1. Emotion Regulation in Early Childhood: A Building Block to Success Kristin Rezzetano, M.S.Ed., Stephanie Marshall, M.S.Ed., & Kara McGoey, Ph.D.

2. Background Self Regulation
Essential for adaptive and independent functioning
Emotion regulation
Includes emotional lability, flexibility, and contextual response
Use of emotional response to meet demands of the situation and achieve personal goals
Deficits linked to psychopathological traits, disorders such as ADHD, ASDs, Bipolar D/O, Depression, Anxiety
Alink, Cicchetti, Kim, & Rogosch, 2009; Kopp, 1989; Thompson & Goodvin, 2007

3. Development of Emotion Regulation
Infancy
<6m. – dependent on caregivers
Temperament
Research supports increased negativity/proneness to distress in certain infants
Rudimentary ER abilities begin to develop
Turning head away, sucking, object play
Social referencing/theory of mind develop
5m. – more intentional communication leads to caregiver ER
12 m. – can communicate needs, if not met

4. Development of Emotion Regulation
Toddlerhood
Locomotion allows for moving away, toward objects as emotion regulation
Language develops – increased emotional understanding and ability to express emotions
Emotions are in reference to something-agent of change
Understand advantages/disadvantages of emotional displays
Begin to see impact of attachment/parent responsivity on ER
Interaction of temperament, security, and parent behaviors/environment shape ER
EC begins to play a role via temperamental characteristics

5. Development of Emotion Regulation
Preschool
Must learn to regulate emotions given the demands of the situation
Home vs. Preschool
Language continues to develop
(e.g., “use your words”)
Temper tantrums may persist in moments of extreme emotion
Peer relationships
Peer relationships - must learn to negotiation socially, wherein emotion regulation plays a large role

6. Development of Emotion Regulation
Childhood
More sophisticated cognitive components – may re-evaluate situation or deny negative elements rather than removing themselves
Social/cultural/gender norms influence ER
Adolescence
Increased development of prefrontal cortex
Integration of emotion, cognition, & behavior
Adolescence - Emotional expression is specified – different towards adults and peers, dependent on situation

7. Emotion Regulation & Social Competence
Success in interacting socially with others (Fabes, Gaertner, & Popp, 2006)
Associated with school readiness, academic achievement, fewer behavioral problems, higher ER
Negative emotional expression, lack of emotion regulation, deficient emotional expression, insecure attachment all related to difficulties with SC (Denham, 2002)

8. Emotion Regulation & Academic Functioning
Relationship between emotion regulation, emotion knowledge/language, social competence, and academic skills and motivation (Eisenberg, Sadovsky, & Spinrad, 2005)
Emotional lability predicted by socially negative behavior in the classroom, related to maladaptive learning; early socially negative behavior related to maladaptive learning later in school year (Fantuzzo, Bulotsky-Shearer, Fusco, & McWayne, 2005)

9. Assessment
Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC; Shields & Cicchetti, 1997)
Two dimensions: Emotion Regulation & Lability/Negativity
24-items, 4-point Likert scale
Teachers can complete
Children ages 6 to 12

10. Emotion Regulation Checklist – Sample Items
Emotion Regulation dimension: empathy, self-awareness of emotion, appropriateness of emotional displays
“Is empathic toward others”, “Can say when she/he is feeling sad, angry or mad, fearful or afraid”, “Exhibits wide mood swings”
(Fantuzzo et al., 2005, p. 263)

11. Assessment Emotion Regulation Q-Sort (Shields & Cicchetti, 1997)
Uses the California Child Q-Set (CCQ; Block & Block, 1980)
10 items reflecting positive and negative emotion regulation strategies

12. Emotion Regulation Q-Sort: Sample Items
Positive:
“Can recover from stress”
“Is empathic”
Negative:
“Goes to pieces under stress”
“Is easily irritated”

13. Assessment Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ: Gross & John, 2003)
Measures cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression of emotions
10 items (6 cognitive, 4 expressive) on 7-point Likert scale
Cognitive reappraisal considered an antecedent-focused strategy (i.e., rethinking a situation to reduce emotional impact – such as viewing a bad grade on a test as a reminder to study harder next time)
Expressive suppression considered a response-focused strategy (i.e., inhibition of emotion-expressive behavior that is already enacted – such as bluffing during a card game)

