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From daily maternal worry to adolescents' emotion dysregulation: The mediating role of maternal privacy invasion

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Based on the Systems Model of Privacy, this study examined within‐family associations between maternal worry about adolescents, maternal privacy invasion perceptions, and adolescent emotion dysregulation. Participants were 208 adolescent‐mother dyads (Adolescents: 56.7% female, M age = 15.00; Mothers: M age = 42.63) in mainland China. All participants completed daily diaries for 21 days. Both adolescents and mothers reported greater maternal invasion on days when mothers felt greater worry, but only adolescent‐perceived invasion predicted their own emotion dysregulation. Mothers' daily emotion dysregulation did not moderate associations between maternal worry and privacy invasion, but did directly predict both greater adolescent emotion dysregulation and mother‐reported invasion. Findings suggest that maternal privacy invasions, especially those perceived by adolescents, can disrupt the daily intrapersonal regulatory functions that privacy serves in the Chinese family context.

Source: Journal of Research on Adolescence

DOI: 10.1111/jora.70264

Authors: Yueqi Wang, Monika H. Donker, Susan Branje, Shisang Peng, Skyler T. Hawk

Institutions: Chinese University of Hong Kong, Utrecht University

Language: English

Topic: Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: Chinese University of Hong Kong