Self-Regulation
in
Children
Birth - Five
Nancy K. Paulson
Adler Graduate
School
1
Objectives
• To give an overview of self-regulation from
birth through age five
• To provide interventions that build selfregulation in young children
• To provide activities & resource information
that repair self-regulation
2
Definition of Self-Regulation
• The control or organization of behavior
• Active suppression process engaged for the
purposes of pursuing a goal
• Involves control over a variety of processes
3
Definition of Self-Regulation
(Jahromi and Stifter,2008)
• Emotion regulation
• Behavioral control
• Executive function
4
Examples of Self-Regulation
• Complies with requests
• Initiates and/or ceases activities
• Modulates intensity, frequency &
duration of verbal & motor acts
• Postpones actions
5
Examples of Self-Regulation
• Generates socially approved behaviors
(Boyer, 2009)
• Remembering & following directions
• Remembering class rules
• Persisting on a difficult task
6
Examples of Self-Regulation
• Planning solutions to a problem
• Stopping impulsive response in favor of
adaptive behavior
• Soothability
• Focusing on a task while ignoring
distractions
7
Marshmallow Test
• VIDEO:
• Marshmallow Test:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EjJsPylEOY
8
Adlerian Lens
(Adler, 1956)
• Alfred Adler 1870-1937; ophthalmologist/GP
MD developed psychological interests
• Contemporary of Freud
• Believed behavior is goal directed
9
Adlerian Lens
(Adler, 1956) (cont.)
• Lifestyle is built on “mistaken beliefs”
• Foundation laid by early interactions with
others in the first five years of life
• Social interest
10
Goals of Misbehavior
• Attention
Connect
Cooperation
• Power
Capable
Self-Reliance
• Revenge
Count
Contribution
• Avoidance
Courage
Resiliency
The Crucial C’s and Rudolf Dreikurs’ 4 Short-Range Goals of Misbehavior . From A
parent’s guide to understanding and motivating children. Newton Centre, MA:
Connexions Press. Used with permission.
11
Fifth Goal of Misbehavior
•May need to add a goal due to current family
risk factors:
• Safety
Care
Valued
12
Cultural Bias
(Bronson,2000)
Western influence:
• Values independent effort
• Achievement
• Self-reliance
• Personal responsibility
13
Example
• Goal Directed Behavior
• VIDEO:
Fake Crying; trying to avoid bedtime:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7zxQllsd9E
14
Effects of Poor Self-Regulation
• Family disruptions
• Expulsion
(Gilliam and Shahar, 2006)
• School readiness
(Blair and Diamond, 2008)
• Medication
(Zito et al., 2000, Stanwood & Levitt, 2004)
15
Factors in Development
of Self-Regulation
• Caregiver fit
• Sensitive, gentle guidance
• Modeling and coaching of language use
• Encouragement of responsibility
(Dennis, 2006)
• Modeling positive behaviors
16
Factors in Development
of Self-Regulation (cont).
• Positive reinforcement enhancing children’s
desire to try new and more challenging tasks
• Language development
• Structured environmental support
Factors in Development
of Self-Regulation (cont).
• Ability to shift from external to internal
control
• Symbolic play and language use
• Private speech
• Secure Attachment
Secure Attachment
• Available and responsive mothers as a
secure base
• Dependable presence
(Ainsworth, Bell, 1978, Bowlby, 1958))
19
Infant Attachment
• Repeatedly associated in regulatory
development from emotional arousal to
cognitive abilities
(Kochanaska, Philibert, & Barry, 2009)
• Enhances ability to develop self-calming
strategies
(Florez, 2011)
20
Deterrents to Self-Regulation
• Poverty
• Maternal depression
• Chaotic, over-stimulating or understimulating environment
• Physical or sexual abuse
• Difficulties with sleep-wake cycle
(Conway, 2009)
21
Deterrents to Self-Regulation
• Failing to provide challenging
opportunities
• Developmental delays
• Temperament
• Language delays/lack of language experiences
22
Deterrents to Self-Regulation
• Parental misunderstanding of appropriate
developmental expectations
• Negative, insensitive or unresponsive caregivers who
model controlling behavior rather than encouraging limited
autonomy
(McClelland and Cameron, 2011)
• Punishing young children when failing to sustain attention
longer than a few minutes or fail to calm themselves
quickly when frustrated
(Florez, 2011)
Deterrents to Self-Regulation
• Use of coercive control
(Bronson, 2000)
• Absence of positive experiences
(Gearity, 2009)
• Lack of private speech
• Language delays
(Qi and Kaiser, 2004)
24
Support & Interventions
• Good news
• Self-Regulation is a teachable skill
• Self-Regulation serves as a protective factor
with low parental warmth or negative
parenting
(McClelland & Cameron, 2011)
25
Developmental Repair
(Gearity, 2009)
• Co-Regulation
• Repair occurs within relationship context
• Focus on development not behavioral control
26
Developmental Domains
Relating, Thinking, Feeling, and Acting
• An effective co-regulator:
• Externally models and reflects words
• Resists the assumption that children are
cognitively aware of their behavioral choices
• Provides the opportunity for children to
become aware of thoughts, feelings, and
resultant actions.
