Emotional Regulation

1
Emotional Regulation

• Alison Kane
• Julia Marcus Johnson
• Mary Rice

2
Overview

• Defining emotional regulation (ER)
• Related components
• Importance of ER
• Typical milestones
• How to help
• Related curriculum programs
• Resources

3
Definition of Emotional Regulation

• Behaviors, skills, and strategies,
• whether conscious or unconscious,
• automatic or effortful,
• that serve to modulate, inhibit, and enhance
  emotional experiences and expressions
• in order to accomplish individual goals and adapt
  to the environment.

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Related Components

• Executive Functioning
• Impulsivity
• Attachment
• Temperament
• Sensory Functioning
• Communication Skills
• Parents personal traits, expectations, reactions
  to childs behavior, discipline practices

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Why is ER Important?

• ER affects
• Social Skills
• Empathy
• Meaningful relationships with peers and adults
• Cognitive
• Concentration and attention
• Problem solving and flexibility
• Academic competence
• Self-esteem

• Disregulation may cause
• Behavior problems
• Academic problems
• Mental health problems anxiety, depression,
  conduct disorder, drug/alcohol abuse, obsessive
  compulsive disorder

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Typical Skill Development

• Infants
• Thumb sucking
• Calmed by caregivers voice and rocking
• Interest in other people
• Toddlers
• Shifting from being soothed to self soothing via
  objects
• Talking about emotions
• Responding to others emotions

• Preschoolers
• Able to control negative emotions
• Take on other roles and perspectives in dramatic
  play
• Increase number of strategies (distracting,
  self-talk, perspective taking)
• Can display emotions they may not actually feel
• Have positive and negative feelings about a
  situation

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Fostering Emotional Regulation
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Environmental Considerations

• Create a positive, warm, welcoming environment
• Use clear, consistent rules and guidelines
• Model appropriate emotional responses
• Reinforce positive behaviors (high fives, thumbs
  up, hugs, etc.)
• Minimize exposure to negative behaviors and
  attitudes

9
Environmental Considerations

• Use effective and appropriate discipline
  strategies (no physical punishment)
• Provide materials that promote independence, peer
  interaction, and dramatic play
• Make books about feelings available during
  centers
• Book list handout
• Pair with peer models with strong regulation
  skills

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Explicitly Teach Skills

• Problem solving (I Can Problem Solve, asking for
  help,etc.)
• Recognize and label emotions in yourself and
  child
• Morning Check In
• Make faces in the mirror and talk about the
  related emotions
• Take pictures of children making feelings faces
  and display

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Explicitly Teach Skills

• Discuss feelings of book characters, peers,
  adults, etc.
• Label physical signs (pouting, arms crossed,
  etc.)
• Role play emotional situations and appropriate
  responses
• Use puppets and masks
• Play games, sing songs, and read stories with new
  feeling words

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Feelings Faces Charades Make a face, guess the
feeling!

• If youre ___ and you know it
• Happy clap your hands
• Frustrated take a breath
• Excited shout Whoo hoo!
• Disappointed tell a friend
• Proud say I did it!
• Mad stomp your feet

(From CSEFEL website)
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Relaxation Techniques

• Soft Music
• Belly Breathing
• Tense/Release
• Turning negative thoughts into positive thoughts
• Distraction
• Have a peace table or comfort corner
• Teach Turtle Technique

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(From CSEFEL website)
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Explicitly Teach Skills

• Prep kids for challenging activities
• Say-Do Strategy
• Catch kids in the moment
• Walk them through techniques/strategies
• Slowly fade out support

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Work with Parents

• Encourage parents to use these strategies at home
• Discuss discipline practices
• If possible, offer parent trainings

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Evidence-based Universal Programs

• Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies
• Second Step
• The Incredible Years

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Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS)

• PATHS 5 12 years
• Preschool PATHS 3 5 years
• Uses an ABC approach
• Affective (Emotional)
• Behavioral
• Cognitive
• Provides pre-constructed lessons and materials
  (puppets, posters, stamps)
• 20-30 minutes
• Implemented 3-5 times per week
• Parent component (letters, handouts, home
  activities)

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PATHS
Emphasis on following areas

• Self-esteem
• Self-control
• Frustration tolerance
• Anger management
• Personal responsibility
• Attention and concentration
• Impulsivity
• Emotional understanding
• Feelings v. Behaviors
• Emotions as communicators

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Second Step Preschool/Kindergarten program

• Violence prevention program
• Preschool 8th grade
• Includes lessons specifically focusing on
  emotional regulation in terms of emotional
  triggers and how to calm down (ex. waiting, being
  hurt).

