The Relations of Emotionality and Regulation to Children's Anger-related Reactions

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of emotionality (intensity and negative emotion) and regulation (attentional control, mode of coping) to preschoolers' naturally occurring anger reactions. School personnel's ratings of 4–6-year-olds' constructive coping and attentional control were associated with boys' constructive anger reactions whereas their ratings of acting out versus avoidant coping, emotional intensity, and anger intensity generally were correlated with low levels of constructive reactions to anger. Mothers' reports of children's constructive coping and low emotional intensity were associated with children's use of nonabusive language to deal with anger, whereas aggressive coping and negative emotionality were associated with escape behavior when angered. The findings are consistent with the conclusion that individual differences in emotionality and regulatory skills are associated with children's constructive versus nonconstructive anger reactions.     

The Relations of Children's Dispositional Prosocial Behavior to Emotionality, Regulation, and Social Functioning

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of a measure of children's dispositional prosocial behavior (i.e., peer nominations) to individual differences in children's negative emotionality, regulation, and social functioning. Children with prosocial reputations tended to be high in constructive social skills (i.e., socially appropriate behavior and constructive coping) and attentional regulation, and low in negative emotionality. The relations of children's negative emotionality to prosocial reputation were moderated by level of dispositional attentional regulation. In addition, the relations of prosocial reputation to constructive social skills and parent-reported negative emotionality (for girls) increased with age. Vagal tone, a marker of physiological regulation, was negatively related to girls' prosocial reputation.     

Parents' Reactions to Children's Negative Emotions: Relations to Children's Social Competence and Comforting Behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of mothers' and fathers' reported emotion-related practices to parents' and teachers' reports of third-to sixth-grade children's social skills, popularity, and coping, as well as the quantity and quality of children's comforting of an infant. Mothers' problem-focused reactions tended to be positively associated with children's social functioning and coping, whereas maternal minimizing reactions tended to be linked to lower levels of social competence and high levels of avoidant coping. There were few findings for fathers' reactions, although fathers reported fewer problem-focused reactions with socially competent, in contrast to less competent, daughters. Emotion-focused and problem-focused maternal reactions, as well as encouragement of the expression of emotion, were associated with boys' children's comforting behavior, although a moderate level of maternal encouragement of the expression of emotion was associated with quality of girls' comforting.     

Gender-Specific Linkages of Affective Social Competence With Peer Relations in Preschool Children

Research Findings: We examined whether affective social competence, or the ability to effectively send and receive emotional signals and to manage one's own emotional experience, contributes to preschool children's peer relations. Forty-two previously unacquainted preschoolers were observed while participating in a week-long playschool. Greater nonstereotypical emotion knowledge was related to girls' popularity and boys' likelihood of having a reciprocal friendship. Girls with greater skill at sending emotional communications and managing emotions were more likely to have a reciprocal friendship. Boys who were better at managing emotions compared to others in their group were less popular. The role of social context in the influence of affective social competence on children's peer relations is discussed. Practice or Policy: Results have implications for early childhood educators' promotion of children's socioemotional skills.     

The Role of Emotionality and Regulation in Children's Social Functioning: A Longitudinal Study

Multiple measures of children's emotionality (emotional intensity and negative affectivity), regulation (including attentional and behavioral regulation and coping), and social functioning (teachers' reports of nonaggressive/socially appropriate behavior and prosocial/socially competent behavior; and parents' reports of problem behavior) were obtained for 6–8-year-olds. In addition, emotionality, attentional regulation, and coping were assessed 2 years previously. Social functioning was expected to be predicted by low negative emotionality and high levels of regulation. In general, the data supported the predictions, although the findings for parent reports of problem behavior were primarily for boys. Prediction of social functioning from measures of regulation and emotionality occurred primarily within a given context (school vs. home) rather than across contexts, even though there were relations across reporters within the school or home context. In addition, vagal tone, a marker of physiological regulation, was positively related to competent social functioning and emotionality/regulation for boys, but inversely related for girls.     

