Communicating feelings: Links between mothers\u27 representations of their infants, parenting, and infant emotional development

In the present chapter we explore how mothers\u27 internal working models of their seven-month-old infants organize emotions in the parenting context, and ultimately, influence infant emotion regulation. We propose that mothers\u27 internal working models of their infants function as emotion regulators, and influence a variety of components of the affective organization of parenting, including a) maternal emotion activation, b) qualities of maternal emotional engagement with their infants, and c) emotion regulation strategies mothers employ during emotionally challenging interactions. Results underscore the important role played by emotional processes in explaining the correspondence between maternal and infant emotion regulation strategies