Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2019 Jul;183:1-18. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.01.004. Epub 2019 Mar 4.
Emotion regulation (ER) flexibility involves switching between ER strategies to manage negative emotions, but the conditions under which children select a specific strategy or switch strategies are unclear. In prior work, adults who are instructed to use certain ER strategies have been shown to switch strategies more often and to favor emotional disengagement strategies such as distraction when negative emotions are more intense. This experimental study examined the developmental origins of ER strategy use patterns that support flexible ER. Children (N = 181; 4-11 years of age; 91 girls) received no ER instructions (control) or were instructed to implement a specific cognitive strategy (distraction or reappraisal) while watching a negative emotional film. They self-reported their emotions multiple times and were later interviewed using open- and close-ended questions about the ER strategies they used while watching the film. Results revealed that children described instructed strategies as well as other uninstructed strategies. Distraction was described more often when children reported negative emotion, suggesting early-emerging awareness of the utility of disengagement strategies for managing negative feelings. Reporting strategies consistent with instructions and descriptions of strategy switching were more common with felt negative emotion, but only for children who received specific ER instructions. The pattern of results was stronger for direct questions, suggesting that reliance on open-ended questioning about ER strategy use might not reveal the full extent of children's capabilities. Children's flexible ER strategy use emerges early, is related to intrapersonal aspects of emotion development, and should be considered in instructed ER paradigms.
情绪调节（ER）灵活性涉及在 ER 策略之间切换，以管理负面情绪，但儿童选择特定策略或切换策略的条件尚不清楚。在之前的工作中，当指示成年人使用某些 ER 策略时，他们会更频繁地切换策略，并在负面情绪更强烈时倾向于使用情感脱离策略，如分心。本实验研究考察了支持灵活 ER 的 ER 策略使用模式的发展起源。研究对象为 181 名儿童（年龄 4-11 岁，其中 91 名为女孩），他们要么接受 ER 指令（对照组），要么在观看负面情绪电影时被指示实施特定的认知策略（分心或重评）。他们多次自我报告情绪，并在观看电影后通过开放式和封闭式问题进行访谈，内容涉及他们使用的 ER 策略。结果表明，儿童描述了指令策略和其他非指令策略。当儿童报告负面情绪时，更常描述分心策略，这表明他们很早就意识到了脱离策略在管理负面情绪方面的效用。与指令一致的策略报告和策略切换的描述在感到负面情绪时更为常见，但仅适用于接受特定 ER 指令的儿童。直接问题的结果模式更强，这表明对 ER 策略使用的开放式提问可能无法揭示儿童能力的全部范围。儿童的灵活 ER 策略使用很早就出现了，与情绪发展的个体内部方面有关，应在指令性 ER 范式中加以考虑。
