Children’s Self-regulation

What is self-regulation?

Self-regulation is the ability to control one’s mental state, emotions, behavior, and attention in response to the demands of one’s environment.It is not only about self-control, but also includes the ability to inhibit one’s first reaction, to eliminate irrelevant stimuli, and to persevere on relevant tasks, even if they are not to one’s liking.For example, a child who saves up his allowance to buy an item he wants instead of spending it immediately on candy, or who studies and prepares well for an exam before the test instead of watching a TV show or going out shopping with his friends, are all signs of self-control.

Does self-regulation run out?

Academic schools of thought differ on whether self-regulation is stable or subject to depletion.Roy Baumeister and Dianne Tice, psychologists at Case Western Reserve University, concluded that people’s self-control is limited and declines with overuse, based on experiments they designed on self-regulation.They divided their subjects into 3 groups and solved puzzles at the same time.One group was allowed to eat only radishes while solving the puzzle, one group was also allowed to eat cookies, and the other group ate nothing.As a result, the group that ate only radishes lasted the shortest time – while resisting the temptation of cookies, they depleted their self-control, a phenomenon known as “Ego Depletion”.

However, a study in the academic journal Perspectives on Psychological Science breaks down these ideas.After experimenting with more than 2,000 subjects, no “self-regulation depletion” was found.Even after more scientists and scholars re-analyzed the data at a later stage, the existence of self-regulation loss could not be proved.Old conclusions were overturned by new ones, and it seemed as if self-regulation could not be used up.

When does self-regulation begin to develop?

Self-regulation actually begins to develop from infancy.The movement, light, sound, taste and texture of things around them are all new experiences for infants since they come into the world.They can self-adjust to gentle and calm tones, touch, rocking and the predictable routines of family members.Ultimately, they use this comforting memory for self-soothing and self-regulation.

Children’s self-regulation manifests itself differently at different ages.Babies control their emotions with the help of simple actions, such as averting their eyes or turning their heads when they need a break, or sucking their fingers when they hear a very loud noise.After the age of two, most toddlers have acquired some self-regulation skills!They can wait patiently for a short period of time when they want something.Can also pay attention and stay focused for a short period of time when someone is talking to them.

Between the ages of 3 and 11, and especially during the 3 to 5 year stage, children develop the ability to inhibit their first reactions.Bettina Lamm, a psychologist at the University of Osnabrück in Germany, administered the marshmallow test to nearly 200 German and Cameroonian toddlers.They gave the children desserts such as marshmallows or doughnuts and told the children that you could have this dessert, but if you could wait until I came back, you would get two desserts.The result of the experiment was that the Cameroonian children waited twice as long compared to the German children.And nearly 70% of Cameroonian children waited a full 10 minutes.Young Cameroonian children are taught from an early age to control their emotions, their wants and needs, and solidly develop self-regulation as they grow up.

By the time they are adolescents, self-regulation soars, and not only their behavior, but their emotions and feelings are well controlled.Teenagers are able to use techniques to manage negative emotions, for example, when they are angry, they will go for a walk on the playground, play a game of soccer, and take a break.When they are sad, they do distracting things, journal or make new friends.

What does self-regulation mean for children?

Self-regulation has a significant impact on children’s attention, independence, learning, and social development.In addition to better academic performance and problem-solving skills, good self-control allows them to be more skillful and mature in interacting and communicating with peers and adults, to gain friendships more easily, to concentrate on things more easily, to learn new things more quickly, and to deal better with the stresses of daily life.On the other hand, there is less likelihood of problematic behavior and mental illness.

University of Washington psychologists Yuichi Shoda, Mischel, and Peake (1990) tracked nearly 200 15-18 year olds who had participated in self-regulation experiments when they were 4 years old.In the earliest experiments, the primary subject told the 4-year-olds that they would receive a large reward if they could wait alone in their room until the primary subject returned.If the toddler initiated the ringing of the bell for the primary test to return, they received a much smaller reward.The results found that, the amount of time 4-year-olds waited was associated with many personality traits 11 to 14 years later. subjects with greater delayed gratification at age 4 had higher self-regulation thereafter, were better at focusing attention and planning, and had better SAT scores and jobs.This suggests that self-regulation varies across individuals and remains fairly stable over time.

