Emotional regulation, as defined within this study, is “the process of modulating the occurrence, duration, and intensity of internal states of feeling (both positive and negative) and emotion-related physiological processes.” This study was based on the framework of the tripartite model, which states that parents influence a child’s emotional regulation through 3 mechanisms. Those being observations of parent’s emotion regulation, emotion-related parenting practice, and emotional climate of the family.

It was found that parent’s emotional support, positive affect, emotion coaching, and use of joint strategies were associated with better emotional regulation within children. Conversely, it was found that parents’ psychological control, permissiveness, expressed anger, and criticism were associated with higher difficulties in regulating emotions. 

Ways found to support better emotional regulation have been through emotional support and a secure parent-child relationship. This allows for children to feel they are able to freely express their emotions and is an important step in learning emotion regulation. Parenting that has defined rules and limits help children know what to expect when it comes to emotional expression within their home, and this can help children learn ways to express their emotions in ways that are socially acceptable. For example, knowing it is okay to feel anger but that it is not okay to hurt someone because of it. It has also been found that parents who help coach their children on emotions, through problem solving, labeling emotion, and comforting their child, can increase successful emotional regulation! 

If you want to read more on ways to facilitate children’s emotional regulation, click here!

Kaitlyn Vitucci
UConn KIDS, Research Assistant 

Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday!

This weeks’ question is…True or false: Being Love, or B-Love, is defined by the American Psychological Association (2018) as “…in Abraham Maslow’s humanistic psychology, a form of love characterized by mutuality, genuine concern for another’s welfare and pleasure, and reduced dependency, selfishness, and jealousy.”

A. True
B. False

Last weeks’ question was “True or false: ‘When people feel coerced into a certain behavior, they will react against the coercion, often by demonstrating an increased preference for the behavior that is restrained, and may perform the behavior opposite to that desired.’ (American Psychological Association, 2018) This experience is called Reactance Theory.” The answer was true!

Tune in next week to find out the answer to this weeks’ question!

Emma Wedell is a fourth year Ph.D. student in Social Psychology at UConn. She is working with the Teen Beliefs about Prejudice and Discrimination in Social Life (IRB protocol: H24-0059) lab, with Dr. Rhiannon Smith! 

Fun facts about Emma are that her favorite movie is Monsters, Inc.! Emma and her sister recite their favorite quotes often, one of them is “Put that thing back where it came from or so help me!” Another fun fact is her favorite ice cream flavor at UConn Dairy Bar is mint oreo!

Emma studies the impacts of prejudice and discrimination on people’s lives, especially how people respond when something unfair happens to either themselves or others. Most of this research focuses on adult perspectives, but she also believes it is so important that psychologists listen to teens’ voices! Emma believes the work in the Teen Beliefs about Prejudice and Discrimination in Social Life lab is so exciting because teens will have the opportunity to share their thoughts directly in a conversation with each other. Additionally, the insights they can share will be extremely valuable for the scientific community. 

If you want to check out the lab, click the link below!
https://social-development-lab.psychology.uconn.edu/

 

Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday!

This week’s question is… True or false: “When people feel coerced into a certain behavior, they will react against the coercion, often by demonstrating an increased preference for the behavior that is restrained, and may perform the behavior opposite to that desired.” (American Psychological Association, 2018) This experience is called Reactance Theory.

A. True
B. False 

Last week’s question was “True or false: Cognitive Dissonance is defined by the American Psychological Association (2018) as ‘an unpleasant psychological state resulting from inconsistency between two or more elements in a cognitive system.’” The answer was true!

Tune in next week to find out the answer to this week’s question!

 

What is known about socio-emotional learning (SEL) is early childhood SEL skills are strongly associated with social, academic, and cognitive outcomes later in life. However, there is not much known about how a large scale SEL program would impact children. The research on SEL interventions in school suggested short term benefits, but there needs to be more longitudinal research for the long-term benefits. 

The current framework for SEL was organized by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL); this includes five core areas of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. 

This article reviewed a few intervention methods. A highlight of this article is based on past evidence that having a sensitive and responsive caregiver is associated with healthy development. It was found that programs with high-quality teacher- child relationships (ex. Smaller class sizes) and safe learning environments are more likely to have positive impacts on children’s SEL. 

