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Emotional Reactivity and Emotional Regulation Strategies as Predictors of Social Behavior with Peers During Toddlerhood
Author(s) -
Calkins Susan D.,
Gill Kathryn L.,
Johnson Mary C.,
Smith Cynthia L.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
social development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.078
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1467-9507
pISSN - 0961-205X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9507.00098
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , distraction , reactivity (psychology) , distress , aggression , emotional distress , personal distress , social competence , social psychology , social change , clinical psychology , anxiety , cognitive psychology , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , psychiatry , economics , economic growth
Fifty‐six mothers and their 24‐month‐old toddlers were observed on two occasions in a series of laboratory procedures designed to assess relations between emotional functioning (emotional reactivity and emotion regulation) in an individual assessment and social behavior with a same‐sex peer. Emotional reactivity was assessed using two frustration tasks designed to elicit distress. Emotional regulation was assessed by examining the child's behaviors (venting, distraction, focal‐object focus, self‐orientation, and mother‐orientation) when confronted by the two distress‐eliciting tasks. Peer play behaviors were coded for social participation and peer‐directed conflict (aggressive) behavior. The results indicated that both emotional reactivity and emotion regulation were important predictors of at least two types of social behavior: conflict and cooperation. Distress to frustration, when accompanied by high venting or high focal‐object focus, was significantly related to conflict with peers but not when accompanied by distraction, mother‐orientation or self‐focused behaviors. These findings are discussed in terms of the adaptive value of emotion regulation skills in early development, and the importance of identifying the causal relations between child regulation and early social competence.