Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 31 (2010) 291–297

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Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

The contribution of deficits in emotional clarity to stress responses and depression

Megan Flynn a,⁎, Karen D. Rudolph b

a Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USAb Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 215 204 7659; fax:E-mail address: megan.flynn@temple.edu (M. Flynn

0193-3973/$ – see front matter. Published by Elsevierdoi:10.1016/j.appdev.2010.04.004

a b s t r a c t

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 10 March 2009Received in revised form 9 April 2010Accepted 26 April 2010Available online 2 June 2010

Keywords:Depressive symptomsEmotional clarityInterpersonal stress responsesMiddle childhood

This research investigated the contribution of deficits in emotional clarity to children's socioemotionaladjustment. Specifically, this study examined the proposal that deficits in emotional clarity are associatedwith maladaptive interpersonal stress responses, and that maladaptive interpersonal stress responses act asa mechanism linking deficits in emotional clarity to childhood depressive symptoms. Participants included345 3rd graders (M age = 8.89, SD = .34) assessed at two waves, approximately one year apart; youthcompleted self-report measures of emotional clarity, responses to interpersonal stress, and depressivesymptoms. Results supported the hypothesized process model linking deficits in emotional clarity,maladaptive interpersonal stress responses, and depressive symptoms, adjusting for prior depressivesymptoms. Findings have implications for theories of emotional competence and for depression-interventionefforts aimed at fostering emotional understanding and adaptive interpersonal stress responses.

+1 215 204 5539.).

Inc.

Published by Elsevier Inc.

Several theories have been proposed to explain the onset andrecurrence of depression. These theories implicate cognitive (e.g.,Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, 1989; Beck, 1967), interpersonal (e.g.,Coyne, 1976), environmental (e.g., Brown & Harris, 1989; Monroe &Harkness, 2005), and genetic (e.g., Sullivan, Neale, & Kendler, 2000)risk factors. Surprisingly, relatively little research has examinedindividual differences in the experience of emotions that confervulnerability to depression, particularly during childhood. The goal ofthe present research was to examine one dimension of children'saffective experience—deficits in emotional clarity—that might placethem at risk for depressive symptoms. Moreover, this studyinvestigated whether maladaptive interpersonal stress responsesserve as one mechanism underlying this link. It was hypothesizedthat deficits in emotional clarity would interfere with the formulationof adaptive responses to interpersonal stress, thereby heighteningvulnerability to depressive symptoms during middle childhood.

Emotional clarity

Emotional clarity is defined as the ability to identify, understand,and distinguish one's own emotional experiences (Gohm & Clore,2000, 2002; Salovey, Mayer, Goldman, Turvey, & Palfai, 1995).Emotional clarity is a critical dimension of one's affective experience,in that the awareness and understanding of one's internal emotionalstate allows for the development of more sophisticated emotion-related skills, such as understanding the emotional displays of others

and the refinement of emotion regulation capabilities (for a review,see Saarni, 2007). Indeed, high levels of emotional clarity are linked toa broad range of indices of positive adjustment in adults (e.g., adaptiveattributional styles and positive well-being; Gohm & Clore, 2002). It istheorized that the ability to clearly perceive and discriminate amongemotions allows individuals to allocate fewer resources towardunderstanding emotional experiences and, in turn, to direct moreresources toward the formulation of goal-oriented cognition andbehavior (Gohm & Clore, 2000, 2002). In contrast, individuals whohave difficulty understanding their emotions are thought to spendgreater time and effort managing their emotional experiences and,consequently, to have greater difficulty directing resources towardgoal-oriented cognition and behavior (Gohm & Clore, 2000, 2002).Deficits in emotional clarity may therefore shape responses tostressful situations that demand the regulation of negative affectand the mobilization of internal resources to formulate copingresponses. Consistent with this notion, deficits in emotional clarityare associated with higher levels of maladaptive stress responses andlower levels of adaptive stress responses in adults (Gohm & Clore,2000; Gohm, Corser, & Dalsky, 2005).

Emotional competence and responses to stress

Although emotional clarity has not been examined duringchildhood, theory and research suggest that children's emotionalcapabilities are associated with how they respond to stress. Forinstance, it has been proposed that children's understanding ofemotion-evoking experiences influences the appraisal process and,consequently, coping responses (Stein & Hernandez, 2007; Stein &Levine, 1999). In addition, emotional understanding is a fundamental

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component of emotional competence, which has been theorized tocontribute to children's adaptive resilience following the experienceof stress (for a review, see Saarni, 2000). Indeed, research shows thatchildren with low self-awareness of their emotional experiencesidentified fewer constructive coping strategies for dealing with stress(i.e., the experience of negative affect) (Shields et al., 2001). Similarly,young adolescents with poor emotional awareness reported adiminished ability to cope with negative emotions (Sim & Zeman,2005, 2006). Finally, children who were taught emotional under-standing skills subsequently displayed heightened interpersonalcompetence which involves, in part, the ability to respond adaptivelyto interpersonal stress (Denham & Burton, 1999).

