Emotion Regulation and Understanding in Three- & Four-Year-Olds Pamela M. ColeTracy A. Dennis Laura H. Cohen The Pennsylvania State University T his research has been reviewed and approved for compliance with the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Institutional Review Board, #00B , 3/10/2000 INTRODUCTION Young children’s 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 children’s 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. 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: 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 child’s help to facilitate the child’s 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 child’s understanding of choices. THE PUPPET PROCEDURE DISCUSSION The puppet procedure appeared to tap very young children’s 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 child’s ability to tolerate the verbal demands of the task. Surprise! Even with these limitations, children’s 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 child’s developing sense of self-efficacy and optimism. REFERENCES Band, E. B., Weisz, J. R. (1988). How to feel better when it feels bad: Children’s perspectives on coping with everyday stress. Developmental Psychology, 24, 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), 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 ). New York: Cambridge University Press. Eder, R. A. (1990). Uncovering young children’s psychological selves: Individual and developmental differences. Child Development, 61, 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 children’s views of their academic, social, and emotional lives: An evaluation of the self-perception scales of the Berkeley Puppet Interview. Child Development, 69, Wellman, H. M. (1992). The Child’s Theory of Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 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): [Child’s name], Brownie won’t 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): [Child’s name], Red won’t give it to me!!!!! Red & Brownie (both very angry, loud, tugging on the toy): It’s mine!!!!!!! Brownie: I’m telling Mom. MOOOOM!! Mom (enters, very angry): You two STOP being so angry! If you do not STOP being angry, I’m taking all the toys away! (Mom marches off.) Red & Brownie (so angry, both turning to child subject): We are SO angry. Please [child’s name], what can we do to STOP feeling so angry? ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGY AWARENESS SPONTANEOUS STRATEGY GENERATION: Let’s see, Red & Brownie need your help, [child’s name]. They must STOP feeling so angry or Mom will take away the toys. [Child’s name] what’s the best way to STOP feeling so angry? RECOGNITION OF EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES (Items marked B) (To puppets:) Well, Brownie and Red do you have any ideas? Cognitive Distraction: A. I should think about what a bad boy/girl Brownie is. B. I should think about something else, like playing with my friend. Behavioral Distraction: A. I should hit Red. B. I should find another toy to play with. Problem-Solving: A. I should grab Brownie’s toy. B. I should share the toy with Red. ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL COMPETENCE SOCIAL SKILLS RATING SYSTEM (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) Each child’s mother completed this instrument while the child was participating in the puppet interview and other procedures. The SSRS assesses competent social behaviors and problem behaviors. There are 4 social skills scales & 2 problem scales: SSRS Social Skills Scales: Cooperation - helping others, sharing, complying with rules Assertion - asking for information, introducing self Responsibility - asking permission, reporting problems Self-Control - controls temper, responds appropriately when hit SSRS Problem Behavior Scales: Internalizing - anxiety, sadness, loneliness, poor self-esteem Externalizing - aggression, poor temper control, arguing 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 child’s 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 RESULTS 1. Young children recognize effective strategies at a greater than chance level (all p values <.001). Age in MonthsN % Recognition % % % % 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 <.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 EmotionsAnger & Sadness Only Social Skills.20*.16* Cooperation m Responsibility.33***.30*** Assertion.12 m.04 Self-Control The number of effective strategies is negatively, moderately and significantly related to maternal report of externalizing problems only. SSRS Scales # Effective Strategies Recognized All EmotionsAnger & Sadness Only Problem Behaviors Externalizing -.15* -.17* Internalizing 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 EmotionsAnger & Sadness Only Persistence.20**.16* Flexibility.29***.25*** Distraction -.17* -.07 Self-speech Self-soothing Support-seeking -.20** -.33*** Venting/acting out ABSTRACT Preschoolers’ awareness that emotions can be regulated was tested using a new puppet procedure. We interviewed 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 children’s actual emotion regulatory behavior and associations with the Theory of Mind literature are discussed. 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).