How Do Children with Intellectual Disabilities Regulate Their Emotions? The Views of Teachers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities commonly experience emotion regulation difficulties. To better understand emotion regulation in this population, the views of their teachers were considered. Methods Twenty-nine teachers participated in two focus groups. This study utilized qualitative methods to determine if the emotion regulation experiences of this population, as perceived by their teachers, map onto the five domains of the process model of emotion regulation: situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, cognitive change, and response modulation. Results A thematic analysis indicated the data from both focus groups was consistent and mapped onto the five domains of the process model; with several additional themes and sub-themes identified. Conclusions Perspectives provided by teachers affirmed that the process model of emotion regulation is relevant to children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities. Future research might consider developing the themes identified in this qualitative study into quantitative questionnaire items and validating that measure.