Models of Emotion Skills and Social Competence in the Head Start Classroom

Research Findings: Fostering the social competence of at-risk preschoolers would be facilitated by knowing which of children's emotion skills are most salient to social outcomes. We examined the emotion skills and social competence of 44 children enrolled in a Head Start program. Emotion skills were examined in terms of children's emotional lability and emotion regulation, whereas social competence was measured in terms of three aspects of preschoolers' social relationships: social skills, student–teacher relationships, and peer likeability. Although emotion regulation emerged as an important predictor for social skills and positive relationships with teachers, emotional lability was a significant predictor of student–teacher conflict and peer likeability. In fact, emotional lability mediated the relation between student–teacher conflict and peer likeability. Practice or Policy: The findings are discussed in terms of the complex associations between children's emotion skills and early social relationships.     

The Relations of Regulation and Negative Emotionality to Indonesian Children''s Social Functioning

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of individual differences in regulation and negative emotionality to 127 third-grade Indonesian children's social skills/low externalizing problem behavior, sociometric status, and shyness. Parents and multiple teachers provided information on children's regulation, negative emotionality, and social functioning; peer sociometric information on liking and social behavior was obtained; and children reported on their self-regulation. In general, children's low socially appropriate behavior/ high problem behavior and rejected peer status were related to low dispositional regulation and high negative emotionality (intense emotions and anger), and regulation and negative emotionality (especially teacher rated) sometimes accounted for unique (additive) variance in children's social functioning. Adult-reported shyness was related to low peer nominations of disliked/fights (although shy children were not especially liked), low adult-reported regulation, and (to a lesser degree) low teacher-rated negative emotionality. Findings are compared with work on regulation, negative emotionality, social competence, and shyness in other countries.     

The development of achievement emotions and coping/emotion regulation from primary to secondary school

This study reports on the development of achievement emotions and coping/emotion regulation in primary to secondary school-aged children and adolescents. Based on two longitudinal cohorts (Grades 2–5; Grades 4–7), latent growth models were used to analyze the development of achievement emotions and coping strategies separately as well as simultaneously. The results show that enjoyment decreases across grades, whereas boredom increases, with substantial changes between Grade 5 and Grade 7. Consistently, the development of enjoyment is positively associated with the development of problem-focused coping and palliative emotion regulation, whereas the development of boredom is positively associated with the development of avoidant coping and anger-related emotion regulation. Moreover, the relation between problem-focused coping and boredom, as well as between avoidant coping and enjoyment, depends on the age group. The results are discussed regarding the organization of learning environments in classes to prevent unfavorable developmental patterns of achievement emotions.     

The Relations of Regualation and Emotionality to Resiliency and Competent Social Functioning in Elementary School Children

The relations of regulation and emotionality to elementary school children's social functioning were examined. Teachers and peer reproted on children's social functioning; I parent and teacher rated children on various measures of regulation, resiliency, and emotionality; and a behavioural index of regulation was obtained. The effects of individual differences in attentional regulation on social status and socially appropriate behavior were mediated by resiliency, and dispositional negative emotionality moderated the positive relation between attentional control and resiliency (with this path being stronger for children high in negative emotinality). The effects of behavioural regulation were not mediated by resiliency; however, the relation of behavioral regulation to socilaly appropriate behaviour (but not social status) was moderated by negative emotionality, with effects being significant and higher for children high in negative emotionality.     

How can gender affect psychopathology in Lebanese school‐age children?

This study investigated the extent to which gender differences in coping, school and family environments could account for variation in psychopathology among school‐age children. Participants were 665 middle school students. Results showed no gender differences for PTSD. Females scored higher on emotional problems and prosocial behavior whereas males scored higher on conduct problems. ADHD was higher among children with LD, whereas emotional and conduct problems were higher in females with LD. Emotional and conduct problems increased more by age in females. Gender differences were found in various patterns of predictor–outcome relations. While emotion‐focused coping was associated with emotional and peer problems in both genders, it was associated with conduct problems in females only. Problem‐focused coping was positively associated with prosocial behaviors in females whereas it was negatively associated with peer problems in males. In addition, family environment was negatively associated with emotional problems and PTSD symptomatology in females, whereas school environment was negatively associated with emotional problems in males. Clinical and research implications were discussed.     

