"Let's talk about war": The associations of children's traumatic stress with their parents' war-related dialogue style and emotional socialization during war.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate parenting factors that contribute to their children's distress during wartime. Parental distress, war-related dialogue styles, and emotional socialization were examined as potential predictors of children's traumatic stress.

METHOD: The study included 404 Israeli parents and their children (under 18), utilizing self-report questionnaires and parent-reported measures. Key constructs measured included parental distress (anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, perceived stress), war-related dialogue styles (modulated disclosure, unfiltered speech, silencing), and emotional socialization (supportive and unsupportive responses).

RESULTS

Findings revealed strong correlations between parental and children's distress. Parents with higher distress showed increased unfiltered speech about the war, associated with elevated traumatic stress symptoms in children. Modulated disclosure predicted lower child traumatic stress symptoms, but only when parental distress was high. Supportive emotional socialization responses were linked to reduced traumatic stress symptoms in children, while unsupportive responses heightened them.

CONCLUSIONS

Parental war-related dialogue style and emotional socialization play critical roles in mitigating the psychological impact of war on children. Modulated disclosure and supportive emotional socialization serve as protective factors, particularly in high-stress parental environments. These findings underscore the need for interventions that support parents in adopting effective communication and emotional support strategies during crises. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).