The role of emotion regulation in children's coping with environmental stress

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Jennifer S. Mackler (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Susan Calkins

Abstract: The goal of this study was to examine whether the ability to effectively regulate emotions would moderate how children respond to environmental stress. It was hypothesized that children who exhibited greater emotion regulation and less reactivity at 4 years and also reported encountering environmental stress at 5 would experience less externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at 5 and 7 than children who exhibit poorer emotion regulation earlier in development. Measures of contextual stress were predictive of externalizing behavior problems at 5. The interaction of maternal reported reactivity and life events was significant for children who experienced a high degree of stress, where those who were highly reactive experienced the most externalizing behavior problems (b = 1.86, p = .001). This research indicates that environmental stress results in adjustment difficulties, and that distinct processes of emotion regulation may play a crucial role in how children react to these stressors.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2009
Keywords
Behavior problems, Coping, Emotion regulation, Reactivity, Stress
Subjects
Emotions in children.
Stress in children.
Adjustment (Psychology) in children.
Behavior disorders in children.
Emotional problems of children.
Control (Psychology)

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