Experiences in After-School Programs and Children's Adjustment in First-Grade Classrooms

The experiences of 150 children in after-school programs were examined in relation to performance in first grade. Three aspects of program experiences (emotional climate, quality of peer interactions, and program curriculum) were associated with the children's concurrent adjustment at school, controlling for family selection factors. Staff positivity in the after-school programs was associated with boys displaying fewer internalizing and externalizing problems, whereas staff negativity was related to boys obtaining poorer grades in reading and math. Program flexibility was associated with boys having better social skills. More frequent negative interactions with peers in the programs were related to more internalizing and externalizing problems, and poorer social skills at school. Boys who attended programs offering a larger number of different activities had more internalizing and externalizing problems, and poorer grades in reading and math. After-school experiences also were related to girls' behaviors, but associations were less apparent for girls than boys.     

Emotional Competence, Emotion Socialization, and Young Children's Peer-Related Social Competence

This study investigated linkages between aspects of emotional competence and preschoolers' social skills with peers. Whether parental emotion socialization practices contributed to the prediction of social skill once emotional competence was statistically controlled was also of interest. Eighty-one predominantly Caucasian preschoolers were videotaped as they participated in three same-sex triadic peer situations. Four peer variables were coded from the videotapes: social initiations, the frequency with which children were the targets of positive social bids, non-constructive anger-related reactions, and prosocial acts. The emotional competence measures included situation knowledge, children's explanations of emotions, positivity of emotional expression during peer play, and emotional intensity. Maternal anger directed at the child was the measure of emotion socialization. Results revealed that the emotional competence variables were meaningfully related to the peer variables and that, for non-constructive anger reactions, maternal reports of anger explained unique variance. Results are discussed in terms of how emotional competence and emotion socialization contribute to peer behavior and the importance of designing and implementing affective intervention programs for young children and their families.     

Play and social skills in maltreated and non-maltreated preschoolers during peer interactions

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the study was to investigate whether maltreated children differ from nonmaltreated children with regard to their social skills and play behaviors. METHOD: The social skills and free-play behaviors of 30 3- to 5-year-old maltreated and nonmaltreated children were compared. Fifteen children with a range of maltreatment experiences drawn from a hospital-based therapeutic nursery treatment program and 15 demographically similar children drawn from a home-based Head Start program participated in the study. All children were of low socioeconomic status. Children's free-play peer interactions were videotaped during the first 3 months of attendance in either program and analyzed along social and cognitive dimensions. Teachers and therapists rated children's social skills in peer interactions. RESULTS: Maltreated children were found to have significantly poorer skill in initiating interactions with peers and maintaining self-control, as well as a greater number of problem behaviors. Significant differences were not found between groups with regard to social participation or cognitive level of play. Significant correlations of moderate strength were found between social participation in play and social skills for the sample as a whole: total social skills score was positively related to interactive play, and negatively related to solitary play. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the experience of maltreatment has a negative impact on children's developing interpersonal skills above and beyond the influence of factors associated with low socioeconomic status and other environmental stressors.     

Early Attachment Relationships as Predictors of Preschool Children's Emotion Regulation with a Distressed Sibling

The present study examined (1) the emotion regulation of preschool children by observing their emotional responses to a distressed younger sibling during a separation episode; (2) whether children's regulatory responses were related to sibling interaction observed during the separation episode, and (3) whether individual differences in these children's regulatory responses and the quality of sibling interaction could be predicted from early attachment relationships. Older siblings who ignored their younger siblings' distress were more likely to experience personal distress and use avoidant coping strategies. Emotion regulation strategies were related to the quality of sibling interaction such that older siblings who offered comfort to a distressed younger sibling were more likely to express positive affect in sibling interaction, whereas older siblings seeking adult assistance were less likely to engage in conflict and hostile behavior with a younger sibling. Preschool children who had an insecure-resistant infant-mother attachment at 1 year, were more likely to seek comfort from their younger siblings and engaged in more sibling conflict and hostility when they were 4 years old. The quality of infant-father attachment relationships was not significantly related to the child's emotion regulation at 4 years of age. Results are discussed with respect to the social origins of preschool children's emotional self-regulation and the consequences of emotional dysregulation in preschool settings.     

