The Effect of Temperament on Emotion Regulation among Chinese Adolescents: the Role of Teacher Emotional Empathy

Abstract

Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were used to explored individual and contextual factors of emotion regulation in a sample of 2074 adolescents from grade 7 through grade 12 and 54 head teachers in China mainland. Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) and Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R) were administered among students and Multi-Dimensional Emotional Empathy Scale (MDEES) among head teachers. Results showed that at the student level, Effortful Control and Affiliativeness were positively related to adolescents’ reappraisal whereas Surgency was inversely correlated with reappraisal after gender, grade level and parent’s education were controlled. And Negative Affect (NA) positively predicted suppression. At the teacher level, teachers’ Emotional Contagion promoted the impact of adolescent Surgency on reappraisal after teaching age was controlled. In addition, Responsive Crying, Emotional Attention and Feeling for Others enhanced the influence of NA upon Suppression among teachers. However, Positive Sharing weakened the negative association between NA and Suppression. These findings expand the understanding of the role of teacher empathy in adolescents’ emotional development, and have important implications for classroom management and teacher empathy training.