Building on this theory and preliminary research, the presentstudy examined whether emotional clarity, a dimension of emotionalunderstanding, is linked to children's stress responses. A recentconceptualization of youths' stress responses distinguishes betweengoal-directed, voluntary coping responses and involuntary, dysregu-lated reactions. Voluntary coping responses are defined as effortful,controlled, and conscious efforts to modify stressors or to adaptoneself to stressors, whereas involuntary responses are defined asautomatic, uncontrolled reactions (Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman,Thomsen, & Wadsworth, 2001). Responses are further distinguishedas involving engagement (i.e., orientation toward stressors) vs.disengagement (i.e., orientation away from stressors) (Compas etal., 2001). This conceptual framework classifies stress responses intofour higher-order categories: engagement coping (i.e., primary andsecondary control coping; e.g., problem solving, cognitive restructur-ing, and positive thinking), disengagement coping (e.g., denial,avoidance, and wishful thinking), involuntary engagement (e.g.,rumination, intrusive thoughts, and impulsive action), and involun-tary disengagement (e.g., escape, inaction, and cognitive interference)(Connor-Smith, Compas, Wadsworth, Thomsen, & Saltzman, 2000).This conceptualization of youths' stress responses has advantagesover other frameworks in that it incorporates a broad and compre-hensive range of stress responses that reflect contemporary theoret-ical conceptualizations of responses to stress.

Childrenwith high levels of emotional clarity are likely more adeptat processing their emotions and, consequently, engaging in effortfulattempts to resolve stressors. Conversely, children with deficits inemotional clarity might become overly taxed by or preoccupied withtheir emotions, and either purposefully disengage or respond to stressin involuntary and dysregulated ways. Accordingly, the first goal ofthis study was to examine the hypothesis that deficits in emotionalclarity would be associated with maladaptive stress responses in theform of lower levels of engagement coping and higher levels ofdisengagement coping, involuntary engagement, and involuntarydisengagement. In particular, this study focused on stress responseswithin an interpersonal context. Emotional clarity might be particu-larly relevant to the manner in which children respond to interper-sonal stress because these types of stressors are likely to elicitnegative affective reactions that require the appropriate identificationand management of emotions in order to be resolved.

In turn, the inability to resolve interpersonal problems might belinked to depressive symptoms.Whereas the effectivemanagement ofinterpersonal stress might facilitate the development of enduring andsupportive relationships, which have been found to protect childrenagainst depressive symptoms (Ezzell, Swensen & Brondino, 2000;Schrepferman, Eby, Snyder, & Stropes, 2006), ineffective interpersonalstress responses might undermine relationships, thereby heighteningrisk for depression (Rudolph, Hammen, & Burge, 1997). Consistentwith this notion, children who respond in an unconstructive fashionto interpersonal stress (i.e., peer victimization) display higher levels ofinternalizing symptoms (Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2004). Further, childrenwho display heightened passive and avoidant coping responses to invivo peer rejection (Reijntjes, Stegge, Terwogt, Kamphuis, & Telch,2006) and children who endorse fewer adaptive coping responses to

hypothetical peer rejection (Reijntjes, Stegge, & Terwogt, 2006)experience higher levels of depressive symptoms.

More broadly, drawing from Compas et al.'s (2001) conceptual-ization of stress responses, lower levels of engagement, active, orapproach-oriented coping and higher levels of disengagement coping,involuntary engagement, and involuntary disengagement in responseto interpersonal stress are associated with depressive symptoms inyouth (Connor-Smith & Compas, 2002; Connor-Smith et al., 2000;Flynn & Rudolph, 2007, 2010;Wadsworth & Berger, 2006;Wadsworth& Compas, 2002; Wadsworth, Rieckmann, Benson, & Compas, 2004;for reviews, see Clarke, 2006; Compas et al., 2001). Thus, the secondgoal of this study was to examine whether maladaptive interpersonalstress responses (i.e., lower levels of engagement coping and higherlevels of disengagement coping and involuntary responses) serve as amechanism linking deficits in emotional clarity to childhood depres-sive symptoms.

