Tuning in to teens: Improving parental responses to anger and reducing youth externalizing behavior problems

Parent emotion socialization plays an important role in shaping emotional and behavioral development during adolescence. The Tuning in to Teens (TINT) program aims to improve parents' responses to young people's emotions with a focus on teaching emotion coaching. This study examined the efficacy of the TINT program in improving emotion socialization practices in parents and whether this reduced family conflict and youth externalizing difficulties. Schools were randomized into intervention and control conditions and 225 primary caregiving parents and 224 youth took part in the study. Self-report data was collected from parents and youth during the young person's final year of elementary school and again in their first year of secondary school. Multilevel analyses showed significant improvements in parent's impulse control difficulties and emotion socialization, as well as significant reductions in family conflict and youth externalizing difficulties. This study provides support for the TINT program in reducing youth externalizing behavior problems.