Abstract
Objectives
Emotion regulation skills in early childhood are essential for healthy emotional and behavioral development, yet factors related to emergent emotion regulation during the early preschool period have not been extensively explored.
Methods
In the present study (N = 90), we specifically examine parental and family-level sociocontextual correlates in relation to emotion regulation skills in three-year-olds, a crucial time when the onset of several cognitive and socioemotional abilities are intertwined. We also investigate the role of these developing emotion regulatory capacities with behavioral problems and social competence.
Results
Children whose parents use more adaptive emotion regulation strategies (r = 0.33, p = 0.001) and who grow up in a higher income (r = 0.25, p = 0.02), less chaotic household (r = −0.30, p = 0.004) have better emergent emotion regulation. Additionally, better child emotion regulation skills are associated with more positive outcomes such as fewer behavioral problems (r = −0.46, p < 0.001) and more instrumental helping behaviors (r = 0.23, p = 0.04).
Conclusions
Findings indicate that identifying individual differences in emotion regulation earlier than most prior studies may be particularly important for fostering this crucial skill and overall psychological well-being in young children.
Highlights
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Parental emotion regulation (ER) strategies associated with emerging ER skills.
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Socioeconomic status and household chaos linked to preschool ER development.
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Early adaptive ER skills related to prosociality and socio-emotional well-being.
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The present research was supported by grant R03HD082550 and the Clara Mayo Memorial Fellowship.
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K.K. designed and executed the study, led the data analyses, and wrote the paper, C.T.T. assisted with the editing of the final manuscript and data analyses, A.R.T. collaborated with the design, data analyses and writing of the final manuscript.
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Kao, K., Tuladhar, C.T. & Tarullo, A.R. Parental and Family-Level Sociocontextual Correlates of Emergent Emotion Regulation: Implications for Early Social Competence. J Child Fam Stud 29, 1630–1641 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01706-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01706-4