Maternal availability and adolescent dependency as moderators on the relation between personality and ER strategies in a Turkish sample

Abstract

The current study examined moderator roles of two dimensions of attachment quality (maternal availability and child dependency on mothers) in the relationship between personality traits (neuroticism and extraversion) and emotion regulation (ER) strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression). Differential effects of child dependency on mothers and maternal availability were expected on personality and ER strategies link. Participants were 267 first-year high school students from high schools located in Ankara, Turkey. Mean age of the adolescent sample was 15.00 (SD = 0.39). Adolescents were administered scales assessing ER strategies, attachment quality, and personality traits. Results revealed that high extraversion was associated with increased cognitive reappraisal for adolescents who reported high dependency on mothers, but it was unrelated to cognitive reappraisal for adolescents who reported low dependency. on the other hand, high neuroticism was associated with increased expressive suppression for adolescents who reported low maternal availability in times of stress, but it was unrelated to expressive suppression for adolescents who reported high maternal availability. This study was the first to document that maternal availability and child dependency on mothers differentially moderate the association between ER strategies and personality traits. Findings will be discussed in line with socialization and cultural context. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.