Maternal and Peer Regulation of Adolescent Emotion: Associations with Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

Emotion socialization by close relationship partners plays a role in adolescent depression. In the current study, a microsocial approach was used to examine how adolescents’ emotions are socialized by their mothers and close friends in real time, and how these interpersonal emotion dynamics are related to adolescent depressive symptoms. Participants were 83 adolescents aged 16 to 17 years who participated in conflict discussions with their mothers and self-nominated close friends. Adolescents’ positive and negative emotions, and mothers’ and peers’ supportive regulation of adolescent emotions, were coded in real time. Two multilevel survival analyses in a 2-level Cox hazard regression framework predicted the hazard rate of (1) mothers’ supportive regulation of adolescents’ emotions, and (2) peers’ supportive regulation of adolescents’ emotions. The likelihood of maternal supportiveness, regardless of adolescent emotions, was lower for adolescents with higher depressive symptoms. In addition, peers were less likely to up-regulate adolescent positive emotions at higher levels of adolescent depressive symptoms. The results of the current study support interpersonal models of depression and demonstrate the importance of real-time interpersonal emotion processes in adolescent depressive symptoms.

Full text

Running head: MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
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Maternal and Peer Regulation of Adolescent Emotion: Associations with Depressive Symptoms
Jessica P. Lougheed, Wendy M. Craig, Debra Pepler, Jennifer Connolly,
Arland O’Hara, Isabela Granic, & Tom Hollenstein
This article is in press in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. The final publication is
available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0084-x
Author Note
Jessica P. Lougheed, Wendy M. Craig, and Tom Hollenstein, Department of Psychology,
Queen’s University, 62 Arch Street, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Debra Pepler and Jennifer
Connolly, Department of Psychology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada; Arland O’Hara, Community Health Systems Resource Group, Hospital for Sick
Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Isabela Granic, Developmental
Psychopathology Department, Radboud University Nijmegen, Comeniuslaan 4, 6525 HP
Nijmegen, Netherlands.
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Grant 430-2011-0264 from the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jessica P. Lougheed,
Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, 62 Arch St., Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L
3N6, Kingston, Ontario. E-mail: j.lougheed@queensu.ca, Telephone: 613-533-3277, Fax: 613-
533-2499.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. This study was conducted in compliance with
the requirements of the Institutional Research Ethics Boards, and informed consent/ assent was
obtained from all participants included in the study.

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Abstract
Emotion socialization by close relationship partners plays a role in adolescent depression. In the
current study, a microsocial approach was used to examine how adolescents’ emotions are
socialized by their mothers and close friends in real time, and how these interpersonal emotion
dynamics are related to adolescent depressive symptoms. Participants were 83 adolescents aged
16 to 17 years who participated in conflict discussions with their mothers and self-nominated
close friends. Adolescents’ positive and negative emotions, and mothers’ and peers’ supportive
regulation of adolescent emotions, were coded in real time. Two multilevel survival analyses in a
2-level Cox hazard regression framework predicted the hazard rate of (1) mothers’ supportive
regulation of adolescents’ emotions, and (2) peers’ supportive regulation of adolescents’
emotions. The likelihood of maternal supportiveness, regardless of adolescent emotions, was
lower for adolescents with higher depressive symptoms. In addition, peers were less likely to up-
regulate adolescent positive emotions at higher levels of adolescent depressive symptoms. The
results of the current study support interpersonal models of depression and demonstrate the
importance of real-time interpersonal emotion processes in adolescent depressive symptoms.
Keywords: Dyadic interactions, depression, adolescence, multilevel survival analysis,
emotion regulation

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Maternal and Peer Regulation of Adolescent Emotion: Associations with Depressive symptoms
Adolescence is associated with an increased incidence of depression compared to
childhood and adulthood (Lewinsohn, Rohde, & Seeley, 1998). Adolescents experience
numerous biological, social, and psychological changes (e.g., puberty, changing family and peer
relationships, increased emotionality) that all challenge their ability to regulate emotions—that
is, their ability to modulate the intensity, form, and duration of emotions (Dahl, 2001;
Hollenstein & Lougheed, 2013; Thompson, 1994). Depression has been considered a disorder of
emotion regulation (Joormann & Gotlib, 2010), as it is associated with difficulties in regulating
both positive and negative emotions (Carl, Soskin, Kerns, & Barlow, 2013; Fussner, Luebbe, &
Bell, 2014; Gilbert, 2012; Katz et al., 2014; Sheeber et al., 2009). In addition, theoretical
perspectives on depression emphasize the role of interpersonal processes in the emergence of
depressive symptoms (Allen & Badcock, 2003; Joiner, Coyne, & Blalock, 1999). Given the
unique co-occurrence of increased challenges to emotion regulation and reorganization of close
relationships in adolescence, this period of development is associated with a vulnerability to
depression. Emotion socialization, the interpersonal processes involved in the development of
emotion regulation, is thus one factor related to adolescent depressive symptoms (Katz et al.,
2014; Morris, Silk, Steinberg, Myers, & Robinson, 2007; Sheeber et al., 2012; Sheeber, Hops,
Andrews, Alpert, & Davis, 1998; Yap, Allen, & Ladouceur, 2008; Yap, Allen, & Sheeber, 2007).
The ability to regulate emotions emerges from interactions with close relationship
partners (Granic, 2005; Morris et al., 2007). In childhood, primary caregivers socialize children’s
emotions by helping children down-regulate (resolve) negative emotions and up-regulate
(reinforce, enhance) positive emotions (Kopp, 1989; Morris et al., 2007). The timing of
caregivers’ responses to children’s emotions is crucial for successful emotion socialization

