Background

1. Emotion Regulation in Early Childhood: A Building Block to SuccessKristin 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 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

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

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

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

7. Emotion Regulation &Social Competence 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

14. ERQ: Sample Items Reappraisal: • “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”

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 • 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 http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/ihdsc/csrp/psra • 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)

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

21. The Incredible Years • Parenting Program (BASIC) • 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

22. The Incredible Years BASIC Early Childhood Parent Program • Program 1 • 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

23. The Incredible YearsDina Dinosaur Treatment Program • Program 1 • 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

24. The Incredible YearsTeacher 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 StepPreschool/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 20-30 minutes long.

27. Second StepBarriers 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”

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

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”

36. Step 4

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

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, 259-275. 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, 132-141. 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, 348-362. 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, 906-916. 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, 130-143. Webster-Stratton, C. (2008). The Incredible Years parent training programs. Retrieved from http://www.incredibleyears.com/program/parent.asp