Regulating Emotion in Parent-Child and Peer Relationships: A Comparison of Sexually Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Girls

This study examined emotion regulation skills in 22 sexually maltreated girls and 22 nonmaltreated girls between 6 and 12 years of age to determine how the experience of sexual maltreatment might interfere with normative emotional development. Findings indicated that sexually maltreated girls, compared to nonmaltreated peers, reported different goals (i.e., inhibiting emotion to avoid conflict vs. displaying emotion to rectify a situation) for managing their emotional expressivity with their parents. They also reported expecting less support and more conflict from parents in response to emotional displays. Finally, maltreated girls expected less practical assistance from all social partners (i.e., mother, father, best friend) following their emotional displays. Surprisingly, however, there were no group differences in girls' ability to generate effective strategies for coping with emotionally arousing situations. Findings are discussed from the functionalist approach to emotional development, emphasizing the importance of social context (i.e., maltreating, nonmaltreating) in the development of children's emotion regulation skills.