Which is the Best Way for not Feeling Fear? Young Children's Strategies to Regulate Fear

Over the past decade several studies have demonstrated children's rich knowledge of emotions. In contrast, less is known about children's knowledge about strategies to regulate their own emotional states. While questionnaire data suggest a rather late development of strategies to regulate emotions, not beginning before middle childhood, theory-of-mind research suggests the possibility of an earlier development. The present study examines whether children from age three on are able to distinguish effective from ineffective strategies of emotion regulation. A total of 64 children (16 3-, 4,-5-, and 6-year-olds) were given six stories all depicting a child protagonist facing a fear-eliciting situation. For each story, two effective and two ineffective strategies were presented. The children's task was to judge whether the strategy would be helpful for not feeling scared. With the exception of the 3-year-olds, children of all age groups were better in understanding the mental strategies than the behavioral strategies. Thus, the results are in accordance with theory of mind research and indicate that recognizing effective behavioral and mental strategies begins to develop from three years onward.