The Role of Child Emotion Regulation, Parent Emotion Regulation, and Co-Parenting in the Behavioral Problems of Preschool Children

Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology Vol.7 Issue.2

Doi:10.35365/ctjpp.25.2.07

RESEARCH ARTICLE / ARAŞTIRMA YAZISI

The Role of Child Emotion Regulation, Parent Emotion Regulation, and Co-Parenting in the Behavioral Problems of Preschool Children

Okul Öncesi Çocuklarının Davranış Problemlerinde Çocuk Duygu Düzenleme, Ebeveyn Duygu Düzenleme ve Birlikte Ebeveynliğin Rolü

Zehra Ertuğrul Yaşar¹, Neslihan Yaman²

Abstract:

Studies on behavioral problems in early childhood typically focus on the mother-child relationship, children with special needs, and emotion regulation skills. However, other factors have not been sufficiently addressed. This research aims to expand the scope of variables traditionally examined in the context of dyadic relationships, by investigating the role of children’s and parents’ emotion regulation skills and co-parenting in predicting behavioral problems in Turkish preschoolers. Data were collected from 502 parents of children aged three to six. To measure the parents’ emotion regulation skills, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Short Form was used, while co-parenting was assessed using the Co-parenting Scale. The children’s emotion regulation skills were measured using the Emotion Regulation Checklist, and any behavioral problems in children were assessed using the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scale. Analyses revealed that behavioral problems were significantly related to the child’s and parents’ emotion regulation skills, and co-parenting. It was found that 22% of preschool children’s behavioral problems were explained by the child’s emotion regulation skills, the emotion regulation difficulties experienced by the parents, and co-parenting. In families where the child’s emotion regulation skills were high, parents had fewer emotion regulation difficulties, and where co-parenting existed, preschool children had fewer behavioral problems. These results highlight the role of the emotion regulation skills of children and parents, as well as the quality of co-parenting, in the behavioral problems of preschool children which suggests a family centered perspective on prevention and intervention for preschool children’s behavioral problems.

Keywords: Preschool period, Emotion regulation, Co-parenting, Behavioral problems.

¹Asst. Prof., Yalova University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, E-mail: [email protected], Orcid Id: 0000-0003-4543-3662

²Asst. Prof., Yalova University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, E-mail: [email protected], Orcid Id: 0000-0003-0324-2390

Address of Correpondence/Yazışma Adresi: Zehra Ertuğrul-Yaşar, Yalova University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Yalova, Türkiye, [email protected].

Date of Received/Geliş Tarihi: 24.12.2024, Date of Revision/Düzeltme Tarihi: 07.04.2025, Date of Acceptance/Kabul Tarihi: 11.04.2025, Date of Online Publication/Çevirimiçi Yayın Tarihi: 05.06.2025.

Citing/Referans Gösterimi: Yaşar, Z. E., & Yaman, N. (2025). The Role of Child Emotion Regulation, Parent Emotion Regulation, and Co-Parenting in the Behavioral Problems of Preschool Children. Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology, 7(2), 169-176.

© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Cyprus Mental Health Institute / Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry and Psychology (www.ktppdergisi.com). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/