Effect of Emotion Regulation Training on Social Problem Solving, Emotional Knowledge and Emotion Regulation in Preschool Children

Research has shown that emotion regulation plays an important role in adaptation skills and social problem solving in children also and different aspects of life such as adapting to life changes and stressful events. Preschool children have many problems in areas such as social problem solving, emotional knowledge, and emotion regulation before entering school. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of emotion regulation training on social problem solving, emotional knowledge and emotion regulation in preschool children.

The statistical population consisted of all preschool children in Shahrood in the academic year. A sample of 30 children was selected by convenience sampling method and divided into two groups of 15 experimental and control groups. The variables were Grass and John (2003), Izard et al. (2003), and Garnefsky and Craig (2001) children's emotion regulation scales. Pre-test was performed in both groups before the intervention and the experimental group received 8 sessions of 45 minutes of behavioral therapy based on one session per week for the experimental group. The control group did not receive any psychological treatment. At the end of eight training sessions, both groups were re-tested with post-test. To analyze the data, univariate covariance analysis and multivariate analysis of covariance was used.

The data obtained through univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance showed that emotional adjustment training program was effective on social problem solving, emotional knowledge and emotional regulation of preschool children (p < 0.001).

Therefore, it seems that emotion regulation training through behavior therapy is effective on social problem solving, emotional knowledge and emotional regulation and can be useful.