Final answer:
Children who are not emotionally well-regulated often experience hostile, dismissive parental reactions to distress, which negatively impacts their emotional regulation and overall socioemotional growth.
Step-by-step explanation:
Children who are not emotionally well-regulated often experience hostile, dismissive parental reactions to distress. Children with difficult temperaments, which involve negative emotions and challenges in adapting to change, may evoke such reactions from their parents, leading to a cycle that further hinders their emotional regulation. Conversely, children who demonstrate positive emotions and adapt well to change tend to elicit warmer and more responsive parenting, which facilitates better emotional self-efficacy.
Research, such as that by Thomas (1984) and Sanson & Rothbart (1995), suggests that parenting styles and the child's temperament are interconnected. Diana Baumrind's theory on parenting styles, particularly the authoritative style, which combines reasonable demands with high responsiveness, tends to produce children with higher self-esteem and better social skills. However, styles like the uninvolved parenting approach often result in children who are emotionally withdrawn and have a higher risk of substance abuse, as indicated by Darling (1999).
Overall, children who are not emotionally well-regulated are less likely to have had sensitive and helpful parental reactions to their distress, which are crucial for a child's socioemotional growth and the development of a favorable self-image and an optimistic outlook.