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(Granic, 2005). Caregivers’ responses must be contingently linked in time to children’s emotion
expressions in order for children to internalize the strategies that parents use in scaffolding
children’s emotion regulation (Fogel, 1993; Granic, 2005). Children begin to develop their own
self-regulation skills through repeated interactions with their caregivers, but the interpersonal
regulation and socialization of emotion continues into adolescence (Morris et al., 2007).
Emotion socialization differs in adolescence from childhood because relationships
change during adolescence (Collins & Laursen, 2004; Smetana, Campionne-Barr, & Metzger,
2006). Specifically, as adolescents gain autonomy and responsibility, adolescents cultivate their
own extra-familial relationships (Collins & Laursen, 2004; Smetana et al., 2006). Adolescents
spend significantly more time with peers than with parents; therefore, peers become another
agent of emotion socialization (Klimes‐Dougan et al., 2014; Larson & Richards, 1991). The
objective of the current study was to examine the associations between real-time emotion
socialization in two different close relationships contexts—mothers and close friends—and
adolescent emotion regulation difficulties (i.e., depressive symptoms). We examined emotion
socialization through mothers’ and close friends’ temporally contingent responding to
adolescents’ positive and negative emotions with supportive (i.e., validating) regulation, which
functions to both down-regulate negative emotions and up-regulate positive emotions
(Eisenberg, Fabes, & Murphy, 1996; Fabes, Leonard, Kupanoff, & Martin, 2001; Gottman, Katz,
& Hooven, 1996; Lunkenheimer, 2007; Morris et al., 2007).
Emotion Socialization and Depression
Supportive responses to children’s and youths’ emotions that function to down-regulate
negative emotions and up-regulate positive emotions are associated with the ability to self-
regulate emotions and also are a protective factor against the development of psychological

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
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difficulties (Eisenberg et al., 1996; Fabes et al., 2001; Gottman et al., 1996). However, when
close relationship partners’ responses to children’s emotions do not promote emotion regulation
skills, children are at risk for developing emotion regulation difficulties such as depressive
symptoms (Katz et al., 2014; Yap et al., 2008). For example, if a mother does not help her son
resolve negative emotions by showing supportiveness, her son will have more difficulty
resolving negative emotions in that moment, but he will also be less likely to effectively self-
regulate negative emotions in the future. Emotion dysregulation and related psychopathologies
are, in part, shaped by a lack of supportive responses to positive and negative emotions from
primary caregivers (Granic, 2005; Sheeber et al., 1998; Yap et al., 2007).
Maternal emotion socialization. Although mother-adolescent relationships undergo
significant changes, such as becoming less hierarchical as adolescents gain autonomy, mothers
continue to play an important role in the socialization of adolescent emotions (Fussner et al.,
2014; Katz et al., 2014; Morris et al., 2007; Sheeber et al., 1998). A small body of literature has
identified several aspects of mother-adolescent interactions related to adolescent depressive
symptoms. Mothers of adolescents with clinical depression are less accepting of adolescents’
positive emotions and are more likely to dampen adolescent positive emotions than mothers of
non-depressed adolescents (Katz et al., 2014). Maternal dampening of adolescent positive
emotions might be one dynamic underlying adolescent difficulties up-regulating and maintaining
positive emotions associated with depressive symptoms.
Regarding maternal responses to negative emotions, research points to two different
processes associated with adolescent depression (Schwartz, Sheeber, Dudgeon, & Allen, 2012).
At higher levels of depressive symptoms in typically-developing adolescents, mothers are less
likely to follow adolescent negative emotions with supportiveness (Pineda, Cole, & Bruce,

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2007), which is likely related to the difficulties with down-regulating negative emotions
associated with depressive symptoms. However, in samples of adolescents with clinical
depression, mothers are more likely to respond supportively to adolescent dysphoric behavior,
suggesting that maternal responses may reinforce adolescent negative emotions (Sheeber et al.,
1998). These discrepant results are likely related to differences between typically-developing and
clinical samples (Schwartz et al., 2012). Taken together, research to date on maternal emotion
socialization has identified important interpersonal processes related to adolescent depression.
However, these studies involved methods that obscure temporal dynamics, such as self-reported
maternal responses to adolescent emotions (e.g., Katz et al., 2014) and sequential analysis or
analysis of conditional probabilities (e.g., Pineda et al., 2007; Sheeber et al., 1998), which
examine the sequence of mother-adolescent emotions and responses but not the timing of
maternal responses in relation to adolescent emotions.
Peer emotion socialization. Emotion socialization by same-age peers begins in
childhood and continues throughout adolescence (Klimes‐Dougan et al., 2014; La Greca, Davila,
& Siegel, 2008; Vernberg, 1990). As peer relationships become more autonomous, intimate, and
influential in adolescence, emotion socialization by peers becomes more direct (Klimes‐Dougan
et al., 2014). Adolescents typically disclose more personal information to peers than parents and
consequently peers play a critical role in emotion socialization (Larson & Richards, 1991; Rose,
2002; Smetana et al., 2006). Peers typically respond supportively to expressed emotions
(Cheadle & Goosby, 2012; Klimes‐Dougan et al., 2014). In addition, adolescents modify the
expression of their emotions in accordance with the anticipated responses from their peers,
striving to adhere to socially-accepted display rules (Zeman & Shipman, 1997).
Emotion socialization by peers is associated with positive and negative outcomes (Rose,

