Emotion Regulation and Understanding in Three- & Four-Year-Olds Pamela M. Cole Tracy A. Dennis Laura H. Cohen The Pennsylvania State University This research has been reviewed and approved for compliance with the policy of The Pennsylvania State

1
Emotion Regulation and Understanding in Three-
Four-Year-OldsPamela M. Cole Tracy A.
DennisLaura H. CohenThe Pennsylvania State
UniversityThis research has been reviewed and
approved for compliance with the policy of The
Pennsylvania State University Institutional
Review Board, 00B0230-00, 3/10/2000

• DISCUSSION
•  
• The puppet procedure appeared to tap very young
  childrens recognition of effective emotion
  regulatory strategies. Even the young 3-year-olds
  showed recognition above that predicted by
  chance. During the period between 36 to 48 months
  this ability increases. Consistent with evidence
  from the Theory of Mind literature (Wellman,
  1992), some time after the 3rd birthday children
  gain increasing awareness of mental states and
  possibly their malleability.
• Our data are limited by the fact that ours was a
  first attempt at this procedure. We provided one
  story for each emotion, and only three
  effective strategies for each vignette. We
  chose these limitations out of concern for a
  young childs ability to tolerate the verbal
  demands of the task.
• Surprise! Even with these limitations,
  childrens awareness of ER strategies was
  correlated with maternal report of social
  competence and observations of actual child
  self-regulation during a mild frustration.
• Maternal reports indicated that responsibility
  was the skill associated with ER strategy
  awareness. We plan to explore the role of
  language development, given that items on that
  scale focus on communicating responsibly.
• Awareness of ER strategies appeared to be
  related to autonomous and flexible efforts to
  solve the problem (the locked box), pointing
  toward the role of the childs developing sense
  of self-efficacy and optimism.
• REFERENCES
• Band, E. B., Weisz, J. R. (1988). How to feel
  better when it feels bad Childrens perspectives
  on coping with everyday stress. Developmental
  Psychology, 24, 247-253.
• Bartsch, K., Wellman, H. M. (1995). Children
  Talk About the Mind. New York Oxford University
  Press.
• Calkins, S. D., Johnson, M. C. (1998). Toddler
  regulation of distress to frustrating events
  Temperamental and maternal correlates. Infant
  Behavior and Development, 21(3), 379-395.
• Denham, S.A. (1998). Emotional Development in
  Young Children. New York Guilford.
• Dunn, J., Brown, J. (1991). Relationships,
  talk about feelings, and the development of
  affect regulation in early childhood. In J.
  Garber K. Dodge (Eds.), The Development of
  Emotion Regulation and Dysfunction. Cambridge
  Studies in Social and Emotional Development (pp.
  89-108). New York Cambridge University Press.
• Eder, R. A. (1990). Uncovering young childrens
  psychological selves Individual and
  developmental differences. Child Development, 61,
  849-863.
• Goldsmith, H. H., Rothbart, M. K. (1994,
  November). The Laboratory Temperament Assessment
  Battery (Version 2.03). Unpublished manuscript.
• Gresham, F. M., Elliott, S. N. (1990). Social
  Skills Rating System. Circle Pines, MN American
  Guidance Service.
• Measelle, J. R., Ablow, J. C., Cowan, P. A.,
  Cowan, C. P. (1998). Assessing young childrens
  views of their academic, social, and emotional
  lives An evaluation of the self-perception
  scales of the Berkeley Puppet Interview. Child
  Development, 69, 1556-1576.
• Wellman, H. M. (1992). The Childs Theory of
  Mind. Cambridge Cambridge University Press.

RESULTS CONTINUED 2. Young 3-year-olds show
less frequent recognition of effective strategies
compared to older 3-year-olds and all
4-year-olds, F (3, 112) 5.00, p lt .005. The
effect is significant for happy and angry, but
not for sad, vignettes. 3. The number
of effective strategies is moderately but
significantly related to maternal report of
social competence, but particularly
responsibility. SSRS Scales Effective
Strategies Recognized All Emotions Anger
Sadness Only Social Skills .20 .16
Cooperation .06 .12m
Responsibility .33
.30 Assertion .12m .04
Self-Control .00 -.05 4. The number
of effective strategies is negatively, moderately
and significantly related to maternal report of
externalizing problems only. SSRS Scales
Effective Strategies Recognized All
Emotions Anger Sadness Only Problem Behaviors
- .01 -.05 Externalizing
-.15 -.17 Internalizing
-.03 -.05 5. The number of effective
strategies is associated with aspects of
preschoolers actual regulatory attempts during a
mild frustration (the lock box procedure).
Regulatory Activity Effective Strategies
Recognized All Emotions Anger Sadness
Only Persistence .20
.16 Flexibility .29
.25 Distraction -.17
-.07 Self-speech .11
.10 Self-soothing -.03
.02 Support-seeking -.20
-.33 Venting/acting out -.05
-.12

• STUDY AIMS
• to determine if a puppet procedure would engage
  3- and 4-year-olds well enough to tap their
  implicit awareness of strategies for regulating
  emotion
• to determine if 3- and 4-year-olds recognized
  effective emotion regulation strategies
• to determine whether this age period captures a
  developmental transition in awareness of emotion
  regulation strategies
• to determine if awareness is related to social
  competence or actual emotion regulation
• METHOD
• Participants 116 3- and 4-year-old boys and
  girls
• Generation Recognition of Effective ER
  Strategies
• Two child puppets 1 mother puppet enacted 3
  vignettes in which happiness, anger, and sadness
  needed to be reduced. After each vignette, the
  child puppets asked the 3- or 4-year old, How
  can we stop feeling so ________?
• A research assistant repeated the situation, the
  question, the puppets need for the childs
  help to facilitate the childs ability to manage
  the cognitive load. The child was given a minute
  to respond spontaneously (i.e., generate a
  strategy) and then given 3 pairs of strategies -
  one effective and one ineffective - and asked to
  choose one from each pair. Sketches depicting
  each strategy type (e.g., a child thinking a
  different thought) aided the childs
  understanding of choices.