This paper concluded that investments should be made to support a child’s SEL at many levels. One way this can be done is to add SEL skills into the curriculum, along with the literacy and numeracy skills. 

All in all, the benefits of SEL on childrens’ well being is well known but there is much to be studied on the possible benefits of a large skill SEL intervention.

If you want to read more, click here!

Kaitlyn Vitucci
UConn KIDS, Research Assistant

Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday!

True or false: Cognitive Dissonance is defined by the American Psychological Association (2018) as “an unpleasant psychological state resulting from inconsistency between two or more elements in a cognitive system.” 

A. True
B. False

Last week’s question was “‘during various phases of brain development through the onset of puberty, the process in which excess or redundant neurons and synaptic connections are eliminated to enable more efficient neural processing’ (American Psychological Association, 2018) is the process of:” The answer was pruning!

Tune in next week to find out the answer to this week’s question!

Art therapy is defined by the American Psychological Association as “therapeutic interventions that use artistic endeavors or mediums, such as music, poetry, dance, and drama, to facilitate communication and emotional expression, enhance self-awareness, and foster health and change.” The aim of art therapy is to facilitate children’s personal growth through the use of different medias; such as drawing, painting, digital art, etc. 

A major challenge when it comes to mental health is a person’s limited understanding and ability to safely express their feelings, and this can be enhanced in children due to their limited vocabulary and knowledge. When children are not able to express their negative feelings, not only emotional, but behavioral issues arise. A potential solution is art therapy!

This article referred to multiple studies. One included focused on the realization of one’s self concept and transformation. This included mask making to express feelings, transform clay volcanoes into mountains to relieve anger, and coloring. The results suggested improvements from the parent’s and child’s perspective. 

Overall, there are still a lot of unknowns of the benefits and factors affecting art therapy. This leaves a lot of room for future studies on the effectiveness of art therapy for children! 

If you want to read more about other studies of art therapy, click here!

Kaitlyn Vitucci
UConn KIDS, Research Assistant 

Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday!

This weeks question is… “during various phases of brain development through the onset of puberty, the process in which excess or redundant neurons and synaptic connections are eliminated to enable more efficient neural processing” (American Psychological Association, 2018) is the process of:

A. Pruning
B. Maturation
C. Habituation
D. Object permanence 

Last week’s question was… “True or False: As defined by the American Psychological Association (2018), those with an external locus of control ‘tend to behave in response to internal states and intentions and to perceive their life outcomes as arising from the exercise of their own agency and abilities.’” The answer was false, that is an internal locus of control. An external locus of control is defined as those who “tend to behave in response to external

Tune in next week to find out the answer to this weeks’ question!

Majority of the children in the US spend most of their time in child-care, where physical activity is an important aspect of their day and development. As this study mentions, the levels of physical activity vary and the aim of the study was to figure out why. 

The overall conclusion was that physical activity may vary due to the clothing worn by children. The two noted major themes were: children’s clothing was a barrier to children’s physical activity in child-care and clothing choices were a significant source of conflict between parents and child-care providers. 

Inappropriate clothing, such as lack of a winter coat or inappropriate foot-wear, could prevent the entire class from being able to go outside. Conversely, this issue of clothing can lead to conflict between parents and teachers, an example given was a child lost a piece of jewelry and the parent was upset with the teacher because of it.

The implications of this study were that schools should make a clear policy about appropriate clothing for the children, as well as educating parents on the importance of play.

If you want to read more, click here!

Kaitlyn Vitucci
UConn KIDS, Research Assistant 

 

Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday!

This weeks question is…True or False: As defined by the American Psychological Association (2018), those with an external locus of control “tend to behave in response to internal states and intentions and to perceive their life outcomes as arising from the exercise of their own agency and abilities.” 

A. True
B. False

Last weeks question was “A mesosystem is defined as ‘the groups and institutions outside the home (ex. day care, school, a child’s peer group) that influence the child’s development and interact with aspects of the microsystem (ex. relations in the home)'” The answer was true!

Tune in next week to find out the answer to this weeks question!