R ESEARCH A RTICLE Measuring Emotion Socialization in Schools CHRISTY G. HORNER, BS a TANNER L. WALLACE, PhD b ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Understanding how school personnel can best support students’ development of communication skills around feelings is critical to long-term health outcomes. The measurement of emotion socialization in schools facilitates future research in this area; we review existing measures of emotion socialization to assess their applicability to school-based health studies. METHODS: A content analysis of four emotion socialization measures was conducted. Inclusion criteria included: high frequency of use in prior research, established documentation of validity and reliability, and sufficient description of measurement procedures. RESULTS: Four dimensions emerged as particularly salient to a measure’s future relevance and applicability to school-based health studies: (1) methods of measurement; (2) mode and agent of socialization; (3) type of emotion; and (4) structure versus function of socializing behavior. CONCLUSION: Future measurement strategies should address (1) the structures of emotion socializing processes; (2) diverse socializing agents such as teachers, peers, and administrators; (3) the intended functions of such processes; (4) student perceptions of and responses to such processes; and (5) the complex interactions of these factors across contexts. Strategies attending to these components will permit future studies of school-based emotion socializing processes to determine how they enhance health and reduce health risks. Keywords: Child and adolescent health; growth and development; emotional health. Citation: Horner CG, Wallace TL. Measuring emotion socialization in schools. J Sch Health. 2013; 83: 697-703. Received on December 6, 2011 Accepted on August 19, 2012 T he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Health Education Standards for grades pre-K-12 1 include Standard 4 aimed at developing students’ ‘‘ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks’’ because ‘‘the ability to organize and to convey information and feelings is the basis for strengthening interpersonal interactions and reducing or avoiding conflict.’’ When educators react to students’ emotional expressions, discuss feelings, or express their own feelings, students gain information about emotions—what they mean, how they are communicated, and how different emotional displays are interpreted by others. In the developmental psychology literature, this social learning process is known as emotion socialization, and is understood to occur via diverse socialization agents including parents, peers, and teachers. a Researcher, Teaching Fellow, (christyg@pitt.edu), Psychology in Education Department, University of Pittsburgh, WWPH, 230 S. Bouquet St., Pittsburgh, PA 15260. b Assistant Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology, (twallace@pitt.edu), Psychology in Education Department, University of Pittsburgh, 5946 WWPH, 230 S. Bouquet St., Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Address correspondence to: Christy G. Horner, Researcher, Teaching Fellow, (christyg@pitt.edu), Psychology in Education Department, University of Pittsburgh, WWPH, 230 S. Bouquet St., Pittsburgh, PA 15260. It is largely through the process of emotion social- ization that children develop the knowledge necessary to understand and cope with their own emotions and to function well in diverse relationships, in which the ability to interpret and respond to others’ emotional states and expressions is critical. Exposure to certain emotion socializing patterns has been linked to impor- tant health outcomes such as increased ego-resilient and pro-social behaviors and decreased internaliz- ing and externalizing problem behaviors. 2-6 Thus, we propose naturally occurring emotion socializing interactions between school-based personnel (includ- ing teachers, support staff, and administrators) and students are critical informal learning experiences. To promote successful achievement of the performance indicators associated with Standard 4, the study of emotion socializing processes occurring in schools is necessary and relevant. Journal of School Health • October 2013, Vol. 83, No. 10 •  2013, American School Health Association • 697