Method

Participants

This study involved the first two waves of the first cohort of theUniversity of Illinois Social Health and Relationship Experiences(SHARE) Project. Children were recruited by distributing consentforms to the caregivers of second graders in seven schools in theMidwest. Consent forms were returned from 447 (90%) of eligiblechildren; exclusion criteria included the presence of severe learningor developmental disabilities that would preclude completion of thequestionnaires. Parental written consent for child participation wasobtained from 373 (83%) of the returned consent forms. Participantsand nonparticipants at Wave 1 (W1) did not significantly differ interms of sex,χ2(1)= .25, ns, age, t(492)= .18, ns, ethnicity (white vs.minority), χ2(1) = .00, ns, or school lunch status (full pay vs.subsidized), χ2(1) = .16, ns. Of the children who participated at W1,345 (93%) participated at Wave 2 (W2); because the emotional clarityquestionnaire was only available at W2, these children comprised thepresent sample. Participants ranged in age from 8 to 10 years (M =8.91, SD= .33; 188 girls, 157 boys; 75%White, 15% African American,10% other). Participants and nonparticipants at W2 did not signifi-cantly differ in sex, χ2(1) = .01, ns, age, t(371) = 1.84, ns, or schoollunch status, χ2(1) = 2.43, ns. However, participants and nonparti-cipants atW2 did significantly differ in ethnicity,χ2(1)= 8.54, p b .01,such that nonparticipants were more likely to be minority than wereparticipants.

Procedure

Data were collected in the winter of two consecutive school years.Trained graduate students, undergraduate students, and laboratorypersonnel attained verbal assent from participants, and thenadministered questionnaires to small groups (e.g., 3–4) of childrenduring two classroom visits. Emotional clarity and interpersonal stressresponses were assessed at W2; depressive symptoms were assessedat W1 andW2. Children received small gifts on each occasion for theirparticipation, and each classroom received a monetary honorarium.

Measures

Emotional clarityAt W2, children completed the 7-item Emotional Clarity Question-

naire (ECQ), an adaptation of a measure of emotional claritycommonly used in adults (the Trait Meta-Mood Scale; Salovey et al.,1995). Items were selected based on examination of the highest item-scale loadings during original measure development (Salovey et al.,1995). The original itemsweremodified as necessary (e.g., simplifyingwording or vocabulary and eliminating double negatives) to make

1 In W1 of the study, the effortful disengagement scale had only moderate internalconsistency; thus, at W2 the three previously omitted items were included to boost thereliability of the subscale.

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themmore understandable to children. For instance, the original item“I usually know my feelings about a matter” was shortened to “Iusually know how I am feeling,” and the original negatively keyeditem “I can't make sense out of my feelings” was modified to “I oftenhave a hard time understanding how I feel.” Interviewers beganadministration of the questionnaire with the following introduction:“Does everyone know what feelings are? Like when you are feelinghappy or sad? Those are examples of different feelings you mighthave. This is a list of ways that kids experience their feelings. We areinterested in how you experience your feelings.” Then, interviewersread each item aloud and children provided written responses bychecking a box on a 5-point scale (Not at All, A Little Bit, Some, PrettyMuch, or VeryMuch). Positively keyed itemswere reverse scored and amean score was computed; higher scores reflect greater deficits inemotional clarity. Adequate internal consistency was found (α= .74).

Convergent validity for the ECQ was examined using a subsampleof children (N = 61) who attended a session conducted in thelaboratory. During this visit, children completed the ECQ along withtwo behavioral tasks involving the processing of facial expressions.The first task was the Chimeric Faces Task (CFT; Levy, Heller, Banich, &Burton, 1983), a free-vision assessment of hemispheric specializationduring the processing of facial expressions, a predominantly righthemisphere function. Reduced right hemisphere preference on theCFT is presumed to reflect impairments in the identification andprocessing of emotional information (Berenbaum & Prince, 1994;Lane, Kivley, Du Bois, Shamasundara, & Schwartz, 1995). As expected,deficits in self-reported emotional clarity were significantly correlatedwith a reduced right hemisphere preference on the CFT (r(59) = .35,p b .01).