14. ERQ: Sample Items Reappraisal: Suppression:
“When I want to feel less negative emotion, I change the way I’m thinking about the situation”
“I control my emotions by changing the way I think about the situation I’m in”
Suppression:
“I keep my emotions to myself”
“When I am feeling positive emotions, I am careful not to express them”
Reliability and validity developed with undergraduate sample; half or more women in 20’s, somewhat ethnically diverse sample (large portion Caucasian and Asian American, some Latino, less African American)
Measure not appropriate for young children, as it requires degree of insight into emotional appraisals and reactions

15. Assessment
Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment (PSRA; Smith-Donald, Raver, Hayes, & Richardson, 2007)
“Portable” assessment of preschoolers’ regulatory skills in behavioral, attentional, and emotional domains
Scores based on direct assessment and behavioral report

16. PRSA Sample items Direct Tasks Examiner Report
Balance Beam, Pencil Tap, Tower, Toy Sorting, Toy Wrap, Snack Delay, Tongue Task
Examiner Report
Intensity and frequency of anger/irritability, sadness, positive emotions
3-point Likert scale rating

17. PRSA
Toolkit available online at
Includes script, assessor report, score sheet, code sheet, training materials
English and Spanish versions available
Certification opportunities

18. Assessment: Other Methods
Direct Assessment/Observation
Disappointment task
Provide child with undesirable toy as reward for completing task
Observe response: Is child actively regulating emotion? Passively managing emotion? Acting disruptively?
See Feng, Shaw, Kovacs, Lane, O’Rourke, & Alarcon (2008)
Asked children to rank-order set of toys for reward; provided them with the least desirable for completing task
Left the child alone with undesirable toy for 2 minutes, then returned to give them the desired toy
Identified two factors: active regulation and joy; and passive regulation and sadness

19. Intervention
Call for use of interventions to address emotion regulation in the school environment to promote behavioral and academic success (Raver, Garner, & Smith-Donald, 2007)
Promotion of self-regulation for all children
Practice emotion regulation in multiple contexts
Differentiating externalizing/aggressive behavior from dysregulated behavior
Emotion regulation can be learned through play (Bodrova & Leong, 2005)

20. Intervention The Incredible Years (TIY; Webster-Stratton, 2008)
Intervention program designed for children ages 0-12
Parent, Teacher, and Child training programs
BASIC Preschool/Early Childhood program developed for children ages 3-6
Addresses social, emotional, and school readiness skills
BASIC Early Childhood can be administered by a parent or teacher at home or in school
Leader’s manual includes commonly asked questions, brainstorm/value activities, role play practice, home activities, and handouts

21. The Incredible Years Parenting Program (BASIC) Dina Dinosaur Program
Positive parenting: setting limits, addressing misbehavior, providing praise, encouraging positive play skills
Dina Dinosaur Program
Child training: social problem solving, managing frustration, perspective taking, behavior, empathy
Teacher Classroom Management Program
Behavior management
**INFORMATION ON FREQUENCY OF INSTRUCTION, MATERIALS

22. The Incredible Years BASIC Early Childhood Parent Program
Strengthening Children’s Social Skills, Emotion Regulation, and School Readiness Skills
Program 2
Using Praise and Incentives to Encourage Cooperative Behavior
Program 3
Positive Discipline – Rules, Routines and Effective Limit Setting
Program 4
Positive Discipline – Handling Misbehavior
Includes 9 DVD’s that can be shown in weekly 2-hour group sessions
Leader manual, parent home notes as reminders for skill covered that week, take-home practice assignments for parents, book for parents trouble shooting guide, refrigerator magnets
Aimed at parents but could be used for teacher training?

23. The Incredible Years Dina Dinosaur Treatment Program
How to Do Your Best in School
Program 2
Understanding and Detecting Feelings
Identifying self and others’ feelings, changing negative emotions to positive
Program 3
Detective Wally Teaches Problem-Solving Steps
7-step problem-solving and anger management
Program 4
Molly Manners Teaches How to Be Friendly
Includes preschool/pre-k and school-aged lessons
Designed for small group (6 children), hr sessions delivered weekly
Videotape vignettes and puppets as props, with scripts and discussion questions for leader
Delivered by counselors, therapists, early childhood specialists
Can be offered simultaneously with parent program

24. The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Program
Anger Management/Emotion Regulation
Providing stability/consistency, accepting emotions and emotional expressions, using feeling language, discouraging physical/verbal aggression to express emotions, teaching self-calming techniques

25. Second Step, 1997
A research based program created by the Committee for Children
School-based social skills curriculum that includes teacher friendly curricula, training for educators, and parent education components.
Intended for children from preschool through grade nine
* Committee for Children

26. Second Step Preschool/Kindergarten Curriculum
Thirty-six lessons divided into three units
Empathy Training
Impulse Control
Anger management
Lessons include songs, role plays, and puppet activities
Each lesson is minutes long.

