Emotion regulation and understanding: implications for child psychopathology and therapy

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Abstract

This paper considers the role of emotion regulation (i.e., extrinsic and intrinsic monitoring and adjusting of emotion) and emotion understanding (i.e., comprehension of the signs of, causes of, and ways to regulate emotion) in childhood adjustment. Developmental and clinical research focused on emotion regulation and emotion understanding are reviewed with an emphasis on studies including psychopathological samples. The implications of emotion research for the study of child psychopathology and child therapy are examined.

Section snippets

Emotion child psychopathology

Behaviorism, a guiding theoretical perspective in psychology, for many years generated the lion's share of empirical research. However, in eschewing “internal” variables, some argued that behaviorism left possibly important mental variables out of the equation. The so-called cognitive revolution brought “meaning making” back under scientific scrutiny, but the emphasis on cognitive factors may have underappraised the role of emotion. Although the field refers commonly to “emotional disorders” or

Emotion regulation

Research on emotion regulation has increased rapidly in the last decade. However, as many investigators have noted, definitions of emotion regulation have typically been implied and not stated (e.g., Thompson, 1994). Recent efforts have been made to clarify the construct of emotion regulation and a broad definition of the term appears to be emerging (e.g., Calkins, 1994, Campos et al., 1989, Cole et al., 1994, Kopp, 1989, Thompson, 1994, Walden & Smith, 1997).1

Emotion understanding

Emotion understanding refers to conscious knowledge about emotion processes (e.g., emotion states and emotion regulation) or beliefs about how emotions work (cf. attributional system of Izard & Harris, 1995). Emotion understanding includes recognition of emotion expression (i.e., facial and bodily) and knowledge about (a) the causes of their (and others') emotions, (b) the cues for their (and others') feelings, (c) multiple emotions, (d) methods of intentionally using emotion expression to

Synthesis and future directions

The possible roles that emotion understanding and emotion regulation play in the development of psychopathology are suggested by a variety of research findings (e.g., Casey, 1996, Cole et al., 1994, Eisenberg et al., 1996, Gottman & Katz, 1989, Hennessy et al., 1994, Seja & Russ, 1999, Southam-Gerow & Kendall, 2000, Zahn-Waxler et al., 1990). In this final section, we consider how the emotion research we have reviewed impacts clinical research. First, we discuss how a consideration of emotion

Conclusion

An important result of the directions we have outlined is the beginning of an integration of emotion into current conceptual models for child psychopathology and psychotherapy. The intention is not only the “practical” (i.e., improving psychopathology and treatment models) integration across and within disciplines but also integration on the conceptual level. The integration of emotion research could lead to a broadening of the cognitive-behavioral model such that emotion concepts are more

Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health grants (RO1-MH44042 and RO1-MH57347). An earlier version of this manuscript served as a part of the first author's doctoral dissertation. We acknowledge the thoughtful and instructive review of an earlier version of the manuscript by Larry Steinberg, Jay Efran, Robert Fauber, Bill Overton, Rick Heimberg, Nancy Eisenberg, and three anonymous reviewers.

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