A better understanding of emotion regulation in 5-6-year-old: types of strategies and their connection with emotion comprehension.

The objective of this research is to better understand emotion regulation of 5-6-year-old children. To do this, we explored the emotional regulation strategies of 71 children through the lens of different theoretical frameworks, using semi-structured interviews. Then, we examined the relationship between profiles of emotion regulation strategies and emotion comprehension abilities, measured through three tests. The results reveal various types of regulation strategies, both intrapersonal and interpersonal, functional and dysfunctional, as well as the emergence of cognitive reappraisal strategies. Cluster analysis further suggests that children reporting more frequent use of dysfunctional strategies have better emotion comprehension skills. This result raises questions both methodological and on the development of emotion regulation strategies.