Cultural Factors Influencing Preschoolers' Acquisition of Self-Regulation and Emotion Regulation

This study used an ethnographic research design to explore the perceptions of 27 families with preschool children whose parents or guardians designated themselves as culturally diverse. Multiple data sources were collected over 9 months in the field, including transcripts of focus group meetings and individual parental interviews, preschool documents, and researcher field notes and journals. This research study found that the participants consistently held the view that their cultural background influenced the preschoolers' acquisition of self-regulation and emotion regulation. Based on these findings, the implications include a problem-solving paradigm for culturally sensitive support of families, synthesized from the parental and guardian narratives.