Natalie D. Eggum

Emotion-Related Self-Regulation and Its Relation to Children's Maladjustment

The development of childrens emotion-related self-regulation appears to be related to, and likely involved in, many aspects of childrens development. In this review, the distinction between effortful self-regulatory processes and those that are somewhat less voluntary is discussed, and literature on the former capacities is reviewed. Emotion-related self-regulation develops rapidly in the early years of life and improves more slowly into adulthood. Individual differences in childrens self-regulation are fairly stable after the first year or two of life. Such individual differences are inversely related to at least some types of externalizing problems. Findings for internalizing problems are less consistent and robust, although emotion-related self-regulation appears to be inversely related to internalizing problems after the early years. Self-regulatory capacities have been related to both genetic and environmental factors and their interaction. Some interventions designed to foster self-regulation and, hence, reduce maladjustment, have proved to be at least partially effective.

Self-Regulation and School Readiness

Research Findings: In this article, we review research on the relations of self-regulation and its dispositional substrate, effortful control, to variables involved in school success. First, we present a conceptual model in which the relation between self-regulation/effortful control and academic performance is mediated by low maladjustment and high-quality relationships with peers and teachers, as well as school engagement. Then we review research indicating that effortful control and related skills are indeed related to maladjustment, social skills, relationships with teachers and peers, school engagement, as well as academic performance. Practice or Policy: Initial findings are consistent with the view that self-regulatory capacities involved in effortful control are associated with the aforementioned variables; only limited evidence of mediated relations is currently available.

Positive and Negative Emotionality: Trajectories Across Six Years and Relations With Social Competence

The goals of the present study were to examine (1) the mean-level stability and differential stability of childrens positive emotional intensity, negative emotional intensity, expressivity, and social competence from early elementary school-aged to early adolescence, and (2) the associations between the trajectories of childrens emotionality and social functioning. Using four waves of longitudinal data (with assessments 2 years apart), parents and teachers of children (199 kindergarten through third grade children at the first assessment) rated childrens emotion-related responding and social competence. For all constructs, there was evidence of mean-level decline with age and stability in individual differences in rank ordering. Based on age-centered growth-to-growth curve analyses, the results indicated that children who had a higher initial status on positive emotional intensity, negative emotional intensity, and expressivity had a steeper decline in their social skills across time. These findings provide insight into the stability and association of emotion-related constructs to social competence across the elementary and middle school years.

Characterizing and Comparing the Friendships of Anxious-Solitary and Unsociable Preadolescents

Friendships matter for withdrawn youth because the consequences of peer isolation are severe. From a normative sample of 2,437 fifth graders (1,245 females; M age = 10.25), a subset (n = 1,364; 638 female) was classified into 3 groups (anxious-solitary, unsociable, comparison) and followed across a school year. Findings indicated that it was more common for unsociable than anxious-solitary children to have friends, be stably friended, and participate in multiple friendships. For withdrawn as well as nonwithdrawn children, peer rejection predicted friendlessness, but this relation was strongest for anxious-solitary children. The friends of unsociable youth were more accepted by peers than those of anxious-solitary youth. The premise that friendship inhibits peer victimization was substantiated for withdrawn as well as nonwithdrawn youth.

Emotion understanding, theory of mind, and prosocial orientation: Relations over time in early childhood

Data were collected when children were 42, 54, and 72 months of age (Ns = 210, 191, and 172 for T1, T2, and T3, respectively). Childrens emotion understanding (EU) and theory of mind (ToM) were examined as predictors of childrens prosocial orientation within and across time. EU positively related to childrens sympathy across 2.5 years, and T1 EU positively related to parent-reported prosocial orientation concurrently and across 1 year (T2). T2 ToM positively related to parents’ reports of sympathy and prosocial orientation concurrently and 18 months later (T3); in contrast, T3 ToM did not relate to sympathy or prosocial orientation. T2 ToM accounted for marginally significant variance (p < 0.058) in T3 mother-reported prosocial orientation over and above that accounted for by T2 prosocial orientation. Fostering the development of EU and ToM may contribute to childrens prosocial orientation.

Assessment of preschoolers’ positive empathy: concurrent and longitudinal relations with positive emotion, social competence, and sympathy

The purpose of this study was to examine a new measure of childrens dispositional positive empathy (i.e., reactions to others’ positive emotions) and its concurrent and longitudinal relations with positive emotion, social competence, and empathy/sympathy with negative emotions. At Time 1, 192 3.5-year-olds (88 girls) participated; at Time 2, 1 year later, 168 4.5-year-olds (79 girls) participated. Childrens positive empathy was reported by mothers and observed in the laboratory at Time 2. Additionally, mothers, fathers, and non-parental caregivers completed questionnaires at Time 1 and Time 2 regarding childrens positive emotion, empathy/sympathy, and social competence. Childrens positive emotion was observed at both assessments. There was evidence of reliability of the new reported measure of positive empathy. Additionally, there were numerous positive relations between positive empathy and social competence and between positive empathy and empathy/sympathy with negative emotions. This study provides unique insight into childrens positive empathy and relations to socio-emotional functioning.

Predictors of withdrawal: Possible precursors of avoidant personality disorder

Relations of avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) with shyness and inhibition suggest that a precursor of AvPD is withdrawal. Using a sample of 4.5- to 7-year-olds studied four times, 2 years apart, four and three classes of children differing in trajectories of mother- and teacher-reported withdrawal, respectively, were identified. Mothers and teachers generally did not agree on childrens trajectories but the pattern of findings in the two contexts did not differ markedly. The mother-identified high and declining withdrawal class, in comparison with less withdrawn classes, and the teacher-identified high and declining class compared with low withdrawal classes, were associated with relatively high levels of anger and low levels of attentional control and resiliency. The mother-identified moderate and increasing withdrawal class was distinguished from less problematic withdrawal classes by higher anger, lower resiliency, and sometimes, lower attentional control. The teacher-identified low and increasing withdrawal class was distinguished from less problematic withdrawal classes by lower resiliency and lower attentional control. Findings are discussed in terms of the developmental precursors to social withdrawal and avoidant behavior.

“Then It Will Be Good” Negative Life Events and Resilience in Ugandan Youth

Youths (N = 57; mean age = 13.83 years) residing near Tororo, Uganda, were interviewed to obtain quantitative and qualitative data pertaining to negative life events, adjustment problems, coping, social support, self-worth, and hope. On average, they experienced nearly half of the 22 negative life events assessed. The experience of negative life events related positively to internalizing problems and negatively to social support and self-worth. Coping strategies (problem-focused, positive reframing, avoidance, and support-seeking) were positively associated with hope. Problem-focused coping was negatively related to externalizing problems. Furthermore, social support was positively associated with coping strategies, self-worth, and hope and was negatively related to adjustment problems. The qualitative data shed light on the difficult events the youths endured and what types of coping strategies they used. Ultimately, interviews suggested that youths experienced many negative events, but they remained optimistic.