Network-level changes in emotion regulation skills following a school-based prevention program

Prior research highlights the importance of emotion regulation (ER) skills for children and young adolescents' mental health. This study examined a 10-h ER skills training, named Boost Camp, using network analysis. A total of 498 adolescents (M_age = 10.36, SD_age = .71, range = 8-12) from schools in Belgium completed the ER Skills Questionnaire before and after the intervention. Grounded in the Adaptive Coping with Emotions model, the study assessed adolescent ER skills including Awareness, Identification, Labeling, Understanding, Modification, Acceptance, Tolerance, Readiness to Confront, and Effective Self-Support. Results indicated that Modification, Identifying & Labeling, and Acceptance & Tolerance were the most influential skills. Changes in network structure and patterns of connectivity from pre- to post-intervention were studied using the Structural Hamming Distance and Network Comparison Test. While the overall level of network connectivity remained stable over time, permutation tests indicated structural differences following the intervention, including two significant deletions and one edge insertion. The pre-intervention network exhibited a two-community structure: one grouping Identification & Labeling, Awareness, and Understanding, and another combining Acceptance & Tolerance, Modification, Readiness to Confront, and Effective Self-Support. Post-intervention, this community distinction was no longer observed, with increased connectivity between previously separate clusters and decreased within-cluster associations. These findings demonstrate the utility of network analysis for examining changes in the organization of ER skills following participation in a school-based intervention. Although the functional significance of these network-level changes remains unclear, the findings suggest a more integrated pattern of associations among ER skills post-intervention.