27. Second Step Barriers to implementation
Schedule of implementation
Content of the lessons (concrete vs. abstract)
External and environmental factors
Teacher “buy-in”, support, and commitment
Lack of training for Second Step
Cost

28. Embedded Interventions
Interventions that can be embedded within everyday interactions to promote Social Competence and Emotion Regulation
School-wide, Class-wide or Individual

29. Modeling and Role Playing
Verbalize emotions
Model coping strategies
Model identification and problem solving when emotional
Create role plays/scenarios to help children practice when not in crisis

30. Guide Children in Problem Solving
Create a script or routine for solving conflicts in the classroom
Create a script or routine for managing emotions
Adult can guide child to use routine when upset
Create specific emotional outlets
Anger box
Excitement exclamation

31. Other Intervention Ideas
Anger-mometer
Video modeling
DIY Tucker Turtle
Social Stories

32. Anger-mometer
Can be used to identify or reflect on situations in which child felt angry
May include pictures or words
Ask child at what point on anger-mometer there is danger of “losing control”
Encourage the child to identify what changes they noticed in their body at the time they were/are angry. Examples include: feeling hot in the face or tummy, clenched jaw or fists, shaking, seeing red
Pictures or words can be used, based upon age, functioning, and/or understanding of the child (ex. Children with autism- visual learners)
Some children lose control easier than others, and may find it hard to monitor their anger. The most effective approach for these children may be appropriate and consistent consequences for their angry behaviors.

33. Anger-mometer

34. Video modeling Peer and adult modeling of prosocial behaviors
Videotape the child exhibiting positive behavioral interactions
Discuss what happened, feelings of persons involved
Video clips should be as long as child’s attention span will allow. Keep them simple, only focus on 1-2 behaviors or skills at a time.

35. DIY Tucker Turtle
4-step program used to teach the “Turtle Technique”– how to control feelings and calm down
1) Recognize your feeling(s)
2) Think “stop”
3) Tuck inside your “shell” and take 3 deep breaths
4) Come out when calm and think of a “solution”
Combination of picture story and model. Read the story to children and model appropriate ways of remaining calm. Practice the steps often. Recognize and comment when the child stays calm.

36. Step 4
Can be used to prepare for and help the child handle disappointment or change, or to think of possible solutions. Solutions include: get a teacher, ask nicely, ignore, play, say “Please”, share, trade a toy/item, wait and take turns

37. Social Stories Social scripts for child to follow in a given situation
Used to address behaviors, transitions, new settings
Include pictures and words to capture attention of child
Behaviors include: keeping hands to self, biting, spitting, playing with friends
Transitions: clean up, washing hands/toileting, lining up
New settings: new school, field trip, vacation

38. Social Stories Consequence of Hitting
Sometimes I get mad at my friends. They may do something that makes me upset, like take my toys. When I am upset, I must not hit other people. Hitting is not allowed at school. This is a school rule... 
   

39. Conclusion
Emotion regulation skills become increasingly refined and independent as children grow older
Both direct assessment and self-report can be used to evaluate abilities in emotion regulation
Intervention can be used to address emotion regulation in schools
Early childhood curricula such as The Incredible Years, Second Step
Embedded interventions can be implemented across levels

40. References
Committee for Children. (1997). Second Step: A violence prevention curriculum. Committee for Children.
Fantuzzo, J. W., Bulotsky-Shearer, R., Fusco, R. A., & McWayne, C. (2005). An investigation of preschool classroom behavioral adjustment problems and social-emotional school readiness competencies. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 20,
Feng, X., Shaw, D. S., Kovacs, M., Lane, T., O’Rourke, F. E., & Alarcon, J. H. (2008). Emotion regulation in preschoolers: the roles of behavioral inhibition, maternal affective behavior, and maternal depression. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49,
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85,
Shields, A., & Cicchetti, D. (1997). Emotion regulation among school-age children: The development and validation of a new criterion q-sort scale. Developmental Psychology, 33,
Webster-Stratton, C., & Reid, M. J. (2003). Treating conduct problems and strengthening social and emotional competence in young children: The Dina Dinosaur treatment program. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 11,
Webster-Stratton, C. (2008). The Incredible Years parent training programs. Retrieved from