‘You had so much fun!’: Examining associations between positive affect during past and future conversations and children’s self-esteem and optimism

Abstract

Aim: The current study aimed to examine associations of positive affect during caregiver-child past and future event conversations with psychological well-being, focusing on optimism and self-esteem. This study uniquely extends the exploration of caregiver-child conversations to middle childhood and includes discussions about future events that have not been previously examined. Furthermore, it explores the association of conversation content between parent and child optimism and self-esteem.

Method: Participants were 51 dyads; children aged either 11 or 12 years, and their primary caregivers. Parental optimism was assessed using the Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R), while child optimism and self-esteem were measured using the Youth Life Orientation Test (YLOT) and Harter's global self-worth items, respectively. Children and caregivers took part in a conversation task in which they discussed past and anticipated future events, capturing positive and negative experiences. These conversations were transcribed and analysed using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC-22) software, to evaluate the use of both positive tone and positive emotions.

Results: A series of correlations and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Findings did not demonstrate a significant relationship between parental use of positive affect and children’s well-being outcomes. However, a positive association was identified between children’s use of positive tone in future negative conversations and their optimism, and children’s use of positive tone in positive past conversation and their self-esteem.

Implications: These findings provide preliminary support for parent-child conversation as a context within which self-esteem and optimism may be expressed. These findings highlight the need for future studies with more comprehensive coding schemes to explore the nuances of positive affect in caregiver-child dialogues, particularly with respect to the broaden and build theory of positive emotions. This research contributes to our understanding of emotional dynamics in family interactions and may ultimately have implications for developing targeted interventions to enhance child and adolescent well-being.