Responses of preschoolers in two frustrating episodes: Emergence of complex strategies for emotion regulation

Although research on young children's abilities to organize emotional stale s has increased in recent years, little is known about the emergence of com plex strategies for emotion regulation in preschoolers. In the present stud y, emotion-regulation strategies used by 52 normally developing 3- and 4-ye ar-olds were examined. Children and their primary caregivers (50 mothers, 2 fathers) participated in 2 controlled frustration episodes that were video taped. Four types of strategies were coded: comforting behaviors, instrumen tal behaviors, distraction behaviors, and cognitive reappraisals. Results i ndicated that 3-year-olds used proportionately more instrumental strategies than 4-year-olds, and parents of 3-year-olds showed the same pattern, wher eas parents of 4-year-olds did not. Moreover, 3-year-olds used a variety of strategies when frustrated, including cognitive reappraisals. Significant positive correlations were found between the types of strategies used by th e children and by the parents to help their children. It is suggested that children may be using strategies to organize their emotional states before they are able to accurately report on them.