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2002). Although peers are generally a source of supportive emotion socialization, peer emotion
socialization can also play a role in the development of emotion dysregulation and depressive
symptoms (Cheadle & Goosby, 2012; Rose, 2002). For example, friendships tend to form
between adolescents with similar characteristics (i.e., selection effects), and those characteristics
can become more exaggerated over time in the context of that friendship (i.e., socialization
effects; Cheadle & Goosby, 2012). In addition, adolescent friends who are both high in
depressive symptoms can positively reinforce these depressive symptoms by supporting each
others’ negative emotions, but also by failing to help each other resolve negative emotions (Rose,
2002). One study (Heller & Tanaka-Matsumi, 1999) using sequential analysis showed that
negative emotions expressed by adolescents with clinical depression were followed by
supportive responses from their peers, which suggests a similar reinforcement of depressive
symptoms that has been found in clinically-depressed adolescents and their mothers (Schwartz et
al., 2012; Sheeber et al., 1998).
The Current Study
We examined mothers’ and peers’ supportive responses to adolescents’ positive and
negative emotion expressions, and their associations with adolescent depressive symptoms.
Mothers were selected to examine parental emotion socialization as mothers tend to be more
engaged in the emotional lives of their adolescents than fathers (Klimes-Dougan et al., 2007).
We examined mothers’ and peers’ socialization of adolescent emotions in a typically-developing
sample of adolescents, in line with a developmental psychopathology approach (Hankin &
Abela, 2005), as even sub-clinical levels of depression are associated with psychological
difficulties and predict future episodes of clinical depression (Sheeber, Davis, Leve, Hops, &
Tildesley, 2007). We also examined sex differences, as females tend to receive more supportive

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
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responses to negative emotions from their peers than males (Klimes-Dougan et al., 2014), and
emotion socialization between mothers and their daughters versus their sons may differ (Klimes-
Dougan et al., 2007).
Previous research on emotion socialization and adolescent depressive symptoms has
examined individual characteristics such as maternal meta-emotion philosophy (e.g., Katz et al.,
2014), changes in adolescent emotions over time (e.g., Sheeber et al., 2012), and the sequential
patterns of emotions and responses (e.g., Heller & Tanaka-Matsumi, 1999; Pineda et al., 2007;
Sheeber et al., 1998). The current study extends this literature by using a microsocial, systems
approach (Granic, 2005) to examine the temporal contingencies between maternal and peer
supportive (i.e., validating) regulation of adolescents’ emotions in real time. Examining close
relationship partners’ real-time contingent responding directly tests the interpersonal dynamics
posited by developmental psychopathology theories (Granic, 2005).
Our main research question was whether mothers’ and peers’ supportive responses to
adolescent emotions varied by adolescent depressive symptoms. As a lack of supportive
responding to both positive and negative emotions is associated with emotion regulation
difficulties such as depressive symptoms (Granic, 2005; Pineda et al., 2007), we hypothesized
that mothers and peers would be less likely to respond supportively to adolescents’ positive and
negative emotions for adolescents with higher depressive symptoms. To examine the temporal
contingencies between adolescents’ emotions and mothers’ and peers’ supportive responses,
multilevel survival analysis (MSA; Mills, 2011) was used. MSA estimates the likelihood that
repeating events (e.g., maternal supportive regulation) occur, and time-varying influences (e.g.,
adolescents’ expressions of positive and negative emotions) on those events. Compared to event-
based sequential analysis and conditional probability analysis, which examine the order of events

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
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during parent-child interactions, MSA incorporates the amount of time until an event occurrence
in addition to the order of event occurrences (Stoolmiller & Snyder, 2006). MSA also differs
from sequential approaches in that it is incorporated into a multilevel modeling framework with
random effects, and therefore factors in heterogeneity at the level of the dyad rather than making
the assumption that all dyads show the same associations between the time-varying predictors
and dependent variable (Stoolmiller & Snyder, 2006).
Method
Participants
The current study used an extant sample from a larger longitudinal study of adolescent
relationships with mothers, close friends, and romantic partners (see Connolly et al., in press;
McIsaac, Connolly, McKenny, Pepler, & Craig, 2008). The current study consisted only of
adolescents who participated in observation sessions with their mothers and/or close friends.
Adolescents were recruited from three high schools in a large city in southern Ontario. The
observational portion of the study, the focus of the current study, occurred when participants
were in grade 11. Adolescents participated with a self-nominated same-sex best friend (n = 11),
mother (n = 14), or both (n = 61). Three adolescents who participated with both their friend and
mother were missing observational data due to technical issues at the recording stage, and these
dyads were not included in analyses. The 83 adolescents were aged 16 to 17 years (M = 16.32,
SD = .47), and 37% of the sample of target adolescents was male. Adolescents identified their
ethnicities as: European-Canadian (76%), Asian-Canadian (7%), Other (5%), African/Caribbean-
Canadian (4%), Latin American-Canadian (4%), South Asian-Canadian (4%), and Middle
Eastern-Canadian (1%). The participants’ families had a high average level of education, with
72% of fathers and 59% of mothers having at least a university degree.

