Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
The role of emotionality and self-regulation in the appraisal–coping process: tests of direct and moderating effects
Section snippets
Stress, appraisal, and coping
Stress is shown consistently to be associated with children's adjustment problems (e.g., Compas, 1987, Dubow & Tisak, 1989, Jackson & Warren, 2000). Stress can be operationalized in a number of ways including major life events (e.g., parental divorce, death of a family member; Sandler, Wolchik, Braver, & Fogas, 1991), moderately stressful events (e.g., having trouble in school or with a sibling; Jackson & Warren, 2000), and can include events that may reflect either positive or negative changes
Temperament and stress responses
Temperament has been defined as relatively stable, physiologically based individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation Rothbart, 1981, Rothbart, 1989. Reactivity represents two independent emotion systems that result in the arousal of positive and negative affect. Evidence of distinct dimensions of positive and negative emotionality has been found across the life span Capaldi & Rothbart, 1992, Derryberry & Rothbart, 1988, Rothbart, 1981, Watson & Tellegen, 1985. Negative emotionality
Participants
This study utilized a community sample of 101 third through fifth grade children (M age=9.9 years, range=7.8–11.9 years) and their female primary caregivers. Participants were recruited through the children's public school classrooms. Schools were selected for recruitment to represent a variety of sociodemographic characteristics of the Seattle, WA urban area. Information forms were sent home with children, and parents were asked to indicate their interest in participating and return the form
Correlations
The intercorrelations among the study variables are presented in Table 2. Child age was negatively related to threat appraisal and avoidant coping, with younger children endorsing greater use of these strategies than older children. None of the study variables was related to child gender. The number of negative life events was positively correlated with negative emotionality, threat and positive appraisal, and avoidant coping. Negative life events was negatively correlated with self-regulation
Discussion
This study examined the role of emotionality and self-regulation in predicting appraisal and coping styles and adjustment to stress. The importance of assessing distinct aspects of children's reactions to stress and regulation of those reactions has been advocated (Compas et al., 2001). By examining emotionality, self-regulation, appraisal, and coping as distinct variables, this study was able to investigate temperament as a predictor of children's appraisal and coping styles. Although it has
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a Royalties Research Fund Award from the University of Washington. The authors wish to thank the families who participated in this study, Lara Embry and Erica Kovacs for their contribution to this manuscript.
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