Short-term effects of the “I Spy Feelings” program on emotion regulation in 5- to 6-year-old children

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Amber MacLeod¹  Kaitlin McMillan¹  Jacob Peckover¹  Robert T. Kane¹  Maryanne McDevitt¹  Annaliese Arthur¹  Rosanna M. Rooney¹  Natalie Baughman¹  Kate Tonta² 

[1] Discipline of Psychology, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia;Discipline of Psychology, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia;Curtin enAble Institute, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia;

关键词: emotion regulation;    early intervention;    early childhood;    prevention program;    emotional coping;    internalizing disorders;    externalizing disorders;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1016521

 received in 2022-08-11, accepted in 2023-05-02,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionMental health difficulties in early childhood can have a debilitating and ongoing impact throughout an individual’s life; emotion regulation can serve as a protective factor. Therefore, evidence-based prevention programs that teach children effective skills and strategies for emotion regulation are needed.MethodsAs part of the Aussie Optimism pilot study evaluating the “I Spy Feelings” program, this study aims to assess the short-term effects of the program on emotion regulation in pre-primary aged children after 2 months via a longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial. Participants included parents (N = 73) of 5- to 6-year-old children attending four different Catholic primary schools. Children from two of the schools were allocated to the intervention group where they participated in the program (N = 33), while children from the other two schools were allocated to the control group where they did not (N = 40). At each time point, all parents completed abridged Children’s Emotional Management Scales measuring how well parents believe their child is able to cope with anger, sadness and worry.ResultsA significant intervention effect 2 months after intervention was found for the outcome of anger coping such that parents whose children were in the intervention group reported significantly greater improvement in their children’s ability to cope with anger compared to parents whose children were in the control group. No significant effect was found for the outcome of sadness, and results for the worry subscale were inconclusive due to unacceptable internal consistency.DiscussionThe present study provides insight into the benefit of programs designed to enhance the emotion regulation skills of very young children. Further follow-up is needed to assess whether the “I Spy Feelings” program has lasting effects.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Arthur, McDevitt, Rooney, MacLeod, Kane, Tonta, McMillan, Peckover and Baughman.