The second task was the Diagnostic Assessment of NonverbalAccuracy Faces (DANVA2; Nowicki & Carton, 1993). The DANVA2 is acomputer task that presents 24 faces displaying four types ofemotions (happy, sad, angry, and fearful) at two levels of intensity(high and low). Children are presented with a facial expression andare prompted to indicate the displayed emotion by pressing a buttonon the computer screen. Scores are computed by calculating thenumber of errors made in affective facial recognition, with higherscores reflecting more mistakes. As expected, deficits in self-reportedemotional clarity were correlated with the number of mistakes madeon the high intensity displays of affective facial recognition (r(59) =.27, p b .05). Taken together, these findings suggest that the emotionalclarity questionnaire maps onto children's “on-line” identification andprocessing of emotional information presented via facial expressions.The significant, but moderate, correlations between the ECQ and thesebehavioral tasks are consistent with the notion that understandingone's own emotional experiences and identifying emotional informa-tion presented via facial expressions are overlapping but distinctemotion-related capabilities.

Discriminant validity for the ECQ was examined by correlatingchildren's scores with teacher-reported academic performance. Asreflected in the low correlation (r = −.02, ns), the emotional clarityindex did not reflect children's general knowledge or intellectualcapacity.

Responses to interpersonal stressResponses to interpersonal stress were assessed at W2 using a

modified version (Rudolph, Abaied, Flynn, Sugimura, & Agoston,2010) of the Responses to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ; Connor-Smithet al., 2000), a measure designed to assess youths' effortful, volitionalcoping and involuntary, dysregulated responses to stress. The RSQ hastwo primary advantages over other measures of coping in youth. First,it avoids confounding coping strategies with symptoms of psycho-logical distress, a methodological issue that has plagued previousresearch examining associations between children's stress responsesand socioemotional adjustment. Second, it best captures contempo-rary theoretical frameworks of responses to stress by incorporating a

broad and comprehensive range of effortful and involuntary stressresponses, thereby providing a more refined approach to understand-ing youths' stress responses than other coping measures.

Three steps were taken to revise the measure for this study. First,the probe was modified to assess children's responses to a commontype of interpersonal stress (i.e., peer harassment, or other kids beingmean to them); this prompt was repeated after every five items.Second, check box and write-in options contained within individualitems were removed to simplify the response format. Third, due toprocedural time constraints and to make the measure appropriate foradministration with young children, the original measure wasshortened such that the revised version contained all of the originalsubscales with one fewer item per subscale (for a similar abbreviationof the RSQ, see Sontag, Graber, Brooks-Gunn, & Warren, 2008).Specifically, the originalmeasure consists of 19 subscales representing4 larger factors (i.e., effortful engagement and disengagement coping;involuntary engagement and disengagement responses). Each origi-nal subscale consists of three items, yielding 57 items on the originalmeasure. For the purposes of this study, item-total correlations wereexamined by subscale in two samples of youth (samples described inConnor-Smith et al., 2000; Flynn & Rudolph, 2007), and the twohighest loading items per subscale were retained in the revisedmeasure. When items loaded in different patterns across the twosamples, items were selected based on their relevance to under-standing responses to the type of stress assessed in this study or fromthe sample closer in age to the current participants. Thus, the revisedmeasure dropped one item from each of the 19 subscales (represent-ing the 4 larger factors), with the exception of the effortfuldisengagement subscale,1 yielding a 41-item measure.

Interviewers read each item aloud and children provided writtenresponses by checking a box on a 4-point scale (Not at All, A Little Bit,Pretty Much, or Very Much). The administration manual includeddefinitions of words in the original items that children potentiallymight not understand; interviewers provided children with alterna-tive wordings of items when questions arose, albeit rarely, during theadministration of the measure. To adjust for response bias and base-rate variation in the endorsement of responses to stress, proportionscores were computed (the total score for each subscale divided bythe total score on the RSQ; see also, Connor-Smith et al., 2000; Sontaget al., 2008). This ipsative scaling procedure eliminates response biasby removing variance that is unrelated to the content of the items, andallows for the comparison of subscale scores relative to one another(Chan, 2003; Cunningham, Cunningham, & Green, 1977). Accordingly,general profiles of stress responses can be examined across partici-pants, in which higher proportion scores reflect more predominantstress responses within each individual's response repertoire.

