The effectiveness of emotion regulation training on preschool children's social competence

Dissertation for Master's Degree

General Psychology Department

Winter 91

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of emotion regulation training on the social competence of preschool children. In this research, an experimental design with an experimental and control group was used. The statistical population includes all preschool children in Tehran. Using the multi-stage cluster sampling method, two kindergartens were selected, one of these kindergartens was selected as the experimental group and the second as the control group. Emotion regulation training included 11 lessons, both sessions were held in one week for 14 weeks (along with supplementary sessions). The social behavior evaluation test adapted from Weir and Davin (1980) was filled by educators in two stages before training and after training to evaluate the changes made in children's social behavior. And independent t statistic method was used for data analysis. The difference between the pre-test and post-test scores in the experimental group was larger and more significant than the control group. Emotion regulation training has been effective on preschool children's social competence. Key words: Emotion regulation training [1], social competence [2], preschool children [3]

Chapter 1

Research framework

Introduction and problem statement

One of the factors of interest of researchers in the social aspects of development during the past few decades, The relationship between problems in relationships with peers and poor academic, emotional and social adjustment has been investigated (Hartup[4], 1992; Coppersmith, Koye and Dagg[5], 1990; Newcomb[6] et al., 1993; Parker and Asher[7], 1987; Parker et al., 1995; quoted by Rose-Krasnor [8], 1997). These researchers agree that problems with peers in children can manifest themselves in the form of abnormal behaviors [9] (such as destructive behavior, aggression) or internalization [10] (such as withdrawal, social anxiety) (cited by Rose-Krasnor, 1997). This is why, in recent years, researchers, psychologists, educators and parents of children, in addition to emphasizing learning to read and math calculations in preschool, consider it necessary to achieve another important developmental task: achieving abilities to succeed in social relationships (Brophy-Hebb [11] et al., 2007, Brown [12], 2011).  The psychological structure of "social competence[13]" is a good representation of these abilities; Social competence in early childhood [14] means the child's participation in social interactions, achieving social goals, creating and maintaining friendships, and achieving peer acceptance (Robin, Bukowski, and Parker [15], 2006; quoted by Mirabel [16], 2010).

Emotions are one of the main elements of social interactions, because they are an important source of information for both the person making the communication and the person receiving the communication. The emotional content of the relationship often determines the meaning of the relationship (Campus, Campos and Barrett [17], 1989; quoted by Halberstead, Denham and Dunsmore [18], 2011). The importance of emotions in social relationships is evident from the fact that some have said that it is difficult to imagine even a relationship without emotional information, to receive emotional information and to experience the emotional state (Halberstad, Denham, and Dunsmore, 2011). Managing emotions in a form that is compatible with the environment is necessary for social functioning and psychological well-being (Aldao, Nolen-Hoeksma, Switzer [19], 2010; Denham, 1998; Isenberg). , Phibes, Gutierrez and Reiser [20], Gross [21], cited by McLaughlin, Menin and Nolen-Hoeksma [22]).  Thompson [23] (1994) has defined emotion regulation as "the internal and external processes that are responsible for awareness, evaluation and modification of the occurrence, duration and intensity of emotional reactions in order to achieve the individual's desires". "theory of mind" and "emotion understanding", the first of which means a child's developing understanding of the mental states of others, including their beliefs, thoughts, and desires (Dunn, Brown, Slomsky, Tesla, and Youngblade [24], 1991; cited by Lucas and Adkins, 2006) and the second is the child's ability to decode the emotional states of another person (Harris and Sarney [25]) , 1989; quoted by Lucas and Adkins, 2006). It has been found that the development of both of these skills helps to develop social competence (Barnett and Thompson, 1984, page 259; cited in Lucas-Adkins, 2006, Raza and Blair [26], 2009).

It has been found that children's social competence may depend to some extent on the ability to accurately recognize and infer the emotional states of another person (Barnett and Thompson [27], 1984, page 259; quoted by Lucas-Adkins [28], 2006). River and Wiggles [29] (1997; cited by Brophy-Hebb et al., 2007) note that social competence depends on the acquisition of basic skills such as emotion regulation [30], social cognition skills [31] and positive communication behaviors. Children and adolescents with better emotion regulation skills have more social competence, have a higher rank among peers, and their relationships are of higher quality, and in comparison With peers with poor emotion regulation skills, they are in a higher category of socially desirable behavior [32] (Denham, 1986; Denham et al., 2003; Denham, McKinley, Kuchod, and Holt [33], 1990; quoted by McLogin, Hesenbuhler, Menin, and Nolen-Hoeksma, 2011). It has been found that emotion regulation skills can predict children's social competence in later stages of development (Denham et al., 2003; Riedel [34] et al., 2003; Spinard [35] et al., 2006; cited by McLaughin, Hesenbuehler, Menin, and Nolen-Hoeksma, 2011). Collectively, they are called emotional competence [36] (Halberstatt, Denham and Dunsmore, 2001; Sarni [37], 2000).  Children in preschool age gain emotional awareness. As a result, they are better able to talk about their feelings and respond appropriately to other people's emotional signals. They become better at emotional self-regulation [38], especially in coping with intense negative emotion. Preschool children often experience self-aware emotions [39] and empathy [40] that help their developing moral understanding. They point to the causes and consequences and behavioral symptoms of excitement, and these awarenesses increase rapidly in terms of accuracy and complexity. They can also predict what a teammate will do next when they express a certain emotion. They acquire effective ways to soothe others' negative emotions, such as hugging to relieve sadness. At the same time, preschool children have difficulty interpreting situations with conflicting signs about how a person feels. When 4- and 5-year-old children were shown a picture of a happy-looking child with a broken bicycle, they relied on an expression of excitement and said, "He is happy because he likes to ride his bicycle." Older children usually combine these two signs: "He is happy because his father promised to fix his bicycle" (Burke [41], 2007). Also, because preschool children are not aware of mental activities, they explain emotions by referring to external states instead of internal ones (Flavel and Green [42], 2001). Children are almost 8 years old when they become aware that they can experience more than one emotion at any moment, so that each one may be positive or negative and differ in intensity (Ponce [43] et al., 2003). Understanding mixed emotions [44] helps children to understand that the expression of people's emotions may not reflect their real feelings (Sarni, 1999) and also helps to be aware of conscious emotions.  Based on the research findings mentioned above, children's emotional capabilities increase with age and the development of emotion has a developmental process, which is a testimony of the mutual relationship between cognition and emotion that the researcher will describe in detail in the next part of the research. The core of Jean Piaget's theoretical position [45] was that children should build their mental and physical structures through activity and action in the environment (Piaget, 1982; quoted by Feldman and Fuller [46], 1998). When children directly influence the environment, these structures change and their thinking develops. Despite Piaget's many but unsatisfactory efforts to explain this theoretical position, he received many criticisms; Other theorists believed that growth and learning are mutually related, and contrary to Piaget's opinion, they did not consider the relationship between growth and learning to be one-way, where only growth leads to learning. One of the strict supporters of the position of learning, who announced his position many years ago, was Lev Vygotsky[47]. According to him, learning is a process through which the possibility of increasing conceptual structures is created.