated factors: parental style, parent’s psychopathology, processes in family system and child’s personality traits. Four patterns of child’s cognitive and behavioral strategies of defense in parental conflict are described. Emotion regulation strategies and psychological consequences of these patterns are proposed.

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