About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 22. Social Relationships

Abstract

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Emotion regulation may be defined as the process of recognizing and altering one’s emotions to achieve and manage an adaptive emotional outcome (Eisenberg et al., 2010; Harrington et al., 2020). The ability to regulate emotions effectively in childhood has been associated with greater success pertaining to both academic achievement and social functioning, suggesting that effectual emotion regulation is essential for healthy school adjustment (Adynski et al., 2024; Liew et al., 2019). Existing literature has shown that the ability to successfully implement emotion regulation skills in childhood predicts stronger social competence and better peer relationships (Blair et al., 2015; Denham et al., 2014). Early experiences of prosocial behavior and frequent positive peer interactions is expected to enhance early cognitive skills, along with linguistic growth (Bulotsky-Shearer et al., 2011; Eggum-Wilkens et al., 2014). The current study investigates the mediating role of positive peer relations in the association between emotion regulation and academic achievement in early childhood. We hypothesize that effective emotion regulation may predict increases in positive prosocial experiences with peers, which may predict subsequent improvements in academic performance.

Participants (N = 326, 47.9% female, M age = 51.74 mo, SD = 3.73) include a sample drawn from a longitudinal study of largely middle to upper-middle class children with varied racial/ethnic backgrounds (5.5% African American/Black, 7.4% Asian or Pacific Islander, 4.0% Latine, 10.7% multiracial, 75.5% White, and .9% Other race and ethnicities). Measures were obtained at three time points (pre-kindergarten fall, T1; pre-kindergarten spring, T2; kindergarten fall, T3) each approximately 6 months apart. Teachers reported on participants’ emotion regulation at T1 (ERC, Shields & Cicchetti, 1997; α T1 =.83), the amount of prosocial behavior participants received from their peers at T2 (PPVM-T-R, Crick et al., 1999; α T2 =.89), and academic performance in school at T1 and T3 (HBQ-SCX, Boyce et al., 2002; α T1/T3 =.94/.92).

Bivariate correlations and descriptive statistics are presented in Table 1. Preliminary mediation models were conducted using SPSS Process Macro v4.2 controlling for earlier levels of academic performance. Academic performance was stable from T1 to T3 (β =.32, SE =.09, t =3.45, p <.001). Emotion regulation at T1 directly predicted increases in received prosocial behavior at T2 (β =.57, SE =.10, t = 5.84, p <.001) suggesting that effective emotion regulation may directly influence whether children experience later positive peer interactions in the classroom. No significant indirect effects emerged. Additional analyses will be available in time for the meeting.

Author information

Author	Role
Hannah Dickinson, SUNY University at Buffalo	Presenting author
Katy Gardner, SUNY University at Buffalo	Non-presenting author
Jamie Ostrov, SUNY University at Buffalo	Non-presenting author

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