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Procedure
Prior to beginning the study, informed consent was obtained from participating mothers.
Personal assent was obtained from the target adolescents and their close friends, and informed
consent from the friends’ parents. Video-recoded observational sessions were conducted either in
participants’ homes or in a private location at their school. The interaction task consisted of two
7-minute conflict discussions. Prior to the interaction task, each dyad member rated the extent to
which eight common sources of conflict (e.g., peer pressure, school issues, neglect, trust) were
issues in their relationship on a 4-point scale. The dyad’s two most highly-rated issues were
selected by the researcher as the topics for the conflict discussions. In order to acclimatize
participants to the video camera before the conflict discussions, participants had a 5-minute
warm-up discussion on a positive topic (planning a party together). Only the conflict discussions
were of interest in the current study. Target adolescents received $30 for participating.
Measures
Adolescent depressive symptoms. Adolescent depressive symptoms were measured
with the Beck Depression Inventory, second edition (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996). The
BDI-II is a 21-item self-report scale that measures the presence and severity of depressive
symptoms in adolescents and adults (Krefetz, Steer, Gulab, & Beck, 2002). Two items from the
original scale, pertaining to interest in sex and suicidal thoughts, were omitted at the request of
the Research Ethics Board. For the remaining 19 items, participants rated the extent to which
they experienced symptoms of depression in the last 2 weeks (e.g., 0 = I do not feel sad; 3 = I am
so sad or unhappy that I can’t stand it). Internal consistency of the mean across all items was
good (α = .86). The mean of the scale was used in analyses.
Adolescent emotion. All video-taped discussions between adolescents and their mothers

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and peers were previously coded for emotion with a 10-code version of the Specific Affect
observational coding system (SPAFF; Gottman, McCoy, Coan, & Collier, 1995). The 10-code
version of SPAFF captures expressions of positive (Joy, Affection, Humor, and Interest),
negative (Contempt, Anger, Whine, Sad, and Fear) and Neutral emotion in real time. A team of
four undergraduate research assistants used Noldus Observer 5.0 software to code the onset and
offset times for all of adolescents’ expressions of emotions continuously in real time. Joy,
Interest, Humor, and Affection were collapsed into adolescent Positive Emotion. Contempt,
Anger, Whine, Sadness, and Fear were collapsed into adolescent Negative Emotion. The Positive
Emotion and Negative Emotion categories were used to identify episodes of adolescent Positive
Emotion and Negative Emotion (see Derivation of Measures). Reliability was good, with the
average percent agreement for frequency-sequence-based analyses of 80% and κ = .76, and an
average percent agreement for duration-sequence-based analyses of 93% for the full sample.
Supportive co-regulation. All video-taped discussions between adolescents and their
mothers and peers were coded by a team of four undergraduate research assistants with the Co-
Regulation (CORE) observational coding system (Lougheed & Hollenstein, 2011). CORE codes
are based on verbal content and accompanying verbal tone and body language, and capture
interpersonal emotion regulation behaviors. CORE consists of 11 mutually-exclusive code
categories: Negative Emotional Directive, Positive Emotional Directive, Invalidation, Validation,
Avoidance, Reappraisal, Negative Emotion Talk, Positive Emotion Talk, Problem Definition,
Solution-Focused Problem Solving, and No Co-Regulation. The onset and offset times for all
codes were applied to mothers and peers and were recorded continuously in real time with
Noldus Observer 5.0. Only the supportive regulation codes were of interest in the current study:
Positive Emotional Directive (e.g., reassurances that directly target affect, “You should feel

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proud of yourself”); Validation (e.g., expressions of support, empathy, or approval); and
Reappraisal (e.g., attempts to modify the appraised significance of an issue to be more positive).
Positive Emotional Directive, Validation, and Reappraisal were collapsed to create variables of
maternal and peer Supportive Regulation, as these three behaviors all involve providing
acknowledgement, support, and active involvement in helping others to resolve negative emotion
or maintain positive emotion (Eisenberg et al., 1996; Fabes et al., 2001; Gottman et al., 1996;
Lunkenheimer, 2007; Morris et al., 2007). This category was used to identify episodes of
maternal and peer Supportive Regulation (see Derivation of Measures).
Derivation of measures. To derive measures for MSA (see full description of MSA in
Results section), we followed the procedures of Lougheed, Hollenstein, Lichtwarck-Aschoff, and
Granic (2015). GridWare (Lamey, Hollenstein, Lewis, & Granic, 2004), a computer program that
can be used to derive quantitative measures from categorical time series data, was used in the
first step of data processing. First, the Supportive Regulation and adolescent emotion coding files
from the Observer 5.0 were converted separately by the GridWare File Converter into tab-
delimited text files (trajectory files; one per dyad), which contained a column of onset times and
separate columns for each variable (Supportive Regulation, Positive Emotion, Negative
Emotion). Next, the separate regulation and emotion trajectory files were merged into time-
synchronized trajectory files, dyad by dyad, each containing three columns: (a) onset time, (b)
supportive regulation events, and (c) emotion events. Rows represented each new
regulation/emotion combination in the order of their occurrences. These trajectory files were
then processed further for MSA (e.g., one file with all dyads) with a Visual Basic macro
available from the corresponding author. The transitions of time-varying predictors and
dependent variables were defined from the onset and offset times of adolescent emotion and

