Parents Dealing with the Expression of Sadness by their Children

Manejo dos Pais frente à Expressão de Tristeza dos Filhos

Proceder de los Padres frente a la Expresión de Tristeza de los Hijos

Abstract

Objectives:

Identifying sadness inductors on children according to parents' perception; checking strategies of emotion regulation used by parents before children's sadness; comparing the ways mothers and fathers deal with children's sadness.

Participants:

26 heterosexual couples (Average age = 37 years old), at least two children from six up to twelve years old, one boy and one girl.

Delineation:

collective case study.

Instruments:

General data questionnaire; Econômica Brasil qualification criteria; The questions were: "What usually upsets your child?"; "Tell me a situation which made your son sad."; "What did you do in this situation?"; stimulus-story.

Outcome:

fathers tend to punish sons and daughters when they are sad and replace something lost; mothers minimize it, i. e., reduce the importance of child's reaction, or the problem that caused it. Reaction centered in the problem was the most used by father and mother before children's sadness.

Keywords:
sadness; emotional regulation; children; parent practices