Evidence is accumulating for the centrality of emotion regulation (ER) in mental health. However, researchers and clinicians have recognized that the clinical utility of ER research will remain limited without a better understanding of the specific dimensions of ER that contribute to emotional dysregulation and psychopathology. Therefore, the proposed dissertation project seeks to understand an often-cited but rarely-studied dimension of ER -- strategy flexibility, or a person's ability to flexibly use ER strategies across diverse contexts and within a given situation. By age 3-4 years, typically developing children use a range of strategies (e.g., Mangelsdorf et al., 1995), showing a large enough repertoire of ER strategies to permit the study of strategy flexibility. Moreover, by focusing on early childhood it is possible to observe strategy use because children are not yet primarily using cognitive strategies (e.g., Band &Weisz, 1988). Thus, this project tests the predictive and concurrent validity of four newly-developed measures of strategy flexibility in 36- and 48-month- olds. We reason that if strategy flexibility is important to mental health, it should relate systematically to the quality of children's self-regulation such that children with greater strategy flexibility will exhibit better regulatory ability (e.g., fewer externalizing symptoms, better social self-control, and better overall ER). The project has four specific aims. First, the project tests the concurrent validity of strategy measures in different situations, comparing (1) variety of children's regulatory strategies with (2) two indices of children's situation-appropriate use of ER strategies (strategy-situation match and situation-inappropriate strategy perseveration). Second, the project tests the concurrent validity of strategy flexibility measures within a given situation, comparing (1) variety of children's ER strategies with (2) two indices of children's ability to switch strategies when a current strategy is not effective (within-situation strategy flexibility and perseveration). Third, the predictive validity of strategy flexibility measures over time will be tested in relation to child self-regulatory ability at age 5 years. Finally, the project tests relations between measures of strategy flexibility and cognitive flexibility, where cognitive flexibility is assessed by young children's skill in a specific aspect of executive functioning -- set- shifting. Creating valid measurement of strategy flexibility represents an important step in elucidating the specific contributions of ER to mental health. Strategy inflexibility may be one important sign of maladaptive ER, with implications for preventative interventions aimed at reducing psychopathology through the promotion of emotional competence (e.g., Greenberg et al., 1995;Izard et al., 2004). Current efforts at promoting ER may be enhanced by teaching children when to use specific ER strategies or by boosting underlying processes which support strategy flexibility. Public Health Relevance: The skill with which a child handles frustration and disappointment is known to predict his or her later mental health. Young children have strategies for regulating these emotions but little is known about their flexible use of emotion regulation strategies. Studies of strategy flexibility in early childhood will address this gap and shed light on the early cognitive and emotional processes that are relevant to understanding, preventing, and treating childhood psychopathology.
The skill with which a child handles frustration and disappointment is known to predict his or her later mental health. Young children have strategies for regulating these emotions but little is known about their flexible use of emotion regulation strategies. Studies of strategy flexibility in early childhood will address this gap and shed light on the early cognitive and emotional processes that are relevant to understanding, preventing, and treating childhood psychopathology.
