THE IMPACT OF PARENTAL ALCOHOL USE ON CHILD EMOTION SOCIALIZATION ACROSS THE TRANSITION TO FORMAL SCHOOLING 

Study Overview: The objective of this project is to determine the impact of parental alcohol use on emotion socialization across the transition to formal schooling, a key developmental period when children depend on emotion regulation skills to confront new academic and socioemotional challenges in the context of increasing autonomy. Our central hypothesis is that parental alcohol use patterns across this transition will undermine key dimensions of emotion socialization (i.e., modeling of adaptive emotion regulation skills, a safe and secure family emotional climate, supportive parenting behaviors in response to child distress). This project will establish the accuracy, feasibility, and validity of a next-generation continuous-time interaction and responsive ecological momentary assessment software (Open Dynamic Interaction Network) to assess real-world and real-time emotion socialization. Our long-term goal is to identify modifiable factors within the family, including parental behaviors such as alcohol use, that impact child development and self-regulation. 

Biography: Dr. Brock received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Iowa. She is a faculty member in the Clinical Psychology Training Program, the Quantitative Training Coordinator in the Department of Psychology, and the director of the UNL Family Development Lab. She is also associate editor for the journal Family Process. Broadly speaking, her research is aimed at understanding how couple and family relationships impact depression, anxiety, and alcohol use. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health. She was a recipient of the UNL Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Education for teaching and mentoring.