Due to the immense challenges faced by young children who exhibit emotion regulation problems, prevention programs have been designed to train teachers on strategies useful for improving classroom behavior. The current study examines the effects of a prevention program implemented in a blended Head Start/daycare setting and evaluates the outcomes of the training on children’s cognitive/preliteracy skills, selfregulation, and social competence in the fall and spring following teacher training. The intervention group (Western Kentucky University Child Care Center) and control group (Bryant Way Child Care Center) were part of a blended Head Start/child care preschool program. Children’s self-regulation, social competence, and cognitive/preliteracy skills were assessed in the Fall and Spring of the school year. Children in the intervention group exhibited better cognitive/preliteracy skills as shown by results on Woodcock- Johnson subtests. Teacher ratings on the ERC showed that girls improved in teacher reported self-regulation, the control group received higher scores on teacher rated lability than did the intervention group, and boys were rated higher on the lability scale than were girls. In addition, Head Start children were rated higher in emotional lability than were daycare children. Teacher ratings on the SCBE scale indicated that children received higher teacher ratings of social competence in the Spring than in the Fall and girls were rated higher than were boys. Additionally, children received lower internalizing behavior problem ratings in the Fall than in the Spring, Head Start children were rated higher in internalizing behavior problems than children in daycare, and boys in the control group received higher ratings of internalizing problem behaviors than those received by any other group. Furthermore, children in the control group were rated higher than children in the intervention group in externalizing problem behaviors in both Fall and Spring, but neither group showed a significant change in externalizing problem behaviors from Fall to Spring. Self-regulation enables children to inhibit inappropriate emotional outbursts as well as control their reactions to situations. Understanding children’s self-regulation skills is of vast importance to individuals in the field of education as the information provides practitioners the opportunity to improve children’s self-regulation in the preschool years.

Familjeutredare på akut- och utredningshem är en yrkesgrupp som arbetar med utredning av föräldrars omsorgsförmåga. I arbetet träffar familjeutredaren dagligen människor som befinner sig i svåra livsskeenden. Detta ställer krav på familjeutredarens förmåga att hantera emotioner. Studiens syfte var att bidra till en djupare förståelse för familjeutredares emotionella lönearbete, vilka emotionella krav som ställs och hur de hanterar det. Studien utgick från Grundad teori (GT) och datainsamling innefattade sju semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studien resulterade i en teoretisk modell där utgångspunkten var ett emotionellt lönearbete som präglas av en moralisk konflikt. Det centrala i modellen är att arbetet kräver å ena sidan en balansering av förväntningarna på ett moraliskt upprätthållande arbete och å andra sidan det moraliska ifrågasättande som arbetet väcker. För att balansera denna konflikt använder sig familjeutredarna av emotionsstrategier. / Child protection investigators are an occupational group who investigates parentsability to take care of their children. In their everyday work child protection investigators meet parents who find themselves in a difficult life situation. The investigator must therefore have the ability to manage emotions. The aim of this study was to contribute to a deeper understanding of child protection investigators emotional labor, their emotional demands and how they handle them. The methodology used in this study was Grounded theory (GT). Data were collected from seven informants. The findings show that child protection investigators' emotional labor is characterized by a moral conflict. This conflict arises when child protection investigators start questioning the bases of their work. To balance this moral conflict they use emotion strategies.

The choice of a meaningful baseline condition is a crucial issue for each experimental design. In the case of cognitive emotion regulation, it is common to either let participants passively view emotional stimuli without any further specific instructions or to instruct them to actively attend to and permit any arising emotions, and to contrast one of these baseline conditions with a regulation condition. While the “view” strategy can be assumed to allow for a more spontaneous emotional response, the “permit” strategy may result in a more pronounced affective and cognitive response. As these conceptual differences may be associated with differences both in subjective emotional experience and neural activation, we compared these two common control conditions within a single functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, during which participants were instructed to either passively view a set of unpleasant and neutral pictures or to actively permit any emotions arising in response to the unpleasant pictures. Trial-by-trial ratings confirmed that participants perceived the unpleasant pictures as more arousing than the neutral pictures, but also indicated higher subjective arousal during the “permit negative” as compared to the “view negative” and “view neutral” conditions. While both the “permit negative” and “view negative” conditions led to increased activation of the bilateral amygdala when contrasted with the passive viewing of neutral pictures, activation in the left amygdala was increased in response to the “permit” instruction as compared to the “view” instruction for unpleasant pictures. The increase in amygdala activation in both the “permit” and “view” conditions renders both strategies as suitable baseline conditions for studies of cognitive emotion regulation. Conceptual and activation differences, however, indicate that these two variants are not exchangeable and should be chosen depending on the experimental context.

