Emotion Dysregulation, Stress, and Attitudes towards Parent-Child Play in two Samples of Working Mothers

Although there is large consensus on the importance of play for child development, scant research has examined whether parents’ emotion-related traits such as emotion regulation abilities influence their proneness to engage in and enjoy parent-child play. In this paper, we examine the relationship between maternal emotion dysregulation (ED), stress, and attitudes towards parent-child play in two independent samples of working mothers (N = 186 and N = 330). Three forms of stress were considered: parenting stress, overall perceived stress, and stress from time management. The results showed that in both samples, ED was positively related to all forms of stress. Also, in both samples, maternal ED showed a significant indirect effect on avoidant attitude towards play through perceived life stress. In sample 2, we also found a significant indirect effect of ED on enjoyment of play through parenting stress. Notably, the more employed mothers reported a negative, avoidant attitude towards parent-child play, the less often they reported to engage in different types of play during the past two weeks. Overall, perceived life stress and parenting stress emerged as distinct pathways linking emotion dysregulation and different dimensions of mothers’ attitudes towards parent-child play. These results suggest that difficulties in emotion regulation may represent a promising target for intervention training programs. Interventions that cultivate ER abilities and reduce stress may promote more positive attitudes toward parent–child play and, ultimately, more frequent and emotionally rewarding play interactions.