Emotion Socialization, Anxiety, and Coping in University Students

The purpose of the current study was to investigate emotion socialization in childhood as a predictor of anxiety and coping in adulthood. University undergraduate students (N = 204) completed online self-report questionnaires on the history of their childhood emotion socialization, their trait and public speaking anxiety, and coping behaviours. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 44 years (29 men and 164 women). Self-report by participants of emotion socialization by their mothers in childhood significantly predicted current trait anxiety, adaptive coping, and maladaptive coping. Self-report by participants of emotion socialization by their fathers in childhood significantly predicted current trait anxiety, maladaptive coping, and cognitive public speaking anxiety. Additionally, there was a significant indirect effect between emotion socialization and total public speaking anxiety through trait anxiety. In general, results indicate that emotion socialization by both mothers and fathers in childhood is related to some aspects of anxiety and well-being in university, undergraduate students