Correlation of Difficulty in Emotional Regulation with Behavioral Problems Among Young Children in Both Private and Public Sectors Educational Institutions of Swabi

Abstract

Emotional regulation is the essential skill that enables people to control their emotions and behaviors effectively. It is crucial for young children, in particular, because they are still developing their capacity for passionate direction. The capacity to control one's emotions in a way that is both adaptive and acceptable in society is known as emotional regulation. This study used an analytical cross-sectional design to find the correlation between difficulty in emotional regulation and behavioral problems. It also used a purposive sampling technique to collect data from 400 children of both sexes at public and private schools. Most of the study participants were male, in the age range of 7-9. In regards to birth order, most of the study participants (38%) were firstborn, followed by secondborn (30%) and lastborn (26.5%); however, the only children accounted for merely 5%. The Pearson correlation test was run to find the correlation between difficulty in emotional regulation and behavioral problems in this study. The test value was 0.42, and the p-value was less than 0.05, indicating that emotional regulation difficulty positively correlates with behavioral issues. The current study's evidence strongly suggests that emotional regulation can assist in treating behavioral issues in young children. The study's findings show that emotional problems correlate negatively with emotional regulation, whereas behavioral problems correlate positively with emotional regulation difficulties. This suggests that enhancing emotional regulation may lessen behavioral issues in children.