• THE ANGRY VIGNETTE
• Red Brownie are happy content, playing with
  some toys. Each is playing alone but sitting
  next to the other. They both reach for the same
  toy.
• Red (looks over at Brownie, speaks with emphatic
  irritation) I need that toy, Brownie. (Pulls the
  toy).
• Brownie (angrily protesting) HEY, no-oo! I need
  that toy!
• Red (very angry, yells) I NEED IT! (To child
  subject) Childs name, Brownie wont give it
  to me!
• Brownie (also very angry, loud, jumping up)
  NOOO!! I NEED IT! (They struggle with the toy,
  then Brownie says to child subject in a sullen
  voice) Childs name, Red wont give it to
  me!!!!!
• Red Brownie (both very angry, loud, tugging on
  the toy) Its mine!!!!!!!
• Brownie Im telling Mom. MOOOOM!!
• Mom (enters, very angry) You two STOP being so
  angry! If you do not STOP being angry, Im
  taking all the toys away! (Mom marches off.)
• Red Brownie (so angry, both turning to child
  subject) We are SO angry. Please childs
  name, what can we do to STOP feeling so angry?
• ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGY AWARENESS
• SPONTANEOUS STRATEGY GENERATION
• Lets see, Red Brownie need your help, childs
  name. They must STOP feeling so angry or Mom
  will take away the toys. Childs name whats
  the best way to STOP feeling so angry?
• RECOGNITION OF EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES

• ASSESSMENT OF ACTUAL REGULATORY STRATEGIES
• The Lock Box Task is a frustration task from the
  LABTab Temperament Battery (Goldsmith Rothbart,
  1990) designed to assess a childs ability to
  regulate anger. A desired figurine is locked in
  an acrylic box and the child tries to open the
  box with the keys but has the wrong set of keys.
  The task was 3 minutes long.
• Observed Regulatory Strategies
• Persistence (continuing to try to open the box)
• Flexibility (trying alternate strategies to open
  the box)
• Distraction (focusing on a different task)
• Self-speech (talking to oneself about the task)
• Self-soothing (calming oneself through self-touch
  or rest)
• Support-seeking (trying to get an adult to help)
• Disruption venting (appearing frustrated)
• THE LOCKBOX

ABSTRACT Preschoolers awareness that emotions
can be regulated was tested using a new puppet
procedure. We interviewed 116 3- and 4-year-old
children via 3 puppet-enacted vignettes involving
happy, angry, or sad emotions. Recognition of
effective strategies was used as an index of
awareness. Young 3-year-olds endorsed fewer
effective strategies than older 3-year-olds and
4-year-olds. This effect was significant for
anger but not for sadness. It also appeared to
hold for one particular type of strategy, i.e.,
behavioral distraction but not for cognitive
distraction or problem solving. The number of
effective strategies endorsed by children was
positively associated with mother-reported social
social skills, and in particular, responsibility,
They were negatively associated with
externalizing symptoms. Gender effects did not
emerge. Implications for childrens actual
emotion regulatory behavior and associations with
the Theory of Mind literature are discussed.
INTRODUCTION Young childrens awareness that
they can regulate emotions appears implicit in
their behavior, but it has been difficult to
demonstrate that understanding. Puppet enactments
provide a method for tapping young childrens
understanding of social phenomena (Denham,
Eder, 1990 Measelle, Ablow, Cowan, Cowan,
1998). At about 2 years of age, children
explain their own and others behavior in terms
of emotions and desires (Bartsch Wellman, 1995)
and appear aware of the causes and consequences
of emotions, using this understanding to
influence others affective states (Dunn Brown,
1991). It is unclear whether very young
children recognize that emotions are states that
can be regulated. This knowledge is not trivial
as it may play a role in promoting adaptive
outcomes. It remains uncertain, however, whether
knowledge of emotion regulation actually relates
to social-emotional competence.

• TYPES OF EMOTION REGULARTORY STRATEGIES
• The coping literature dichotomizes strategies as
  either problem-focused (effort is directed at
  correcting the situation) or emotion-focused
  (effort is directed at modifying the emotion
  state). Developmental research suggests that
  emotion-focused coping emerges later than
  problem-focused coping (e.g., Band Weisz,
  1988).
• The literature on early emotion regulation,
  however, suggests that very young children engage
  spontaneously in self-distraction and
  instrumental coping behaviors (e.g., Calkins
  Johnson, 1998).
• We examined distraction and problem-solving
  strategies. Distraction strategies were
  subdivided into those that involved a cognitive
  distraction (thinking about something else) or a
  behavioral distraction (doing something else).