Momentary assessment of parent and child emotion regulation to inform the design of a new emotion-focused parenting app

Parenting programs show strong evidence for improving parent and child mental health, however, their population reach has been extremely low. Online ecological momentary interventions have been shown to benefit reach in adult mental and public health contexts but have not yet been tested in parenting programs. The current study sought to inform a larger project developing an emotion-focused parenting program designed to provide in-the-moment parenting support. Australian parents of children aged 2–4 years (N=89, M=36 years) were recruited online and completed a baseline questionnaire, followed by a 1-minute survey five times per day over a 7-day period. Of 19 ecological momentary assessment items tested, results showed that six items best measured in-the-moment parent and child negative affect and emotion dysregulation based on five purpose-defined criteria: sensitivity, relevance, alignment, frequency, and validity. These items were used to identify parenting situations and times of day associated with heightened parent and child negative affect and emotion dysregulation. Findings showed an overall response rate of 81%, with participant engagement highest at 7:30am and 7:30 pm. Parent/child dysregulation was heightened during evenings and parenting situations elicited differing levels of dysregulation in children and parents. The study provides novel data that will inform how best to develop a parenting program that provides parents and children with flexible, in-the-moment parenting support.