Background and Aim: Adolescence is a critical developmental period for the formation of emotional skills, during which parents play a central role in adolescents’ emotion socialization and regulation. Given the influence of family cultural context in Iranian society and the scarcity of indigenous qualitative studies in this field, the present study aimed to explain the role of parents in Iranian adolescents’ emotion regulation from experts’ perspectives using an inductive qualitative content analysis approach.
Methods: This qualitative study was conducted from May to October 2025. Participants consisted of 10 experts and counselors working in the field of adolescent mental health, who were selected through purposive sampling until data saturation was achieved. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed using inductive qualitative content analysis with a latent approach, following the steps proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. Word 2013 software was used for data management and organization. Data trustworthiness was ensured based on Lincoln and Guba’s criteria, including member checking, peer review, and detailed documentation of the research process.
Results: Participants included six women and four men, with a mean age of 45.6 years and an average of 18 years of clinical experience. Data analysis resulted in the extraction of three main categories and eight subcategories, including: (1) emotional education and empowerment (emotional awareness, coping skills, emotion acceptance, and self-care), (2) emotion-focused parenting style (authoritative parenting, parental modeling, and effective communication), and (3) creating a supportive environment (safe and stable environment and management of marital conflicts).
Conclusion: The findings indicated that the parental role in adolescents’ emotion regulation extends beyond simple behavioral recommendations and requires a combination of enhancing parents’ emotional literacy, emotion-focused interactions, and stability of the family environment. Accordingly, the design and implementation of family-based educational interventions with an emphasis on parental emotion coaching and reducing marital conflicts are recommended to promote adolescents’ mental health.