• Ways to calm down
• Check in with feelings via hand on tummy
• Say problem using language rather than action
• Take deep breaths (Belly Breathing)
• Count slowly
• Switch activities
• Finding an adult to help

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The Incredible Years

• Helps bridge the transition from early childhood
  education to elementary school
• Ages 3-8
• 3 components
• Children Dinosaur School uses life size
  puppets
• Parents Weekly support and informational groups
• Teachers Video-based training, modeling and
  guided practice

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The Incredible Years

• Emphasis on the following areas
• Anger management
• Problem solving
• Emotional competence
• Empathy
• Developing friendships
• Strengthening parenting skills
• Adult praise and encouragement

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Helpful Resources

• Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations
  for Early Learning www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional
  Learning www.casel.org
• PATHS www.channing-bete.com
• Second Step www.cfchildren.org
• Incredible Years www.incredibleyears.com

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References

• Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K.D. (2004). Handbook
  of self-regulation research, theory and
  applications. New York, NY Guilford Press.
• Bronson, M.B. (2000). Self-regulation in early
  childhood nature and nurture. New York, NY
  Guilford Press.
• Carlson, S.M., Wang, T.S. (2007). Inhibitory
  control and emotion regulation in preschool
  children. Cognitive Development, 22, 489-510.
• Delaney, K.R. (2006). Following the affect
  Learning to observe emotional regulation. Journal
  of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 19,
  175-181.
• Denham, S.A., Burton, R. (2003). Social and
  emotional prevention and intervention programming
  for preschoolers. New York, NY Kluwer
  Academic/Plenum Publishers.
• Feng, X., Shaw, D.S., Kovacs, M., Lane, T.,
  Flannerly, E., ORourke, 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.

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References

• Fox, N.A. (1994). The development of emotional
  regulation Biological and behavioral
  considerations. Chicago, IL University of
  Chicago Press.
• Garber, J., Dodge, K.A. (1991). The development
  of emotional regulation and dysregulation. New
  York, NY Cambridge University Press.
• Grazianao, P.A., Reavis, R.D., Keane, S.P.,
  Calkins, S.D. (2007). The role of emotion
  regulation in children's early academic success.
  Journal of School Psychology, 45, 3-19.
• Hyson, M. (2003). The emotional development of
  young children Building an emotion-centered
  curriculum. New York, NY Teachers College Press.
  
• Izard, C., King, K., Trentacosta, C.J., Morgan,
  J.K., Lanrenceau, J.P., Krauthamer-Ewing, S.K. ,
  Finlon, K.J. (2008). Accelerating the
  development of emotion competence in Head Start
  children Effects on adaptive and maladaptive
  behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 20,
  369-397.
• Landy, S. (2002). Pathways to competence
  encouraging healthy social and emotional
  development in young children. Baltimore, MD
  Paul H. Brookes.

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References

• Liebermann, D., Giesbrecht, G., Muller, U.
  (2007). Cognitive and emotional aspects of
  self-regulation in preschoolers. Cognitive
  Development, 22, 511-529.
• Macklem, G. L. (1941). Practitioners guide to
  emotion regulation in school-aged children.
  Manchester, MA Springer.
• Robinson, J.L., Emde, R.N., Korfmacher, J.
  (1997). Integrating and emotional regulation
  perspective in a program of prenatal and early
  childhood home visitation. Journal of Community
  Psychology, 25, 59-75.
• Vingerhoets, A., Nyklicik, I., Denollet, J.
  (2008). Emotional regulation Conceptual and
  clinical issues. New York, NY Springer.