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
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mother and peer regulation time series data (Mills, 2011; Stoolmiller & Snyder, 2006). Then, a
Time to Event variable was calculated to indicate the time until variables transitioned into their
respective dependent variable or time-varying predictor states from the last occurrence of these
states. Finally, with MSA, hazard ratios were estimated from these Time to Event variables. For
complete details regarding the derivation of MSA measures, readers are referred to the
Derivation of Measures section of Lougheed et al. (2015).
Results
Descriptive Statistics and Preliminary Analyses
Descriptive statistics and correlations for the frequency of mother and peer Supportive
Regulation, adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion during interactions with mothers
and peers, and adolescent depressive symptoms are shown in Table 1. Several variables (the
frequency of maternal and peer Supportive Regulation, and the frequency of adolescent Positive
Emotion with peers) had outliers greater than 3.5 SD above the sample mean, so these variables
were Winsorized. All variables were positively skewed. Preliminary analyses (correlations and t-
tests) were bootstrapped to overcome the issues of non-normality in the variables (Mooney &
Duval, 1993). The frequency of adolescent Positive Emotions during interactions with both
mothers and peers was positively correlated with adolescent depressive symptoms. Otherwise,
the relationships between the variables were not significant. Independent samples t-tests were
used to test sex differences on all variables. There were no sex differences in adolescent
depressive symptoms. For interactions with mothers, there were no sex differences on the
frequency of Positive Emotion, but females showed a significantly higher frequency of Negative
Emotion (M = 8.60, SD = 10.43) than males (M = 3.55, SD = 3.45), t(70) = -2.51, p = .01, d = 60.
For interactions with peers, there were no sex differences on the frequency of Positive Emotion,

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14
but females showed a significantly higher frequency of Negative Emotion (M = 11.78, SD =
9.47) than males (M = 6.63, SD = 8.04), t(67) = -2.26 p = .03, d = .57. There were no sex
differences on the frequency of Supportive Regulation for interactions with peers or mothers.
Independent samples t-tests indicated that there were no differences on the frequency of
Supportive Regulation, and adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion between
adolescents who participated only with their mothers and those who participated with both their
mothers and peers. Similarly, there were no differences on the frequency of Supportive
Regulation, and adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion between adolescents who
participated only with their peers and those who participated with both their mothers and peers.
Multilevel Survival Analysis
MSA was used to estimate the likelihood of the occurrence of repeating events (maternal
and peer Supportive Regulation) by estimating their hazard rate (the conditional probability that
an event occurs within a given time interval; Mills, 2011). Figure 1 shows a hypothetical data
structure for our models. Model 1 tested the probability that mothers responded with Supportive
Regulation to adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion. Model 2 tested the probability
that peers responded with Supportive Regulation to adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative
Emotion. For both Models 1 and 2, adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion were
included as time-varying predictors in order to examine the influence of adolescents’ real-time
expressions of Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion on the likelihood of maternal and peer
Supportive Regulation. Occurrences of maternal and peer Supportive Regulation that are
temporally contingent on adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion (see points A and
B in Figure 1) are associated with increased hazard rates of Supportive Regulation in response to
adolescent emotions. In both models, adolescent depressive symptoms and sex were included as

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
15
time-invariant predictors. At the within level, the hazard rate of the dependent variables on time-
varying predictors were estimated as a slope for each dyad. Differences by adolescent depressive
symptoms on these slopes were estimated at the between level.
MSA models were run in a two-level Cox hazard regression framework using Mplus
(Muthén & Muthén, 2012). The hazard ratio, the primary statistic for interpretation, is the
exponentiated hazard rate, and is the multiplicative increase in the dependent variable’s hazard
rate per unit increase in time-varying predictors (Mills, 2011; Stoolmiller & Snyder, 2006).
Similar to an odds ratio, a hazard rate of 1 indicates no relationship between the predictor and the
hazard of the dependent variable, a value greater than 1 indicates that the predictor is associated
with an increased hazard of the dependent variable, and a value less than 1 indicates that the
predictor is associated a decreased hazard of the dependent variable (Mills, 2011).
Maternal supportive regulation of adolescent positive emotion and negative
emotion. Table 2 shows the parameter estimates for Model 1, including the overall hazard rate of
maternal Supportive Regulation and the contingent hazard rates of maternal Supportive
Regulation on adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion. Overall, mothers were less
likely to show Supportive Regulation to adolescents with higher depressive symptoms, as
expected. The hazard ratio for the effect of adolescent depressive symptoms on maternal
Supportive Regulation indicated that mothers were about half as likely to show Supportive
Regulation to adolescents with higher depressive symptoms. Mothers were less likely to show
Supportive Regulation to females than males, with the hazard ratio, when calculated as the
percent change in hazard ([hazard ratio – 1]x100; Mills, 2011), indicating that mothers had about
one-third (34%) of the hazard for transitioning into Supportive Regulation for females compared
to males. Mothers did not up-regulate adolescent Positive Emotion with Supportive Regulation,

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as indicated by the non-significant intercept for the effect of adolescent Positive Emotion on the
hazard rate of Supportive Regulation, and this temporal relationship did not vary by adolescent
depressive symptoms or sex. Mothers also did not down-regulate adolescent Negative Emotion
with Supportive Regulation, as indicated by the non-significant intercept for the effect of
adolescent Negative Emotion on Supportive Regulation, and this temporal relationship did not
vary by adolescent depressive symptoms or sex. Thus, mothers showed less supportiveness to
adolescents with higher depressive symptoms and females, regardless of adolescent emotions.
Peer supportive regulation of adolescent positive emotion and negative emotion.
Table 3 shows the parameter estimates for Model 2. The overall likelihood of peer Supportive
Regulation, regardless of adolescent emotions, did not vary by adolescent depressive symptoms
or sex. The significant intercept for adolescent Positive Emotion indicated that peers tended to
up-regulate adolescent Positive Emotion by responding with Supportive Regulation. The hazard
ratio for the intercept of the effect of adolescent Positive Emotion on the hazard of peer
Supportive Regulation indicated that, per each additional expression of adolescent Positive
Emotion, peers were approximately 13 times more likely to respond with Supportive Regulation.
At higher levels of adolescent depressive symptoms, however, peers were less likely to up-
regulate adolescent Positive Emotion with Supportive Regulation, which was in line with
expectations. This hazard ratio, when calculated as a percent change in the hazard, indicated that
the likelihood of peers’ supportive responses to adolescent Positive Emotion went down by 77%
per unit increase of adolescent depressive symptoms. There were no sex differences in the
likelihood of peers up-regulating adolescent positive emotions. Peers did not down-regulate
adolescent Negative Emotion with Supportive Regulation, as indicated by the non-significant
intercept for the effect of adolescent Negative Emotion on Supportive Regulation, and this

