This study examines family emotional interaction, which is a key environmental factor in children’s socio-emotional development and behavioral adjustment: methodology and Methods. Using stratified random sampling, we selected 600 valid samples of Chinese children aged 6-15 and their parents. We collected
data using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and behavioral indicators grounded in developmental
research on social withdrawal, attachment, and emotion socialization. We used correlation analysis and
multiple regression models to test the hypotheses. Results. Positive family emotional interaction predicts
children’s prosocial behavior and significantly and negatively predicts aggressive and withdrawn behavior; negative emotional interaction shows the opposite pattern and is significantly more strongly associated with aggressive than withdrawn behavior. Similarly, positive emotional engagement predicts prosocial behavior
significantly better than it predicts aggressive and withdrawn behavior. The interaction between gender and emotional engagement in the family is not significant, indicating that gender does not significantly moderate the relationship between emotional engagement in the family and children’s behavioral outcomes. Scientific novelty. Emotional engagement in the family shows differentiated, directional, and strong effects on children’s prosocial, aggressive, and withdrawn behavior, with no significant gender effect. These results emphasize that promoting adaptive social development should prioritize the quality of the family emotional environment and emotion socialization processes over gender differences in children - practical significance. These results can inform family counseling and parent education.