27
Developmental Domains
Relating, Thinking, Feeling, and Acting
(cont.)
• Children are understood then gain insight into
others
• Understanding emotions results in better
management of emotional and behavioral
upset
28
Tools for Co-Regulators
(Gearity, 2009)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Be quiet
Breathe slowly
Eye contact or not
Verbally match
Stay in the present
Appropriate calming touch
29
Tools for Co-Regulators
(cont.)
• Remain physically nearby
• Find distractions to share
• Shifting attention
• Repetitive play
• Physical movement
• Recognize return to less aroused state
• Admire the accomplishment
• Positive emotional support
30
Co-Regulation Approaches
(Vallotton & Ayoud, 2011)
• Encourage young children to talk aloud when
solving difficult problems
• Encourage breadth of spoken vocabulary
• Vocabulary vs. talkativeness
• “Spoken words are mental tools with which to
regulate oneself by exerting control over one’s
own thought, emotions, and behavior, and perhaps
one’s environment” (p.179).
31
Emotion Mentors
(Boyer, 2009)
• Help connect behavior to response
• Model, teach, encourage identification of
verbal & non-verbal cues.
32
Emotion Mentors
(Boyer, 2009) (cont.)
• Toddlers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Comforting language
Gentle movements
Gestures of concern
Help recognizing negative emotions
Help attach feeling with pictorial form
Help knowing “why” of anger
Help reorganizing escalating anger
Use reflective language
33
Emotion Mentors
(Boyer, 2009) (cont.)
• Four year olds
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Help recognizing signs of distress
Modeling & encouraging acts of kindness
Invitations to practice kind behaviors
Reflective language
Help recognizing escalating anger
Model problem solving
Verbal recognition of feelings and why of feelings
34
Emotion Mentors
(Boyer, 2009) (cont.)
• Five and Six year olds
• Support in distress recognition
• Encourage taking responsibility for behavior
• Give opportunities to think about own/others
emotions
•
•
•
•
Realize they have emotions
Identify varied emotions
Learn appropriate emotion expression
Talk about how they feel when expressing emotions
35
Emotion Mentors
(Boyer, 2009) (cont.)
• Five and Six year olds
• Encourage Social Interest
•
•
•
•
Taking the perspective of another
Emotion influence on others
Conflict resolution & social problem solving
Respect for self, others, & other’s work
36
Activity Domains
Targeting Self-Regulation (Bobula, 2009)
• Inhibitory Behaviors
• Attention
• Planning, organizing, & creating
37
Activities
• Games:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Red Light, Green Light
Duck, Duck, Goose (Grey Duck)
Statue Freeze Tag
Run & Stop
Picture Bingo
Simon Says
Musical Chairs
38
Activities
• Songs/Finger Plays
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Freeze & Movement Song – Steve & Greg
Bear Hunt – Dr. Jean
Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes
Where is Thumbkin?