In the revised measure, engagement coping (i.e., primary andsecondary control coping) consisted of 14 items reflecting active,approach-oriented responses directed toward stressors or adaptingoneself to stressors, such as problem solving or positive thinking.Sample items include, respectively, “I do something to try to fix theproblem or take action to change things.” and “I tell myself thateverything will be all right.” Disengagement coping consisted of 9items reflecting purposeful efforts to orient oneself away fromstressors or one's response to stressors, such as avoidance or denial.Sample items include, respectively, “I try not to think about it, toforget all about it.” and “I try to believe it never happened.”Involuntary engagement consisted of 10 items reflecting dysregulatedinvolvement with stressors, such as rumination or physiologicalarousal. Sample items include, respectively, “I can't stop thinking

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about what I did or said.” and “I feel sick to my stomach or getheadaches.” Involuntary disengagement consisted of 8 items reflectinginvoluntary avoidance of stressors, such as escape or emotionalnumbing. Sample items include, respectively, “I just have to get away,I can't stop myself.” and “I don't feel like myself, it's like I'm far awayfrom everything.” Confirmatory factor analyses have validated thefactor structure of the original measure in youth samples (Connor-Smith et al., 2000; Wadsworth et al., 2004). Further, internalconsistency (Connor-Smith et al., 2000; Flynn & Rudolph, 2007, 2010;Sontag et al., 2008; Wadsworth & Compas, 2002; Wadsworth, Raviv,Compas, & Connor-Smith, 2005; Wadsworth et al., 2004), stability(Connor-Smith et al., 2000), and convergent and discriminant validity(Compas et al., 2006; Connor-Smith et al., 2000; Jaser et al., 2007, 2005;Wadsworth et al., 2004) have been established for the originalmeasureacross multiple samples of youth. Internal consistency, stability, andconstruct validity (i.e., expected associations with children's socialgoals) also have been established for the revised version (Rudolph etal., 2010). Adequate internal consistencywas found for each subscale inthe present sample (engagement coping: α = .84; disengagementcoping: α = .78; involuntary engagement: α = .81; involuntarydisengagement: α = .73).

Depressive symptomsDepressive symptomswere assessed at both waves using the short

form of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ; Angold,Costello, Messer, & Pickles, 1995), a 13-item scale of recent (i.e., inthe previous two weeks) depressive symptoms. Items were selectedbased on their successful discrimination between clinically depressedand nondepressed children (Angold et al., 1995). This scale includesmore depression-specific items than other measures of children'sdepressive symptoms, and the items were written so as to beunderstandable to children (Kuo, Stoep, & Stewart, 2005). The originalSMFQ was modified to provide a response format similar to the otherquestionnaires in the administration packet. Specifically, the responseoptions were changed from a 3-point (Never, Sometimes, Always) to a4-point (Not at All, A Little Bit, Pretty Much, Very Much) scale (see also,Liang & Eley, 2005). Sample items include “I felt I was a bad person.”and “I didn't enjoy anything at all.” A mean score was calculated suchthat higher scores reflect higher levels of depressive symptoms. TheSMFQ has strong internal consistency in both clinical (Angold et al.,1995) and community (Sharp, Goodyer, & Croudace, 2006) samples;convergent and discriminant validity have been established (Angoldet al., 1995). In the present sample, strong internal consistency wasfound at both waves (αs N .87).

Results

Intercorrelations among the measures

Table 1 displays the descriptive information and intercorrelationsamong the variables at W2 (i.e., the wave at which emotional clarityand stress responses were assessed). Deficits in emotional clarity,

Table 1Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations among the W2 measures.

Measure M (SD) Range 1

1. Deficits in emotional clarity 2.44 (.81) 1.00–5.00 –

2. Engagement coping 2.50 (.60) 1.00–4.00 −.39⁎

3. Disengagement coping 2.36 (.65) 1.00–4.00 .024. Involuntary engagement 2.08 (.64) 1.00–4.00 .17⁎

5. Involuntary disengagement 1.99 (.61) 1.00–4.00 .42⁎

6. Depressive symptoms 1.63 (.60) 1.00–3.69 .20⁎

Note. Descriptive information for the stress response subscales are based on raw scores.⁎ p b .05. ⁎⁎ p b .01.

engagement coping, involuntary engagement, involuntary disengage-ment, and depressive symptoms were significantly intercorrelated inthe anticipated directions. Disengagement coping was not signifi-cantly associated with deficits in emotional clarity or depressivesymptoms and was excluded from subsequent analyses.

Structural equation modeling analyses

Structural equation modeling using AMOS 7.0 (Arbuckle, 2006)was conducted to test the proposed mediational model. All analysesadjusted for W1 depressive symptoms. In each analysis, deficits inemotional clarity were represented by a manifest variable. For thepurposes of data reduction and to capture variance unique to eachstress response subscale, a latent variable representing maladaptivestress responses was created reflecting lower levels of engagementcoping, and higher levels of involuntary engagement and disengage-ment. Finally, to reduce the skew of the depressive symptom scores(Hau & Marsh, 2004; Nasser & Wisenbaker, 2003), the 13 items fromthe measure were parceled into two packages of four items and onepackage of five items (Kishton &Widaman, 1994; Little, Cunningham,Shahar, & Widaman, 1999). Accordingly, depressive symptoms wererepresented by a latent variable with three indicator variables at bothwaves.

