An Age-Related Mechanism of Emotion Regulation: Regulating Sadness Promotes Children's Learning by Broadening Information Processing.

Abstract

Emotion regulation predicts positive academic outcomes like learning, but little is known about why. Effective emotion regulation likely promotes learning by broadening the scope of what may be attended to after an emotional event. One hundred twenty-six 6- to 13-year-olds' (54% boys) regulation of sadness was examined for changes in emotional experience, information processing, and memory for subsequent neutral information. Instructions to use specific strategies (distancing, positive reappraisal, rumination, or no strategy) predicted changes in sadness and happiness but did not predict information processing or memory. Effective regulation of sadness (regardless of instructions) predicted better memory through the indirect effect of broadened information processing but only for older children. Implications for emotion regulation processes in childhood are discussed.