Background: The construct of alexithymia implies a deficit in symbolization for emotional, somatic, and mental states. However, the etiologic factors for alexithymia have not yet been fully elucidated. The present study investigated the use of mentalizing language, i.e. the utterance of internal states, from a developmental perspective according to attachment organization and disorganization. Methods: A longitudinal design across 4 time points was applied to a volunteer sample of 42 children. At 12 months, children were tested with the strange situation procedure, the standard measure of attachment at the optimal age, and attachment classifications were taken of videotapes. At ages 17, 23, 30 and 36 months, mother and child were observed in simplified separation episodes of 30 min duration. Transcripts of the sessions were subject to coding of internal state words. Results: During the investigated span, securely attached children rapidly acquired emotion, physiology, cognition and emotion-regulatory language, whereas insecurely attached and disorganized children either completely lacked internal state language or displayed a considerable time lag in the use of emotion and cognition vocabulary. Conclusion: The results raise the possibility that alexithymia might be a consequence of deficits in the development of internal state language in the context of insecure or disorganized childhood attachment relationships. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

La tesi ha analizzato il complesso rapporto tra il processo di induzione emotiva e le nuove tecnologie. Nello specifico la tesi ha indagato l’efficacia, nel processo di induzione e gestione delle emozioni, di contenuti audio/video implementati su diversi media: telefoni cellulari UMTS, dvd, lettori Mp3, cd audio e pc desktop + Head Mounted Display. Il contributo pratico dell’elaborato si articola in tre studi, una ricerca di base e due applicate, all’interno dei quali ai nuovi media viene attribuito un ruolo fondamentale per la gestione di emozioni negative e l’incremento di stati di benessere in diversi contesti quotidiani: la gestione dell’ansia da esame universitario e la gestione dello stress da lavoro in un campione di insegnanti. I risultati ottenuti a seguito delle ricerche effettuate suggeriscono che le nuove tecnologie di comunicazione possono essere utilizzate come efficaci strumenti di induzione e gestione degli stati emotivi. I nuovi media, telefoni cellulari o lettori Mp3, di forte uso comune e caratterizzati da un’elevata portabilità, vengono investiti di un nuovo ruolo nel panorama di ricerca della Psicologia Positiva. La possibilità di utilizzare le nuove tecnologie per incrementare il proprio stato di benessere e migliorare la qualità della vita, indica l’emergere di una nuova area di ricerca: la “Tecnologia Positiva”. / This thesis analyzed the complex relation between the emotion induction process and the new technologies. Specifically the work investigated the effectiveness of audio and video content in the emotion induction process by using different media (mobile phone, dvd, mp3 player, audio cd and pc desktop + Head Mounted Display). The practical contribution is divided in three studies, one basic and two apply investigations, considering the new media as tools able to manage negative emotions and to induce a deep sense of wellness in two different settings: university exam anxiety and work related stress in a teachers sample. Results suggest the effectiveness of the new communication technologies to induce and manage different emotional states. New media, Mobile phone and Mp3 player, characterized by high portability, gained a new role in the field of Positive Psychology research. The possibility of using new technologies to improve wellness and the quality of life of users suggests the emergence of a new area: Positive Technology.