Following the recommendations set forth by Baron and Kenny(1986), three criteria must be met to establish mediation. First, theindependent variable (i.e., deficits in emotional clarity) must beassociated with the mediator (i.e., maladaptive stress responses).Second, the mediator must be associated with the dependent variable(i.e., depressive symptoms) after including the independent variablein the model. Finally, the association between the independentvariable and the dependent variable should be reduced to nonsigni-ficance after including the mediator in the model.

To examinemediation, a model was created that included the pathfromW2 deficits in emotional clarity to W2 depressive symptoms, thepath from W2 deficits in emotional clarity to W2 maladaptive stressresponses, the path from W2 maladaptive stress responses to W2

depressive symptoms, and the stability path from W1 to W2

depressive symptoms (see Fig. 1). Results revealed that this modelprovided an adequate fit to the data, χ2(29) = 94.62, p b .01, χ2/df =3.26, CFI = .97, IFI = .97, RMSEA = .08. Examination of thestandardized path coefficients revealed a significant path betweenW2 deficits in emotional clarity and W2 maladaptive stress responses,and a significant path between W2 maladaptive stress responses andW2 depressive symptoms. In addition, the total effect of W2 deficits inemotional clarity on W2 depressive symptoms was significantlyattenuated (t(343) = 4.60, p b .01; Clogg, Petkova, & Haritou, 1995)and reduced to nonsignificance when W2 maladaptive stressresponses were included in the model.

As further evidence of mediation, the model including the directeffect between W2 deficits in emotional clarity and W2 depressivesymptoms did not provide a significantly better fit than the modelwithout the direct effect, Δχ2(1) = 2.21, ns. Additionally, the indirect

2 3 4 5 6

⁎ –

−.12⁎ –⁎ −.69⁎⁎ −.35⁎⁎ –⁎ −.72⁎⁎ −.12⁎ .21⁎⁎ –

−.39⁎⁎ −.08 .40⁎⁎ .21⁎⁎ –

Fig. 1. Structural equation model of the associations among W2 deficits in emotionalclarity, maladaptive interpersonal stress responses, and depressive symptoms,adjusting for W1 depressive symptoms. Coefficients without parentheses indicatetotal effects; coefficient in parentheses indicates the direct effect. *p b .05, **p b .01.

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effect of W2 deficits in emotional clarity on W2 depressive symptomswas significant (IE = .14, Z = 4.23, p b .001; Sobel, 1982, 1986).Finally, the effect proportion (indirect effect/total effect; Shrout &Bolger, 2002) indicated that 88% of the total effect of W2 deficits inemotional clarity on W2 depressive symptoms was accounted for byW2 maladaptive stress responses. Taken together, these indicatorssuggest that W2 maladaptive stress responses mediated the associ-ation between W2 deficits in emotional clarity and W2 depressivesymptoms, adjusting for W1 depressive symptoms.

Discussion

The guiding premise of this research was that deficits in emotionalclarity predispose children to enact maladaptive interpersonal stressresponses, which are linked to depressive symptoms. Specifically, itwas hypothesized that children with deficits in emotional claritymight become more preoccupied with, or overwhelmed by, theiremotional experiences, thereby disrupting the allocation of resourcestoward goal-directed cognition and behavior and increasing thelikelihood of enacting maladaptive interpersonal stress responses. Inturn, it was proposed that difficulty resolving interpersonal stressorsmight undermine interpersonal relationships and heighten children'svulnerability to depressive symptoms. Consistent with these hypoth-eses, findings revealed significant associations among deficits inemotional clarity, maladaptive interpersonal stress responses (i.e.,less engagement coping and more involuntary engagement anddisengagement), and depressive symptoms, adjusting for priordepressive symptoms. Moreover, maladaptive interpersonal stressresponses mediated the association between deficits in emotionalclarity and depressive symptoms.

