The Relations of Emotionality and Regulation to Preschoolers' Social Skills and Sociometric Status

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of emotionality (intensity and negative emotion) and regulation (coping and attentional regulation) to preschoolers' social skills (as rated by adults) and sociometric status. Teachers' ratings of children's constructive coping and attentional control were positively related to boys' social skills and peer status, whereas negative affect was negatively related. Acting out (vs. avoidant) coping and emotional intensity were negatively related to girls' and boys' social skills and boys' peer status. In addition, mothers' reports of boys' coping by seeking social support and low emotional intensity were associated with boys' positive social functioning, whereas avoidant coping was positively related to girls' rated social skills. The results are discussed in relation to research on emotion regulation and coping with emotion in interpersonal contexts.

Relation of emotional reactivity and regulation to childhood stuttering

“…For example, Eisenberg et al have articulated a conceptual model of the impact of emotion reactivity and emotion regulation on children's functioning (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1992;Eisenberg et al, 2000) based on earlier models proposed by Rothbart and Derryberry (1981) and others. Empirical support for the Eisenberg et al model has been reported in several studies (e.g., Ialongo et al, 2001;Eisenberg et al, 1993;Eisenberg, Fabes et al, 1997).…”

“…Thus, over time, an emotionally reactive and/or poorly regulated child with a predisposition to display speech disfluencies (due to communicative, motoric, linguistic, or situational factors) would be more likely to experience a disfluency problem that persists, than a similarly predisposed child with less reactivity and/or better regulatory abilities. Although at present there is little empirical evidence linking emotional reactivity and regulatory skills to childhood stuttering, there is a substantial body of knowledge Ialongo et al, 2001;Eisenberg et al, 1993; Eisenberg, Fabes et al, 1997).…”

“…For example, Eisenberg et al (1996) reported that first to third grade children who were high in negative emotionality and low in regulation were prone to externalizing behavior problems, with the effect of regulation being stronger for those high in negative emotionality. Likewise, Eisenberg et al (1993) found that high emotional intensity and low (attention) regulation were associated with low social skills and low sociometric (peer) status in preschool children.To the present authors' knowledge, to date there has been no empirical test of the links among emotional reactivity, regulation, and childhood stuttering. There are studies linking temperamental characteristics to stuttering in preschool and school-age children, however.…”

“…This is unfortunate given that emotional reactivity and regulation have been shown to influence a wide range of developmentally important outcomes such as communication (Dixon & Shore, 1997;Dixon & Smith, 2000;Karrass & Braungart-Rieker, 2003;Paul & Kellogg, 1997), school performance (Ialongo, Edelsohn, & Kellam, 2001), and psychopathology (Eisenberg et al, 1993;Eisenberg, Fabes et al, 1997) in children who do not stutter.…”

“…Furthermore, even when social interactions are emotionally intense, well-regulated children have more socially competent responses. Indeed, results of several empirical studies indicate that emotional reactivity and regulation act jointly (e.g., Eisenberg et al, 2001Eisenberg et al, , 1993Eisenberg, Guthrie et al, 1997;Eisenberg, Fabes et al, 1997;Fabes et al, 1999;Rothbart, Ahadi, & Hershey, 1994). For example, Eisenberg et al (1996) reported that first to third grade children who were high in negative emotionality and low in regulation were prone to externalizing behavior problems, with the effect of regulation being stronger for those high in negative emotionality.…”