Submitted by Mino Correia Rios (mino.rios@gmail.com) on 2015-12-01T18:58:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Mino_Rios.pdf: 1582952 bytes, checksum: f67004dde2128149d95a4582c2c95d06 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-04-29T15:38:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Mino_Rios.pdf: 1582952 bytes, checksum: f67004dde2128149d95a4582c2c95d06 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T15:38:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Mino_Rios.pdf: 1582952 bytes, checksum: f67004dde2128149d95a4582c2c95d06 (MD5) / O presente estudo investigou a relação entre estado dos contratos psicológicos e estados emocionais, moderada pela centralidade do trabalho e pelas estratégias de regulação emocional, junto a docentes do ensino superior. Ao longo dos últimos anos o ensino superior brasileiro vem passando por uma série de transformações. Isso levou não somente a uma expansão no número de instituições atuando no país, como também a uma mudança qualitativa no perfil desses centros de ensino e na relação com seu principal elemento estratégico: o docente. Apesar dessas transformações e de seus impactos potenciais, o número de estudos sobre o tema é ainda restrito, tanto em relação ao docente do ensino superior, quanto em termos da relação proposta entre as variáveis. O estudo foi conduzido com base em um survey, com dados sociodemográficos dos participantes, além de medidas de Escala de obrigações dos docentes (envolvendo aspectos acadêmicos e institucionais); Escala de contrapartidas institucionais (divididas em homomórficas e heteromórficas); Escala de estado dos contratos; Escala de afetos positivos e negativos (PANAS); Escala de centralidade do trabalho (Absoluta e relativa); e Escala de estratégias de regulação das emoções (dividida em reavaliação e supressão). Um total de 232 docentes do ensino superior oriundos de diferentes regiões do Brasil responderam à pesquisa. A amostra indica prevalência de docentes de instituições privadas (67,4%) e com até quatro anos de experiência como docentes (45,1%). Em relação ao conteúdo dos contratos psicológicos, os docentes apontaram percepções de obrigações elevadas e diversificadas, ainda que com destaque para aquelas relacionadas ao ensino. Indicaram também expectativas elevadas em relação às contrapartidas institucionais, especialmente em relação àquelas relacionadas de forma mais direta ao que o docente investiu e ao seu investimento enquanto empregado. Em termos da qualidade da troca e dos estados emocionais, a percepção geral é a de contratos satisfeitos em boa parte de seus componentes, e prevalência dos estados emocionais positivos em comparação com os negativos. Os professores indicaram ainda elevada centralidade do trabalho, além do uso prioritário da reavaliação enquanto estratégia de regulação das emoções. Em relação às hipóteses consideradas pelo estudo, a primeira foi plenamente confirmada, tendo em vista que os estados emocionais foram preditos pelos estados dos contratos psicológicos. Os resultados mostram, inclusive, poder preditivo não somente em relação às emoções negativas (objeto da maior parte dos estudos), mas em relação às emoções positivas. Essa predição mostrou-se em especial poderosa em relação às trocas institucionais, sinalizando um docente que percebe seu papel enquanto empregado de forma cada vez mais forte. Na segunda hipótese testou-se o modelo completo, envolvendo o papel moderador da centralidade do trabalho e das estratégias de regulação. Aqui houve apenas suporte parcial, tendo em vista que só foi verificado efeito de moderação no caso das emoções negativas e, ainda assim, de forma limitada. Uma explicação possível, nesse caso, refere-se à prevalência de docentes com pouco tempo de experiência, o que resultaria em menor habilidade de manejo das estratégias de regulação e, assim, com menos efeitos visíveis das mesmas nas vivências emocionais. As principais limitações relacionadas ao estudo referem-se à dificuldade de acesso aos docentes, de modo a incrementar a validade externa do estudo, e a necessidade de se avaliar os fenômenos em questão em termos de suas características dinâmicas, o que seria possível por meio de estudos longitudinais. / The present study investigated the relationship between psychological contracts and emotions, moderated by the centrality of work and the emotion regulation strategies, in the context of university teachers’. Over the past few years, the Brazilian higher education has undergone a series of transformations. This led not only to an expansion in the number of institutions operating in the country, but also a qualitative change in the profile of these educational centers and in the relationship with its main strategic element: the teacher. Despite these changes and their potential impacts, the number of studies on the subject is still limited, both with regard to teaching in higher education, and in terms of the proposed relationship between the variables. The study was conducted based on a survey with demographic data of the participants and teachers obligations Scale measures (involving academics and institutional aspects); Scale institutional counterparts (divided into homomorphic and heteromorphic); Scale of psychological contracts state; Scale of positive and negative affect (PANAS); The centrality of work range (absolute and relative); and Scale of emotion regulation strategies (divided into reappraisal and suppression). 232 teachers of higher education from different regions of Brazil responded to the survey. The sample indicates prevalence of private institutions of teachers (67.4%) and up to four years of experience as teachers (45.1%). Regarding the content of the psychological contract, the teachers pointed perceptions of high and diversified bonds, although especially those related to education. Also indicated high expectations for institutional counterparts, especially regarding those related more directly to the teacher invested and their investment while employed. In terms of quality of the exchange and emotional states, the general perception is pleased contracts in most of its components, and prevalence of positive emotional states compared to the negative. Teachers indicated still high centrality of work in addition to the priority use of evaluation as of emotion regulation strategy. Regarding the assumptions made by the study, the first was fully confirmed, given that emotional states were predicted by the states of psychological contracts. The results show, even predictive power not only in respect of negative emotions (object of most studies), but in relation to positive emotions. This prediction proved to be powerful in particular in relation to institutional exchanges, signaling a faculty that perceives its role as employee ever more strongly. In the second hypothesis tested the complete model, involving the moderating role of the centrality of labor and regulatory strategies. Here there was only partially supported, considering that were only investigated the effect of restraint in the case of negative emotions and yet in a limited manner. One possible explanation in this case refers to the prevalence of teachers with little experience of time, which would result in less management ability of regulatory strategies and thus less visible effects of the same emotional experiences. The main limitations to the study refer to the difficulty of access to teachers in order to increase external validity, and the need to evaluate the phenomena in question in terms of its dynamic characteristics, which would be possible through longitudinal studies.

