Emotion regulation as a scientific construct: methodological challenges and directions for child development research

Emotion regulation has emerged as a popular topic, but there is doubt about its viability as a scientific construct. This article identifies conceptual and methodological challenges in this area of study and describes exemplar studies that provide a substantive basis for inferring emotion regulation. On the basis of those studies, 4 methods are described that provide compelling evidence for emotion regulation: independent measurement of activated emotion and purported regulatory processes; analysis of temporal relations; measurement across contrasting conditions; and multiple, convergent measures. By offering this perspective, this article aims to engage thoughtful debate and critical analysis, with the goal of increasing methodological rigor and advancing an understanding of emotion regulation as a scientific construct.     

The psychological significance of play with imaginary companions in early childhood

Although social play is common to many species, humans are unique in their ability to extract some of the benefits of social play through imagination. For example, in play with imaginary companions (ICs), children often practice skills that might be useful for later adaptive social, relational, and emotional functioning. While play with ICs does not provide the same immediate feedback that play with real others affords, this imagined, quasisocial context allows children to experiment with or rehearse events that might occur in real relationships. This symbolic enactment of social relationships might afford opportunities to experience not just social situations but all manner of positive and negative emotions in a risk-free way. In addition, children’s interactions with real others around their ICs allow for negotiation of social roles in real relationships. ICs also provide a forum for psychological distance that might help young children manage their real relationships and engage in processes such as negotiation and cooperation, which are needed for successful social adaptation. Although play with ICs is clearly not of adaptive value in an evolutionary sense, for the children who create them, ICs might hold psychological significance for adaptive social development.     

Attentional and executive function behaviours in children with poor working memory

The purpose of this study was to explore the profiles of classroom behaviour relating to attention and executive functions in children with very poor working memory, and to test the hypothesis that inattentive behaviour and working memory problems co-occur. Teachers rated problem behaviours of 52 children with low working memory scores aged 5/6 and 9/10 years on teacher rating measures of attention and executive function behaviours. The majority of children with low working memory scores obtained atypically high ratings of cognitive problems/ inattentive symptoms, and were judged to have short attention spans, high levels of distractibility, problems in monitoring the quality of their work, and difficulties in generating new solutions to problems. These results extend previous findings that working memory problems and inattentive behaviour co-occur to a non-clinical sample. It is suggested that reduced working memory capacity may play a causal role in the problem behaviours of these children.     

The Efficacy of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy Technique in the Treatment of Test Anxiety of College Students

This study explored the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) in the treatment of test anxiety. Thirty‐five college students with test anxiety were randomly assigned to either a treatment or delayed treatment control group. In this study, EMDR was shown to be effective in reducing overall test anxiety as well as “emotionality” and “worry” components of test anxiety.     

Predicting early school success with developmental and social skills screeners

The purpose of this study was to identify developmental, social skill, and problem behavior sub-domains that best predict academic achievement and grade promotion or retention in the early school years. Subjects were 184 children tested at the end of kindergarten using the Early Prevention of School Failure screening package and the Social Skills Rating Scale, and a year later using the Stanford Achievement Test. Information on promotion or retention was gathered in late spring for the two school years. Four kindergarten screening areas figured prominently in predicting first grade academic success: receptive language, visual memory, cooperation, and self-control. In addition, social skill subscales played significant roles in predicting promotion and retention. The findings suggest that assessment of social skills should be included in kindergarten screening packages with the possibility of targeting deficits for early intervention. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Learning From Others: The Effects of Agency on Event Memory in Young Children

Little is known about the influence of social context on children's event memory. Across four studies, we examined whether learning that could occur in the absence of a person was more robust when a person was present. Three-year-old children (N = 125) viewed sequential events that either included or excluded an acting agent. In Experiment 1, children who viewed an agent recalled more than children who did not. Experiments 2a and 2b utilized an eye tracker to demonstrate this effect was not due to differences in attention. Experiment 3 used a combined behavioral and event-related potential paradigm to show that condition effects were present in memory-related components. These converging results indicate a particular role for social knowledge in supporting memory for events.     

Board roles in organisations with a dual board system: Empirical evidence from Taiwanese nonprofit sport organisations

Research on the roles of the board of unitary board systems is well established, while explorations of dual board systems are very limited. We know little about nonprofit sport organisations board roles in countries such as Taiwan that operate with a dual board structure. In consequence, this study explored the roles taken by the board of directors and the board of supervisors in Taiwanese nonprofit sport organisations. Four overarching board of director roles were identified: manage vision and purpose; board duty; human resource and fundraising; and stakeholder focus. For the board of supervisors two primary functions emerged: monitoring results; and board duty and process. The findings of the study extend our understanding of the governance of nonprofit sport organisations and the differences that exist between dual board and single board systems of governance.     

Early retention: Are there long-term beneficial effects?

The purpose of this study was to examine whether retention of kindergarten and first-grade children is associated with long-term beneficial effects. Thirty-one children who had been retained were compared to 31 children who had similar grades but had never been retained. The dependent measures were grade point average in the second through fifth grades and four teacher-assessed areas of functioning in the fourth and fifth grade: social competence, cognitive competence, externalizing problems, and internalizing problems. The results indicated that retention was not associated with long-term beneficial effects but rather, especially for White children, appeared to be associated with poorer academic and social functioning. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.