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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Positive emotion, negative emotion, and emotion control in the externalizing problems of school-aged children
Geunyoung Kim1, Tedra Walden, Vicki Harris
1Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, 230 Appleton Place, GPC 512, Nashville, TN 37203, USA. geunyoung.kim@vanderbilt.edu
Abstract:
The present study examined the role of emotion and emotion control in children's externalizing problems. Third- to sixth-grade children were administered a self-report measure of positive emotion, negative emotion, and emotion control. Peer- and teacher-reported adjustment problems were assessed. Structural equations modeling revealed that negative emotion, especially anger, was important in externalizing problems. Less positive emotion was associated with more externalizing problems. However, when negative emotion was examined in a more differentiated manner (anger, sadness and fear), the effect of positive emotion was diminished. Anger consistently emerged as a significant predictor of behavior problems. No interaction between either positive emotion and emotion control or negative emotion and emotion control was significant. Results showed main effects of each emotion component, with small interaction effects. Methodological and conceptual implications of the findings from the present study are discussed.
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