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
17
temporal relationship did not vary by adolescent depressive symptoms or sex. Thus, although
peers up-regulate adolescent Positive Emotion in general, at higher levels of adolescent
depression, peers were actually less likely to up-regulate adolescent Positive Emotion.
Discussion
Emotion socialization occurs in close relationships, within and outside of the family
(Denham, Bassett, & Wyatt, 2007). There is a dearth of research on peer emotion socialization
despite widespread acknowledgment of the role of peers in emotion socialization (Denham et al.,
2007)—peer relationships have mostly been examined as an outcome of parental emotion
socialization (e.g., Eisenberg et al., 1996; Katz & Windecker-Nelson, 2004). A small number of
studies demonstrate the importance of peer relationships in adolescent depressive symptoms
(e.g., Rose, 2002; Schwartz-Mette & Rose, 2015), but it is necessary to examine how real-time
socialization varies in different relationship contexts to best understand the interpersonal
processes associated with adolescent depressive symptoms. The current study was a first step
toward understanding the microsocial processes in both maternal and peer relationships and their
associations with adolescent depressive symptoms. We found that mothers were less likely to
show supportiveness to adolescents with higher depressive symptoms, regardless of adolescents’
expressed emotions. Peers were less likely to up-regulate adolescent positive emotions for
adolescents with higher depressive symptoms. Maternal and peer emotion socialization play a
role in late-adolescent depressive symptoms, but in different ways.
Maternal and Peer Emotion Socialization and Adolescent Depressive symptoms
Our results suggest that the link between older adolescents’ depressive symptoms and
maternal emotion socialization does not necessarily involve the reinforcement of negative
emotions (i.e., adolescent negative emotions met with increased maternal supportiveness) in

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
18
typically-developing samples, as found by previous research on clinical samples (Sheeber et al.,
1998). Instead, in line with previous research on a typically-developing sample (Pineda et al.,
2007), we found that mothers were less likely to show supportiveness at higher levels of
adolescent depressive symptoms than at lower levels of depressive symptoms. The degree of
maternal supportiveness was not specific to adolescent emotion valence but varied only with
respect to adolescent depressive symptoms. In contrast, peers were less likely to up-regulate
adolescent positive emotions at higher levels of adolescent depressive symptoms. In late
adolescence, peer emotion socialization might be more directly linked than maternal emotion
socialization to the positive emotion regulation difficulties associated with adolescent depressive
symptoms (Carl et al., 2013; Fussner et al., 2014).
Previous research has shown that emotion regulation difficulties for both positive and
negative emotions are associated with depressive symptoms (Fussner et al., 2014; Katz et al.,
2014; Sheeber et al., 2009). Consequently, it was surprising that we found no associations
between mothers’ and peers’ regulation of adolescent negative emotions and adolescent
depressive symptoms. This null result may be because we examined these processes in a
typically-developing sample. Previous research showing associations between interpersonal
emotion processes and adolescent negative emotions has examined these processes in samples of
adolescents with clinically-significant levels of depressive symptoms (e.g., Sheeber et al., 2009).
The dyads with typically-developing adolescents in this sample may not have expressed as much
negative emotion as dyads in clinical samples. Another possibility is that the up-regulation of
negative emotions through non-supportive (e.g., invalidating) responses from close relationship
partners is more strongly associated with adolescent depressive symptoms than the down-
regulation of negative emotions with supportive responses. Non-supportive maternal and peer

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
19
behaviors were coded in the current study, but their extremely low frequency (M = .03, SD = .24
for mothers; M = .06, SD = .24 for peers) precluded the possibility of testing their associations with
depressive symptoms in this sample.
In contrast to the negative emotion results, the results of the current study add to the
literature on the importance of examining positive emotions in relation to adolescent depressive
symptoms (Gilbert, 2012). It was unexpected that adolescent positive emotions and depressive
symptoms were positively associated. This positive association may be related to differences
between emotional experiences and expressions, as previous research suggests that adolescents
with higher depressive symptoms may express more positive emotions, despite feeling less
positive, than adolescents with lower depressive symptoms (Chaplin, 2006). However, it was not
possible for us to examine this possibility in the current study.
Regarding interpersonal processes, previous research and theory suggest that depressive
symptoms emerge, and are maintained and exacerbated by, difficulties with regulating positive
emotions interpersonally (Allen & Badcock, 2003; Joiner et al., 1999). Lewinsohn (1974)
proposed that individuals with depression do not receive sufficient positive reinforcement from
close relationship partners due to depression-related difficulties in eliciting positive responses
from others. Similarly, Coyne (1976) suggested that depression is characterized by a lack of, or
disruption to, social support and validation. The social interpretations associated with depression
such as negative or hostile attribution biases interact with interpersonal processes (Haines,
Metalsky, Cardamone, & Joiner, 1999). For example, interpreting close relationship partners’
attempts at support in a hostile or negative way might lead to defensiveness, which would in turn
push close relationship partners away and thus decrease the likelihood of their supportiveness in
the future.

