Emotion Understanding and Regulation: Implications for Positive School Adjustment

Abstract

Traditionally, research on school readiness and of academic success has focused on children’s performance in reading, math, and other subjects. However, there is ample evidence that children’s social and emotional skills are important to children’s positive school adjustment and support their acquisition of academic skills as well. In this chapter, we explore the significant role of two emotion processes—emotion understanding and emotion regulation—in shaping children’s academic and social success in school. First, we provide definitions and conceptual backgrounds for the terms emotion understanding and emotion regulation. Second, we summarize the empirical literature examining these emotion processes in relation to children’s academic and social adjustment in school, parents’ role in children’s acquisition of these skills, and interventions that increase children’s social-emotional skills. We end by identifying new directions for future research to address gaps in current literature to advance our understanding of how these important processes contribute to children’s positive school adjustment.