The Relations of Regulation and Emotionality to Children's Externalizing and Internalizing Problem Behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of different types of negative emotion and regulation and control to 55- to 97-month-olds' internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Parents and teachers provided information on children's (N = 214) adjustment, dispositional regulation and control, and emotion, and children's regulation was observed during several behavioral tasks. Internalizing was defined in two ways: as social withdrawal (to avoid overlap of items with measures of emotionality) or, more broadly, as anxiety, depression, and psychosomatic complaints. In general, children with externalizing problems, compared with children with internalizing problems and nondisordered children, were more prone to anger, impulsivity, and low regulation. Children with internalizing symptoms were prone to sadness, low attentional regulation, and low impulsivity. Relations between internalizing problems and emotionality were more frequent when the entire internalizing scale was used. Findings suggest that emotion and regulation are associated with adjustment in systematic ways and that there is an important difference between effortful control and less voluntary modes of control.

Temperament and parenting predicting anxiety change in cognitive behavioral therapy: The role of mothers, fathers, and children

“…For example, effortful control is the ability to self-regulate emotions, attention and behavior. Internalizing problems are associated with low effortful control (Eisenberg et al, 2001;Sportel, Nauta, de Hullu, de Jong, & Hartman, 2011). High effortful control has been related to more active coping and lower adjustment problems later in development (Lengua & Long, 2002;Nigg, 2006;Rothbart, 2011).…”

A conceptual model for the development of externalizing behavior problems among kindergarten children of alcoholic families: Role of parenting and children's self-regulation.

“…Empirical studies on this topic have also highlighted the role of maternal warmth, sensitivity, and disciplinary strategies as predictors of self-regulation (e.g., Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998;Eisenberg et al, 2001Eisenberg et al, , 2003Emde, Biringen, Clyman, & Oppenheim, 1991;Olson, Bates, & Bayles, 1990). Children with warm, sensitive parents are more likely to be …”

Relation of emotional reactivity and regulation to childhood stuttering

“…Furthermore, the difficulties CWS display in attention regulation could potentially impact multiple domains of development, not only speech development, but also social, emotional, and academic development. Deficits in attention regulation in preschool have been found to be associated with internalizing and externalizing behavior problems (Eisenberg et al, 2001Zahn-Waxler, Schmitz, Fulker, Robinson, & Emde, 1996), poorer academic performance and social competence in elementary school (Nelson, Martin, Hodge, Havill, & Kamphaus, 1999), and poorer academic competence in adolescence (Shoda, Mischel, & Peake, 1990). Perhaps, correlations among these various academic, behavioral, and social problems and stuttering might be a fruitful avenue of research, and help explain, at least for some children, one possible core contributor to their stuttering, that is, inability to change or shift attention from more to less arousing/negative stimuli.…”

“…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, , 1993 Eisenberg, 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.…”