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Whitford, T., & Moss, S. A. (2009). Transformational leadership in distributed work groups: The moderating role of follower regulatory focus and goal orientation. Communication Research, 36, 810-837. doi:10.1177/0093650209346800

This study addressed the question of whether the benefits of transformational leadership extend to virtual environments. Furthermore, whether regulatory focus or goal orientation moderate the extent to which these benefits apply to virtual environments was also explored. A total of 165 employees completed a survey that assessed the leadership style of their supervisors as well their own regulatory focus, goal orientation, work engagement, and job satisfaction. When followers and leaders worked at different locations, visionary leadership was positively related to work attitudes, provided that promotion focus was sufficiently high or prevention focus was sufficiently low. Furthermore, when followers and leaders worked in the same location, personal recognition was positively associated with work engagement, especially if prevention focus or performance goal orientation was high. These findings align with the proposition, derived from construal level theory, that leadership advice and support in which only the essence needs to be extracted apply to virtual environments.

Monti, J. D., Rudolph, K. D., & Abaied, J. L. (2014). Contributions of maternal emotional functioning to socialization of coping. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 31, 247-269. doi:10.1177/0265407513492304

This study examined whether maternal emotional functioning--emotional awareness and depression--guides the coping suggestions mothers make to their children in the context of a common childhood stressor (peer victimization). Across two waves of a longitudinal study, 330 mothers and their second graders (mean age (M) = 7.95 years, SD = .33; 158 boys and 172 girls) completed questionnaires. Emotional awareness predicted more primary control engagement suggestions (directly addressing stress or emotions). Depression predicted fewer cognitive restructuring suggestions (thinking positively) and more cognitive avoidance suggestions (orienting thoughts away from stress). Interactive effects between maternal emotional functioning and child sex also emerged. This study elucidates the impact of mothers’ emotional functioning on how they teach their children to cope with stress.