The fact that deficits in emotional clarity were associated withmaladaptive interpersonal stress responses is consistent with the ideathat such deficits interfere with children's ability to direct resourcestoward resolving or adapting themselves to interpersonal problems.Rather, difficulty understanding emotional experiences was associat-ed with uncontrolled, dysregulated stress responses oriented bothtoward (e.g., rumination) and away from (e.g., escape) stressors.Contrary to hypotheses, deficits in emotional clarity were notassociated with disengagement coping. Perhaps this is becausechildren do not need to have a sophisticated degree of emotionalunderstanding to deny (e.g., try to believe it never happened), avoid(e.g., try to stay away from), or wishfully think about (e.g., wish that

things would be different) stressors. One goal of future research willbe to elucidate precisely how emotional understanding is linked tochildren's stress responses. For instance, children who understandtheir emotional experiences may be better able to identify their intra-and interpersonal needs, such as security and companionship;knowledge of personal needs might allow children to effectivelyredirect themselves following stressful experiences and focus onefforts to restore stability.

Developmental considerations

This research contributes to both developmental perspectives onemotional understanding and clinical perspectives on depressivesymptoms, providing insight into the interplay between emotionaland interpersonal processes during middle childhood. This study wasnovel in its assessment of children's emotional clarity, one componentof emotional understanding. Whereas prior research has focused onaspects of emotional understanding such as the ability to identify anddistinguish external emotional displays (e.g., affect labeling orrecognition) as well as the capacity to recognize the causes andconsequences of both internal and external emotional states,emotional clarity reflects the awareness and comprehension of one'sown affective experiences. The ability to identify and distinguishintrapersonal emotional experiences is particularly critical whenchildren encounter the negative affect and arousal that is elicited byinterpersonal stress, and allows for the formulation of adaptive copingresponses. In turn, the effective management of interpersonaldifficulties likely amplifies children's sense of self-efficacy, fostersthe development and maintenance of healthy relationships, and in sodoing, protects children against depressive symptoms.

More broadly, emotional understanding is a critical skill thatpermits the development and mastery of more sophisticatedemotional capacities, such as emotional self-regulation and emotionalcompetence (for reviews, see Denham, 1977, 2007; Halberstadt,Denham, & Dunsmore, 2001; Saarni, 1991). Middle childhoodrepresents an important developmental period in which to examinechildren's emotional capabilities due to their rapid maturation duringthis time. Specifically, children learn to differentiate their emotions,display and communicate emotions, and identify and monitoremotional cues (Denham, 1977, 2007; Halberstadt et al., 2001; Saarni,1991). This maturation, in combination with simultaneous cognitiveand social developments, such as the ability to control behaviors(Kochanska & Akzan, 2006) and the ability to respond to otherchildren's emotional displays in a social context (Denham, 1977,2007; Halberstadt et al., 2001; Saarni, 1991), has implications forpsychological and interpersonal adjustment throughout childhoodand adolescence.

In terms of psychological adjustment, this study revealed thatdeficits in emotional clarity are associated with depressive symptomsat an early stage in childhood. Given that the experience of priordepression is a robust predictor of subsequent depression (e.g.,Harrington, Fudge, Rutter, Pickles, & Hill, 1990), children with deficitsin emotional clarity may be more likely to encounter a risk-ladendevelopmental trajectory. In terms of interpersonal adjustment,difficulty identifying and interpreting emotions has the potential tointerfere with the formation of strong interpersonal skills and, thus, tohinder the development of nurturing and supportive relationships.Indeed, the present findings indicated that deficits in emotional clarityare linked to maladaptive interpersonal stress responses, onemanifestation of interpersonal dysfunction. Because this studyexamined responses to a fairly broad peer stressor, one goal forfuture research will be to investigate whether emotional clarity isdifferentially associated with responses to specific types of peerharassment (e.g., physical vs. relational aggression). A complemen-tary aimwill be to examinewhether a similar pattern of findings holds

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across other types of interpersonal (e.g., parent–child, sibling) andnoninterpersonal (e.g., academic) stress responses.

An additional developmental consideration involves potentialdeterminants of children's emotional clarity. Building on researchdemonstrating the influence of parental socialization on children'semotional functioning (Denham & Kochanoff, 2002; Eisenberg,Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998), it will be beneficial to investigateaspects of the parenting environment that contribute to children'semotional clarity. For instance, caregivers with deficits in emotionalclarity might be less adept at teaching children to identify anddifferentiate their emotional experiences or at coaching children torelieve emotional distress, thereby impeding the development ofchildren's emotional understanding. Also, children's temperamentalcharacteristics may contribute to their emerging emotional clarity. Forexample, children who are easily soothed might not become fraughtby emotional distress or develop the inclination to avoid emotionalexperiences. Consequently, easily soothed childrenmight be more aptto cultivate a sophisticated repertoire of emotional understanding.

