Attachment security to mother is associated with lower trait expressive suppression among girls in middle childhood

This study investigates links between children’s attachment security to their mother in middle childhood and two aspects of emotion regulation: (1) trait expressive suppression (ES), the dispositional tendency to hide emotional expressions across contexts, and (2) state ES, the extent to which children hide expressions in a specific context. Children ages 9 to 10 (N = 117; 46% female) reported their trait ES prior to the laboratory visit. To capture state ES in the context of sadness, children watched a sadness-inducing movie scene in the perceived presence of others and reported the sadness they felt during the scene. Children’s facial expressions were coded, with state ES defined as the difference between outward expression and self-reported felt emotion. Results indicate that, for girls, greater attachment security was associated with lower trait (but not state) ES. Findings point to a potential early correlate of suppression as a regulatory strategy among girls.