Effects of Preschooler’s Temperament, Mother’s Emotional Expressiveness and Empathy on the Preschooler’s Emotional Regulation Strategies

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relative influence of preschooler’s temperament, mother’s emotional expressiveness and empathy on the preschooler’s emotional regulation strategies. The participants were 217 preschoolers(between age 3∼6) and their mothers. The frequency analysis, t/F-test, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were carried out. the major study results are as follows. First, boys used more attack strategy of emotional regulation than girls, and younger children used attack strategy more often. Second, the lower the emotional temperament and the higher the activity and sociality, the more often the active coping strategy was used. The higher the shyness, the more avoidance and emotional expression strategies were used. Third, the mother’s expression of positive emotions and less negative emotions were highly correlated with active coping strategy of emotional regulation. On the other hand, cognitive empathy was especially related to active coping strategy. Fourth, as a result of stepwise multiple regression analysis, it was found that the child’s temperament and mother’s emotional expression were the most influential variables for the emotion regulation strategy. Through this study, predictive factors for the development of children's emotional control strategies were identified, and clinical implications for play counseling and parent counseling were discussed.