Hokey Pokey
B-I-N-G-O
39
Activities
• Fidget Toys
• Constructive
•
•
•
•
Dramatic play – (at least 30-60 minutes)
Block building
Painting
Drawing
40
Helpful Resources
• http://www.washburn.org/about/WashburnPubl
ishesTrainingManual.html
• http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/index.html
• http://www.developingbrains.org
41
Summary
• Self-Regulation is a critical developmental
process
• Self-Regulation is a teachable/learnable skill
• Utilize the tools, activities, and resources that
encourage self-regulatory development
42
References
•
Adler, A. (1956). H. L. Ansbacher & R. R. Ansbacher (Eds.), The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler
New York, NY: Harper & Row.
•
Ainsworth, M., & Bell, S. M. (1970). Attachment, exploration, and separation: Illustrated by the behavior
of one-year-olds in a strange situation. Child Development, 41(1), 49-67.
•
Blair, C., & Diamond, A. (2008). Biological processes in prevention and intervention: the promotion of
self-regulation as a means of preventing school failure. Developmental Psychopathology, 20(3), 899-911.
doi: 10.1017/S0954579408000436
•
Bobula, K. A. (2009). Developing brains: Ideas for parenting and education from the new brain science.
Retrieved from http://www.developingbrains.org
•
Boyer, W. (2009). Crossing the glass wall: Using preschool educators’ knowledge to enhance parental
understanding of children’s self-regulation and emotion regulation. Early Childhood Education Journal,
37(3), 175-182. doi: 10.1007/s10643-009-0343-y
43
References
•
Bowlby, J. (1958). The nature of the child's tie to his mother . International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 39,
350-373.
•
Bronson, M. B. (2000). Self-regulation in early childhood. New York: The Guliford Press.
•
Conway, A. (2009). Neurophysiological basis of self-regulation in children and youth. Reclaiming Children
and Youth, 17(4), 16-22.
•
Dennis, T. (2006). Emotional self-regulation in preschoolers: the interplay of child approach reactivity,
parenting, and control capacities. Developmental Psychology, 42(1), 84-97. doi: 10.1037/00121649.42.1.84
•
Florez, I. (2011, July). Developing young children’s self-regulation through everyday experiences.
Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201107/Self-Regulation_Florez_OnlineJuly2011.pdf
•
Gearity, A. (2009). Developmental repair: A training manual. Minneapolis, MN: Washburn Center for
Children.
References
•
Gilliam, W., & Shahar, G. (2006). Preschool and child care expulsion and suspension: rates and predictors
in one state. Infants & Young Children: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Special Care Practices, 19(3), 228245.
•
Kochanska, G., Philibert, R. A., & Barry , R. A. (2009). Interplay of genes and early mother-child
relationship in the development of self-regulation from toddler to preschool age. The Journal of Child
Psychology and Psychiatry, 50(11), 1331-1338. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.02050.x.
•
Jahromi, L. B., & Stifter, C. A. (2008). Individual differences in preschoolers' self-regulation and theory of
mind. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54(1), 125-150.
•
Lew, A., & Bettner, B. L. (1996). From: A parent’s guide to understanding and motivating children.
Newton Centre, MA: Connexions Press.
•
Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the
Ainsworth Strange Situation. In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in
the preschool years: Theory research and intervention (pp. 121-160). University of Chicago Press.
45
References
•
McClelland, M. E., & Cameron, C. E. (2011). Self-regulation and academic achievement in elementary
school children. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2011(133), 29-44.
•
Qi, C., & Kaiser, A. P. (2004). Problem behaviors of low-income children with language delays: An
observation study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 47(3), 595-609. doi:
10.1044/1092-4388(2004/046)
•
Stanwood, G D., & Levitt, P., (2004). Drug exposure early in life: Functional repercussions of changing
neuropharmacology during sensitive periods of brain development. Current opinion in pharmacology, 4(1),
65. doi: 10.1016/j.coph.2003.09.003
•
•
Vallotton, C., & Ayoub, C. (2011). Use your words: The role of language in the development of
toddlers’ self-regulation. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26(2), 169-181.
doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.09.002
Zito, J M. ,Safer, D. J., dosReis, S, Gardner, J.F., Boles, M., & Lynch, F (2000). Trends in the prescribing of
psychotropic medications to preschoolers. JAMA (Chicago, Ill.), 283(8), 1025. doi:
10.1001/jama.283.8.1025
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