Meta-Analysis of Family Support Programs' Impacts on Emotion Regulation in Early Childhood

Abstract

This study examined evaluations of family support programs in early childhood that measured emotion regulation (ER). Family support programs attend to the development of ER in children under the age of 5 by offering services to improve parenting practices, knowledge, or attitudes. The foundations of ER are formed in early childhood, and identifying the ways that programs attend to ER development is important. In order to understand the effective components of family support programs, a meta-analysis of program evaluations that attended to the ER of children under the age of 5 was conducted, with 16 studies (N = 16) and 82 effect sizes (N=82) included in this analysis. Results of this study show that these programs are, on average, improving children’s ER (ES = 0.21). Results from the joint model suggest that programs using services such as child social skills training, center-based early childhood care, child playgroups, information on child development or didactic materials had lower effect sizes on average (ES = -0.24) than those not providing these services, as did studies that measured children’s ER through the use of the Emotion Regulation Checklist (ES = -0.29) relative to other measures used to measure ER. These findings provide guidance for the field's next steps in designing family support programs to improve ER in early childhood and planning program evaluations. The practice and policy implications and future directions for family support programs to improve ER in early childhood are discussed.