ERIC Number: EJ1481986
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1363-755X
EISSN: EISSN-1467-7687
Available Date: 2025-08-25
Intergenerational Transmission of Valence Bias Is Moderated by Attachment
Ashley Humphries1,2; Isabella Peckinpaugh1,2; Grace Kupka3; Robert James R. Blair4; Nim Tottenham5; Maital Neta1,2
Developmental Science, v28 n5 e70068 2025
There are individual differences in how people respond to emotionally ambiguous cues (i.e., valence bias), which have important consequences for mental health, development, and social functioning, yet how these differences develop in childhood and adolescence is unknown. Extensive literature shows that children's cognitive biases, including appraisals in uncertain situations, can be influenced by parents. The current study collected valence bias from parent and child dyads (n = 136, children ages 6-17 years, M = 10.92, SD = 3.22) using a dual-valence ambiguity task (i.e., the valence bias task). Using structural equation modeling, we found that a child's valence bias was associated with their parent's valence bias ([beta] = 0.283, p = 0.005). We also explored the effect of parent-child attachment in three facets (communication, alienation, and trust) on this intergenerational transmission. Communication moderated the relationship between parent and child valence bias, such that higher communication led to a stronger relationship between parent and child valence bias ([beta] = 0.03, p = 0.04). These findings suggest that one mechanism that supports valence bias development is the parent's bias, and this may be uniquely influenced by the degree of parent-child communication. This tendency to similarly interpret ambiguous stimuli may result from social learning. Specifically, our results support a theory of generalized shared reality where parents and children who have a greater interpersonal connection (i.e., communication) also share a more similar world view (i.e., valence bias). A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlSDxFDmP7g
Descriptors: Cues, Ambiguity (Context), Children, Adolescents, Bias, Parent Influence, Parent Child Relationship, Attachment Behavior
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 111640
Author Affiliations: 1Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; 2Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; 3COBRE Center on Sleep, Circadian Rhythms in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA; 4Region Hovedstadens Psykiatri Børne og Ungdomspsykiatrisk Center, Genthofte, Hovedstaden, Denmark; 5Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

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