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
20
Positive emotions in interpersonal contexts beget positive close relationships, which in
turn leads to more positive emotions (Ramsey & Gentzler, 2015). This positive upward spiral is a
normative developmental process that functions to socialize emotions and maintain relationships
(Ramsey & Gentzler, 2015). When the positive upward spiral is disrupted with difficulties
regulating positive emotions (e.g., depressive symptoms), psychosocial adjustment problems and
interpersonal difficulties are likely to be exacerbated. Adolescents who are high in depressive
symptoms, and therefore who are experiencing difficulties regulating positive emotions, might
“push” close relationship partners away. Other interpersonal processes associated with
adolescent depressive symptoms might also influence how close relationship partners respond to
adolescents’ positive emotions, such as conversational self-focus, the tendency to re-direct
problem-focused discussions towards oneself (Schwartz-Mette & Rose, 2015). Conversational
self-focus among adolescents with depressive symptoms is associated with decreased peer
relationship quality and peer rejection over time (Schwartz-Mette & Rose, 2015). Difficulties
with interpersonal interactions, such as pushing close relationship partners away and
conversational self-focus, might be met with a lowered likelihood of supportiveness from those
partners. Without interpersonal scaffolding of positive emotion regulation, adolescents with
depressive symptoms may continue to experience difficulties regulating positive emotions and
their depressive symptoms may be reinforced. Thus, for individuals with difficulties regulating
positive emotions, the “upward spiral” might actually be a downward spiral.
Adolescent Sex, Depressive symptoms, and Emotion Socialization
It was surprising that adolescent depressive symptoms did not vary by sex in our sample,
as previous research indicates that around 15 years old, females are about twice the likely as
males to have experienced depression, and this sex difference is stable through adulthood

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
21
(Cyranowski, Frank, Young, & Shear, 2000). It is possible that the lack of sex differences were
related to the relatively low variability on depressive symptoms in our typically-developing
sample. However, we did find some sex differences on maternal supportiveness. Females were
less likely than males to experience maternal supportiveness. Parental supportiveness decreases
in adolescence as adolescents become more adept at self-regulating emotions (Klimes‐Dougan &
Zeman, 2007), and it is possible that these sex differences reflect maturational differences.
Limitations and Future Directions
In interpreting the results of the study, it is important to note several limitations. There is
the possibility of selection effects with respect to the sample. Adolescents with similar
characteristics (e.g., depressive symptoms) tend to become friends, and adolescents with
depressive symptoms also tend to have mothers with depressive symptoms (Cheadle & Goosby,
2012; Hammen, 2009). It is possible that the interpersonal dynamics related to adolescent
depressive symptoms observed in the current study also vary as a function of the depressive
symptoms of adolescents’ close relationship partners. It was not possible to test this hypothesis
because we did not have peer or maternal depression measures. Future research should include
measures of all interaction partners’ depressive symptoms.
Although one strength of the study was examining interactions with both mothers and
peers, there are other important socializers of adolescent emotions such as fathers, siblings, and
romantic partners (Hammen, 2009; Ha, Dishion, Overbeek, Burk, & Engels, 2014; Smetana et
al., 2006). Each close relationship type may contribute differently to the socialization of
adolescent emotions. Mothers tend to respond supportively to adolescent negative emotions than
fathers, who tend to overlook them (Klimes-Dougan et al., 2007). Emotion socialization also
varies by the interaction of parent (mother versus father) and adolescent sex. For example,

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
22
fathers are more likely than mothers to respond punitively to their son’s anger, and daughters are
more likely to make emotional disclosures to either parent than males (Klimes-Dougan et al.,
2007; Papini, Farmer, Clark, Micka, & Barnett, 1990). In addition, parental emotion socialization
likely differs between dyadic interactions (mother-adolescent, father-adolescent) and whole-
family interactions (Fosco & Grych, 2013), in which mothers and fathers may influence each
others’ reactions to adolescent emotions. It is important for future research to disentangle the
effects of multiple close relationship types and contexts.
With respect to the methods, adolescents’ expressed emotions were aggregated into their
emotional valence (either positive or negative) due to the relatively low base rates of specific
emotions and short observation period. Thus, we were not able to examine mothers’ and peers’
socialization of specific adolescent emotions related to depression (e.g., sadness), which is an
important factor to consider based on previous research (Klimes-Dougan et al., 2007; Sheeber et
al., 1998). Longer observational periods to examine real-time interpersonal processes could
result in sufficient base rates of specific emotions related to adolescent depressive symptoms.
An important direction for future research will be to incorporate both microsocial and
longitudinal designs. In our cross-sectional study, we were not able to examine how microsocial
processes with mothers and close friends were related to the emergence and maintenance of
adolescent depressive symptoms, but previous research has indicated that adolescent depressive
symptoms and negative interpersonal experiences predict each other longitudinally (Vernberg,
1990). Incorporating microsocial methods, MSA in particular, into longitudinal designs will shed
light on the specific social processes involved in the etiology of depression, as well as how
specific features of depressive symptoms affect real-time social dynamics. Another avenue of
investigation for future research is to examine the associations between real-time social cognition