Limitations of the present research

This study was the first to investigate children's emotional clarity,taking an important first step toward understanding the implicationsof deficits in emotional clarity for children's development. However,several important limitations of this study warrant mention. First, thisstudy used a subjective assessment of children's perceived emotionalclarity. Assessing children's emotional clarity using distinct methods,such as third-party informants, detailed interviews, or performance-based assessments will contribute to future research on the correlatesand consequences of children's emotional understanding. Relatedly,the study relied on a single method (questionnaires) and a singleinformant (children), which may have inflated associations amongthe variables due to shared method variance. Yet, it is important tonote that the constructs of emotional clarity and responses to stressare quite complex and do not have an obvious valence; thus, it isunlikely, for example, that a negative response bias (e.g., childrenwith depressive symptoms perceiving themselves in a more negativelight) accounted for the associations among the variables.

Second, although analyses were adjusted for prior depressivesymptoms, the key mediational pathway was examined concurrently,which precludes a clear interpretation of temporal effects. However,supplemental analyses examining alternative directions of effect (e.g.,deficits in emotional clarity as a mediator between depressivesymptoms andmaladaptive stress responses, or betweenmaladaptivestress responses and depressive symptoms) did not yield significantmediational results, suggesting that the proposed model bestrepresents the structural associations among these variables.2

Finally, participants represented a community sample in whichoverall levels of depressive symptoms were quite low, which isconsistent with findings from other research involving communitysamples of youth (e.g., Angold et al., 1995; Hjemal, Aune, Reinfjell,Stiles, & Friborg, 2007). Of the present sample, 27% scored at or abovethe standard depression screening cutoff score (i.e., greater than orequal to 8; Angold et al., 1995), suggesting that a meaningful numberof children reported high scores on the measure. Yet, it remainsunclearwhether these results would generalize to clinically depressedchildren. A primary goal of future research will be to replicate these

2 An additional analysis was conducted to examine whether the associationbetween W2 deficits in emotional clarity and W2 depressive symptoms remainedsignificant after adjusting for the contribution of W1 depressive symptoms to bothvariables. The path from W1 depressive symptoms to W2 deficits in emotional claritywas positive and significant, yet the path from W2 deficits in emotional clarity to W2

depressive symptoms was only slightly reduced and remained significant. Thesefindings support the notion that deficits in emotional clarity are uniquely associatedwith depressive symptoms beyond the contribution of prior depressive symptoms toboth variables.

preliminary findings using a prospective longitudinal design withmultiple informants of each construct in both clinical and communitysamples.

Clinical implications and future directions

Findings from this research have direct implications for preventionand intervention endeavors. Efforts can be directed toward identify-ing children with deficits in emotional clarity and implementingservices that teach children to identify and label differentiatedemotional experiences, as well as to recognize the causes andconsequences of emotions, such as the PATHS curriculum (PromotingAlternative THinking Strategies; e.g., Greenberg, Kusche, Cook, &Quamma, 1995) and the Emotions Course (e.g., Izard, Trentacosta,King, & Mostow, 2004). It is plausible that such services ultimatelyprevent children from developing depression-inducing emotionregulation tendencies, such as rumination and brooding. In a relatedmanner, services can be designed to identify children who respondmaladaptively to stress, and to teach strategies to augment theformulation of goal-directed responses. As with all treatmentendeavors, however, care must be taken to monitor for potentialadverse consequences of efforts to increase children's emotionalclarity and goal-directed stress responses. For instance, teachingchildren living in abusive environments to identify emotionalexperiences might amplify their experience of negative affect, andthe beneficial consequences of enacting goal-directed stressresponses might vary as a function of attributes of environmentalcircumstances, such as the controllability of stressors.

In sum, this study advances our understanding of the manner inwhich children's emotional and interpersonal functioning jointlycontribute to depressive symptoms. Given that this study was novel inits assessment of children's self-reported emotional clarity, one goal offuture research will be to replicate and extend these findings byexamining whether similar effects hold across later childhood andadolescence using prospective longitudinal research.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the participants and schools for theirparticipation in this study, as well as the numerous students andresearch assistants who contributed to data collection. Specifically, wewould like to thank Jamie Abaied, Molly Bartlett, Sarah Kang, AllisonCasillas, and Brigitte Jauch for their assistance in collecting andsupervising the data involved in this study. This research was fundedby the National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01 MH068444awarded to Karen D. Rudolph.

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