Bidirectional Relationship Between Parental Emotional Warmth, Negative Communication, and Child Emotional Symptoms Over Time

Abstract

Children’s emotional well‑being is fundamental to their social development and academic success, yet rates of internalizing symptoms are rising. While parenting can impact child emotional symptoms, child emotional well-being can also impact parenting behaviors, thus, understanding the bidirectional relationship between parenting and child emotional symptoms is crucial for improving parenting practices. The present study aimed to determine the relationship between parental emotional warmth, negative communication, and child emotional symptoms. It was hypothesized that 1) higher parental emotional warmth predicts lower levels of child emotional symptoms, and higher levels of child emotional symptoms predict lower parental emotional warmth; 2) higher parental negative communication predicts higher levels of child emotional symptoms, and higher levels of child emotional symptoms predict higher parental negative communication. To test these hypotheses, a cross-lagged panel model was used to analyze five years of data from a large-scale longitudinal panel study, focusing on children aged 7 to 16 and their parents. Parental warmth, negative communication, and child emotional symptoms were measured annually through parent and child reports. The hypothesized model showed a moderate model fit, and each construct demonstrated high temporal stability. Higher parental negative communication predicted more child emotional symptoms at two time points, while higher levels of child emotional symptoms predicted higher parental negative communication and lower parental emotional warmth at one time point each. Parental warmth did not consistently predict emotional symptoms. These findings point to early intervention and a focus on reducing negative parenting behaviors as potential strategies for promoting child emotional well-being.