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
23
and real-time interpersonal dynamics to elucidate the connection between cognitive and
emotional processes associated with depression in an interpersonal context. One previous study,
in which a novel video-mediated recall procedure of a family observational session was used,
showed that adolescents with depression perceived greater parental aggression and less parental
positive emotions compared to parents’ observed expressions of aggressive and positive emotion
(Ehrmantrout, Allen, Leve, Davis, & Sheeber, 2011). This type of design could be extended to
examine the real-time links between interpersonal cognitive biases and emotion dysregulation in
interpersonal interactions. Such an approach with a high temporal resolution would yield
valuable insights into the cognitive antecedents of emotion dysregulation in depressive
symptoms and thus provide specific targets for future intervention efforts.
Conclusion
Moment-to-moment emotion processes between close relationship partners are the
foundation of psychological well-being across the lifespan. In late adolescence, emotion
dynamics with close relationship partners such as mothers and peers are related to depressive
symptoms. Both dynamic systems and developmental psychopathology approaches (e.g., Granic,
2005) posit the functional relations between real-time processes and long-term outcomes.
Innovative applications of sophisticated analyses, such as MSA, bring us closer to testing these
claims and gaining much-needed insights into the interpersonal mechanisms underlying the
development of psychopathology. The current study showed that a lack of support from both
mothers and peers is related to adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Further investigations of
microsocial processes between adolescents and their close relationship partners will clarify the
real-time processes through which depressive symptoms emerge and are maintained.

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
24
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! !
Table 1
Correlations, Means, and Standard Deviations of the Frequency of Mother and Peer Supportive Regulation, the
Frequency of Adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion, and the Mean of Adolescent Depressive
symptoms
Mother Interactions
Peer Interactions
1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
2.
3.
4.
1. Supportive Regulation
--
--
2. Adolescent Positive Emotion
-.05
--
.05
--
3. Adolescent Negative Emotion
-.19
.00
--
.01
-.01
--
4. Adolescent Depressive symptoms
-.21
.29*
.20
--
.03
.34**
-.07
--
Mean (SD)
4.86
(4.08)
7.42
(5.64)
6.57
(8.68)
1.44
(.35)
3.32
(2.24)
13.20
(7.15)
9.99
(9.28)
1.44
(.35)
Note. Standard deviations in parentheses. * p < .05, ** p < .01.

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
33
Table 2
Hazard Rate Estimates for Maternal Supportive Regulation of Adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion
(Model 1)
Estimate
Standard
Error
Estimate/
Standard Error
p
Hazard
Ratio
95% Confidence Interval
of Hazard Ratio
Overall Hazard Rate
Depressive symptoms
-.71
.29
-2.41
.02
.49
[.28, .87]
Sex
-.41
.19
-2.10
.04
.66
[.46, .96]
Effect of Adolescent Positive Emotion on Hazard Rate
Intercept
-.34
1.24
-.28
.78
.71
[.06, 8.09]
Depressive symptoms
.17
.61
.28
.78
1.19
[.36, 3.92]
Sex
.00
.50
.00
.99
1.00
[.38, 2.66]
Effect of Adolescent Negative Emotion on Hazard Rate
Intercept
1.52
1.36
1.12
.26
4.57
[.32, 65.73]
Depressive symptoms
-.72
.83
-.87
.39
.49
[.10, 2.48]
Sex
-.04
.57
-.06
.95
.96
[.31, 2.94]
Note. Sex 0 = male, 1 = female.

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
34
Table 3
Hazard Rate Estimates for Peer Supportive Regulation of Adolescent Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion (Model 2)
Estimate
Standard
Error
Estimate/
Standard Error
p
Hazard
Ratio
95% Confidence Interval
of Hazard Ratio
Overall Hazard Rate
Depressive symptoms
.30
.23
1.36
.17
1.35
[.86, 2.12]
Sex
-.04
.16
-.27
.79
.96
[.70, 1.31]
Effect of Adolescent Positive Emotion on Hazard Rate
Intercept
2.56
1.08
2.37
.02
12.94
[1.56, 107.43]
Depressive symptoms
-1.45
.55
-2.63
.01
.23
[.08, .69]
Sex
-.79
.55
-1.43
.15
.45
[.15, 1.33]
Effect of Adolescent Negative Emotion on Hazard Rate
Intercept
.39
1.65
.24
.81
1.48
[.06, 37.49]
Depressive symptoms
-.48
.98
-.49
.63
.62
[.09, 4.22]
Sex
.57
.80
.71
.48
1.77
[.37, 8.48]
Note. Sex 0 = male, 1 = female.

MATERNAL AND PEER REGULATION
35
Session Time (seconds)
Figure 1. Hypothetical data structure of Models 1 and 2. Partner (mother or peer) Supportive Regulation
(SR), the dependent variable, is predicted by Adolescent Positive Emotion (PE) and Negative Emotion (NE),
the time-varying predictors. At points A and B, the partner transitioned into SR shortly after the adolescent
expressed NE and PE, respectively. At point C, the partner’s transition into SR was not contingent on
adolescent NE. We were interested in the temporal relationship depicted at points A and B—partners’
contingent responding to adolescent NE and PE and the associations between depression symptoms and
that temporal relationship. Note. Partner states include SR and Other (O). Adolescent states include PE, NE,
and other (O). Figure adapted from Stoolmiller & Snyder, 2006.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 40 50
1st Episode 2nd Episode 3rd Episode
Partner Supportive
Regulation
Adolescent Negative
Emotion
SR
O
O
NE
A
C
Adolescent Positive
Emotion
PE
O
B