How do you get kids to have better self-regulation?

There are many factors that influence self-regulation.Among these, autogenic factors include the maturity of the child’s brain and the child’s temperament.The maturity of the brain, particularly in the frontal regions of the brain, is associated with resistance to interference and inhibitory responses.

The frontal lobe region of the brain goes through two stages of rapid development.The first stage is during infancy and the second stage is between the ages of 4-7 years.Both of these stages the frontal areas of the brain and self-regulation continue to develop with age.Another own factor is temperament (temperament).It has a very large genetic component, in other words, the genes given to the child by the parents play an important role.Emotional children also have less self-regulation, and children who cannot control their emotions usually cannot control their behavior either.

Family factors that influence a child’s self-regulation, on the other hand, include parenting styles and family income.Children learn to control their self-behavior and emotions by imitating (modeling/imitating) their parents’ coping styles.The degree of children’s self-regulation reflects, in part, the degree of parental self-control.In addition, self-control is related to the level of parental control.Children who are “over-controlled” by their parents and have little opportunity to exercise self-control are less likely to have self-regulation than children who have frequent opportunities to self-regulate.In addition, research has shown that poverty has a deleterious effect on self-regulation, with poverty-related stressors depressing the activity of neural networks that control self-regulation.So controlling impulses is more difficult for children from low-income families.

Finally, there are environmental factors, including cultural-ethnic backgrounds and the influence of schools.Different cultures have different expectations of children, and parents use the norms of the local culture to set standards of control for their children.For example, in the marshmallow experiment between German and Cameroonian toddlers mentioned above, the researcher believes that the difference in the results stems from the fact that most Cameroonian homes do not have water or electricity, and that the children are expected to help with a lot of the work in the home at a very young age, and are taught from a very young age that it is important for them to control their emotions, their desires, and needs, and so they have very high levels of self-regulation compared to the children in Germany.Interventions provided by the school, such as direct teaching of self-control skills, also contributed to the students’ self-regulation.

What are the signs of difficulty with self-regulation?

Lack of adult attachment, sensitivity to physical or mental sensitivities and many other factors can lead to difficulties with self-regulation.Especially for young children, the first day of school, moving house, or mom having a new baby can make them restless.Externalizing Behaviors (EB) for self-regulation difficulties include:

• Persistent lack of concentration,
• Disinterest or frustration in daily activities,
• Anger,
• Crying,
• Bedwetting,
• Fighting with peers,
• Not following adult instructions,
• Throwing things around.

These manifestations are mainly some aggressive behaviors.These behaviors are easily observed and are often more destructive, requiring more parental effort to correct and care for them.Soothing and expressing empathy and concern when children are more emotionally intense, letting them know that someone has noticed them and understands how they are feeling will bring them the comfort and help they need.

Internalizing Behaviors (IB) include nervousness, anxiety, frustration, and avoidance of social groups.Internalizing Behaviors are more difficult to observe because children do not visibly express them or draw your attention to them.This is the time for parents to find ways for children to share their feelings and experiences

How can I give my kids the self-regulation not to get addicted to games?

First, the caregiver needs to be calm and make the child feel safe.Family members live regular lives and have clear boundaries.Secondly, children need to be able to be listened to and understood.Adults need to be supportive and helpful when they are frustrated, tired and angry.Children need to have the opportunity to witness how adults manage and discipline their emotions and behavior, and parents need to be good role models as imitation is an important way for them to learn.In addition to this, it is important to give them some free space so that they can plan their time to learn and play at their own pace.

In short, parents bear the primary responsibility for the development of children’s self-regulation.When the child’s self-regulation is strong, the child will be able to resist the temptation no matter how much the game developers rack their brains.As a gamer, if the temptation is hard to resist, remind remind yourself that the long-term goal is more important than the short-term goal, or try to exclude the distractions that tempt you, proving that you are a good teenager with self-regulation.