The present study evaluated instructions in graphic and expressive writing tasks as stress and emotion regulation activity aids. Six experimental groups were composed of thirty university students. Effects were measured with the Mexican versions of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The groups were similar in  the perceived stress and affect measures in time 1. Results demonstrated positive changes in both variables in time 2,for the intervention groups. The results indicate that it is necessary to evaluate the types of instructions given in experimental and clinical settings. / Se evalúa el impacto de las instrucciones dadas para el uso de actividades gráficas y escritura expresiva como una forma de apoyo en el manejo del estrés y las emociones a partir de seis grupos experimentales con treinta estudiantes universitarios. Los efectos fueron estimados mediante la adaptación mexicana de la Escala de Estrés Percibido y la adaptación de Escala de Afecto Positivo y Negativo. Los grupos fueron similares en su estrés percibido y en emociones en el tiempo 1. Los resultados indican que ambas variables mejoran tras la intervención (tiempo 2), mostrando diferencias entre los grupos. Se concluye que es necesario evaluar el tipo de instrucciones en ambientes experimentales y clínicos considerando estas diferencias. / O propósito do estudo foi avaliar o impacto das instruções dadas para o uso de atividades gráficas e escritura expressiva como uma forma de apoio no controle do estresse e das emoções. A amostra foi formada por trinta estudantes universitários. Deste modo formaram-se seis grupos experimentais, cujos efeitos foram medidos mediante a adaptação mexicana da Escala de Estresse Percebido e a adaptação da Escala de Afeto Positivo e Negativo. Os grupos foram similares no estresse percebido e nas emoções no tempo 1. Os resultados indicam que ambas variáveis melhoram depois da intervenção (tempo 2); mas com diferenças entre os grupos. Deste modo se conclui que é necessário avaliar o tipo de instruções em ambientesexperimentais e clínicos considerando estas diferenças.

Intolerance of uncertainty concerns how one views and reacts touncertainty, where one who’s highly intolerant would find it verydiscomforting when confronted with uncertain situations. The purposeof this study was to examine the associations between intolerance ofuncertainty, pain catastrophizing, emotion regulation andpsychopathic traits. These variables were to be examined in thecontext of a Beads Task and a Cold Pressor Test (CPT). Wehypothesized that there would be a positive significant associationbetween intolerance of uncertainty, pain catastrophizing, emotionregulation, psychopathic traits. We also hypothesized that there wouldbe a difference depending on the difficulty of the Beads Task. To doso, data was collected from 60 university students (32 females and 28males). The results showed that there was a significant, positiveassociation between intolerance of uncertainty, pain catastrophizing,emotion regulation and the Beads Task measurements. Some of theseresults were similar to previous studies. / Intolerans mot osäkerhet berör hur en person uppfattar och reagerarpå osäkerhet, där någon som är intolerant upplever osäkra situationersom obehagliga. Syftet med denna studie var att undersökaassociationerna mellan intolerans mot osäkerhet,smärtkatastrofiering, känsloreglering och psykopatiskapersonlighetsdrag. Dessa variabler undersöktes i sammanhang medBeads Task och ett Kallvattentest. Där några av hypoteserna var attdet finns positiva signifikanta associationer mellan intolerans motosäkerhet, smärtkatastrofiering, känsloreglering och psykopatiskapersonlighetsdrag. Vi hade också en hypotes att det kommer finnas enskillnad beroende på svårighetsgraden av Beads Task. För att göradetta samlades data in från 60 universitetsstudenter (32 kvinnor och28 män). Resultaten visade på en signifikant, positiv associationmellan intolerans mot osäkerhet, smärtkatastrofiering,känsloreglering och Beads Task-måtten. Några av dessa resultat varlikt de i tidigare studier.

This thesis studies a specific population of children exposed to domestic violence. The theoretical part is focused on the impacts of domestic violence on emotionality and emotional development of children. It also deals with the problematic aspects of children's emotionality that are believed to be disturbed by this traumatizing experience. These particular areas were chosen based on present studies focused on the children exposed to domestic violence. The empirical part of the study was developed in cooperation with the Locika centre. It studies chosen aspects of children's emotionality in a quantitative and qualitative way. Particularly, it investigates the ability to distinguish emotions and the ability of emotion regulation within the overall cognitive development.