Early Attachment Relationships as Predictors of Preschool Children's Emotion Regulation with a Distressed Sibling

The present study examined (1) the emotion regulation of preschool children by observing their emotional responses to a distressed younger sibling during a separation episode; (2) whether children's regulatory responses were related to sibling interaction observed during the separation episode, and (3) whether individual differences in these children's regulatory responses and the quality of sibling interaction could be predicted from early attachment relationships. Older siblings who ignored their younger siblings' distress were more likely to experience personal distress and use avoidant coping strategies. Emotion regulation strategies were related to the quality of sibling interaction such that older siblings who offered comfort to a distressed younger sibling were more likely to express positive affect in sibling interaction, whereas older siblings seeking adult assistance were less likely to engage in conflict and hostile behavior with a younger sibling. Preschool children who had an insecure-resistant infant-mother attachment at 1 year, were more likely to seek comfort from their younger siblings and engaged in more sibling conflict and hostility when they were 4 years old. The quality of infant-father attachment relationships was not significantly related to the child's emotion regulation at 4 years of age. Results are discussed with respect to the social origins of preschool children's emotional self-regulation and the consequences of emotional dysregulation in preschool settings.     

Friendship and Popularity in Preschool Classrooms

The development of friendships and peer acceptance and their relation to children's emotional regulation and social-emotional behavior with others among a group of 3-5-year-old children was examined. Peer relationships and social-emotional skills were assessed early in the preschool year and peer relationships were assessed again late in the year. Preschool friendships were prevalent, moderately consistent across situations, and moderately stable over the course of the school year; peer acceptance also was moderately stable. Popularity of preschool children was related to their social behavior with peers both early and late in the school year but acceptance by the group was unrelated to children's emotion regulation. Number of mutual friendship choices was related to children's emotional regulation but not to social behaviors with peers late in the year. Acceptance by the peer group was related to number of mutual friends but there were some well-liked children who had no friends and disliked children who had friends. These results show the importance of popularity and early friendships in preschool classrooms. That is, these peer relationships are lasting and related to social and emotional development. Therefore, efforts to foster both group relations and mutual dyadic relationships should be included in preschool programming.     

A Naturalistic Study of Affective Expression, Social Competence, and Sociometric Status in Preschoolers

Research findings. Naturalistic observation during freeplay was used to explore the role of affective expression and gender in preschoolers' social competence and sociometric status. Observers recorded occurrences of 4 types of affect: moderate and strong positive affect, anger, and distress among 56 children (M age = 50.3 months) in five classrooms. Teacher ratings of social competence and peer sociometrics were also collected. Social competence and peer acceptance were associated with strong, but not moderate positive affect. The correlates of anger and distress were moderated by the gender of the child. Girls' anger, but not distress, was negatively related to peer rejection. In contrast, boys' anger and distress were both positively related to peer rejection. Practice. These findings confirm the relations between affective expression and social competence, but also indicate that these relations may be different for boys and girls.     

The Relations of Maternal Practices and Characteristics to Children''s Vicarious Emotional Responsiveness

This study examined the relations of maternal vicarious emotional responding and child-rearing practices, as well as familial emotional environment, to 5-6 and 8-9-year-old children's vicarious emotional responding. There were some correspondences between mothers' and children's heart rate, facial, and self-reported reactions to a sympathy-inducing film. Maternal sympathy/perspective taking and reinforcement of sympathy/prosocial behavior, as well as negative subordinate emotion in the home, were associated with markers of girls' sympathy; mothers' personal distress (for girls), restrictiveness regarding displays of hurtful negative emotions (particularly for young girls), and negative dominant emotion in the home (for both sexes) were associated with markers of personal distress. Mothers' linking of the film character's experience to children's own experience was associated with children's responsiveness to the film, and mother's verbalizations during the film concerning her own emotional state and role taking were associated with boys' self-reported sympathy.     

Modeling emotional,cognitive, and behavioral predictors of peer acceptance

Integrating principles of differential emotions theory and social information-processing theory, this study examined a model of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral predictors of peer acceptance in a sample of 201 early elementary school-age children (mean age = 7 years, 5 months). A path analytic model showed that social skills mediated the effect of emotion knowledge on both same- and opposite-sex social preference, but social skills and verbal ability were more strongly related to opposite-sex peer acceptance. These findings suggest that adaptive social skills constitute a mechanism through which children express their emotion knowledge and achieve peer acceptance. Results also supported findings of previous studies that showed that emotion knowledge mediated the effect of verbal ability on social skills. Findings from the present study have specific implications for emotion-centered prevention programs that aim to improve children's socioemotional competence and enhance the likelihood of peer acceptance.