Lecture Outline

1

• Lecture Outline
• Emotion Regulation
• Definition
• Normative Development
• Individual Differences in Emotion and Emotion
  Regulation
• Temperament
• Temperament Dimensions
• Measurement of Temperament
• Temperament and Later Adjustment

2

• Emotion Regulation

3

• Normative Development of ER
• Role of Caregivers
• Parents help infants and young children regulate
  negative emotions
• Over time, infants and young children gradually
  become better able to regulate emotions
  independently

4

• Use of cognitive strategies to regulate negative
  emotions increases with age
• Ex mental distraction focus on positive
  aspects of a situation
• Use of more effective/appropriate strategies to
  regulate emotions increases with age

5

• Individual Differences in Emotion and ER
• Temperament Biologically based individual
  differences in emotional characteristics and
  other behaviors
• Show consistency across situations
• Relatively stable over time

6

• Temperament Dimensions
• Fearful distress/Behavioral Inhibition
• Irritable distress
• Attention span/persistence
• Activity level
• Positive affect

7

• Measurement of Temperament
• Parent report
• Structured Observation
• Psychophysiological Methods

8

• Temperament and Later Adjustment
• Difficult temperament may include
• High irritable distress or fearful distress
• Low attention span/persistence
• High activity level
• Low positive affect

9

• Difficult temperament in infancy/preschool period
  is correlated with adjustment problems later in
  life (adolescence, adulthood)

10

• Goodness-of-Fit
• Degree to which a childs temperament is
  compatible with the expectations of the social
  environment (including the family environment)
• Poor goodness-of-fit likely to result in
  adjustment problems for children