Abstract This dissertation focuses on young children’s emotion and behaviour regulation in educational settings. The purpose is to explore its emergence in socio-emotionally challenging academic and social activities in order to understand the contributing individual and interactional factors. The dissertation consists of three studies conducted in two contexts, a classroom and an open day-care. The results are reported in three empirical articles. Study I explored children’s strategic activities and success in regulating emotions in challenging classroom situations. Studies II and III were performed in a day-care context. Study II focused on teachers’ perspectives and investigated their use of co-regulation strategies in challenging situations and their awareness of their strategy use. Finally, Study III investigated children’s use of emotion and behaviour regulation strategies in these same situations and the composition of children’s strategic activities in interaction with teachers and peers. Data were collected using video observations, video-stimulated recall interviews and the questionnaire assessing children’s social competence. The results indicate that the children use various emotion and behaviour regulation strategies in socio-emotionally challenging situations. In the day-care context, their strategies were mostly focused on regulating the environment, whereas in the classroom context, their strategies, especially among the more socially skilled children, were focused on regulating themselves. As well, the teachers’ co-regulation strategies were focused more on children’s activities than their emotions. Moreover, the study indicates that children’s regulatory interactions are affected not only by their different skill levels but also by peer interactions and teachers’ involvement. The study results contribute to the understanding of young children’s processes and abilities to regulate emotions in everyday challenges in educational settings and, thus, increase awareness of how teachers can support these regulatory processes. / Tiivistelmä Tässä väitöstutkimuksessa tutkitaan päiväkoti- ja peruskouluikäisten lasten tunteiden ja käyttäytymisen säätelyä koulussa ja avoimessa päiväkodissa. Tavoitteena on selvittää erityisesti, miten lasten tunteiden ja käyttäytymisen säätely ilmenee oppimiseen tai sosiaalisiin tilanteisiin liittyvissä sosio-emotionaalisissa haasteissa ja ymmärtää lasten tunteiden ja käyttäytymisen säätelyyn vaikuttavia yksilöllisiä ja vuorovaikutuksellisia tekijöitä. Tutkimus toteutettiin kahdessa kontekstissa: peruskoulussa ja avoimessa päiväkodissa. Se koostuu kolmesta empiirisestä osatutkimuksesta, joiden tulokset on raportoitu kolmessa artikkelissa. Osatutkimuksessa I selvitettiin millaisia sosio-emotionaalisia haasteita lapset kokivat peruskoulun luokkahuonetilanteissa ja miten he käyttivät tunnesäätelystrategioita näissä tilanteissa. Osatutkimus II tutki, miten opettajat säätelivät lasten tunteita ja käyttäytymistä haasteellisissa tilanteissa avoimessa päiväkodissa ja miten tietoisia he olivat käyttämistään strategioista. Osatutkimus III selvitti puolestaan, millaisia säätelystrategioita lapset käyttivät samoissa sosio-emotionaalisesti haastavissa tilanteissa. Osatutkimus selvitti myös, miten lasten käyttämät strategiat olivat yhteydessä vuorovaikutukseen opettajan ja ikätoverien kanssa. Tutkimuksen aineistona käytettiin video-taltiointeja autenttisista koulu- ja päiväkotitilanteista, opettajille järjestettyjä videostimuloituja haastatteluja ja lasten sosiaalista kompetenssia arvioivaa kyselyä. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että lapset käyttävät monenlaisia tunne- ja käyttäytymisen säätelystrategioita haasteellisissa tilanteissa. Päiväkoti-ikäisten lasten säätelystrategiat pyrkivät enimmäkseen vaikuttamaan muiden toimintaan, kun taas kouluikäiset, erityisesti sosiaalisesti taitavat lapset, säätelevät haasteellisissa tilanteissa enemmän itseään kuin ympäristöä. Tulosten mukaan opettajat kohdistavat säätelystrategiansa haasteellisissa tilanteissa enemmän lasten toimintaan kuin heidän tunteisiinsa. Kaiken kaikkiaan tulokset osoittavat, että lasten säätelystrategioihin vaikuttavat sekä heidän omat taitonsa että opettajien aktiivinen puuttuminen ja vuorovaikutus ikätoverien kanssa. Tutkimus korostaa opettajan tuen merkitystä lasten tunteiden säätelyprosesseissa lasten koulun ja varhaiskasvatuksen arjessa.