The Development of Emotional Regulation in Pre-Schoolers: The Role of Sociodramatic Play

Abstract

The present research focuses on the link between emotion regulation in preschoolers and the efficiency of sociodramatic play as a means of developing emotional and social skills appropriate for each developmental stage. In particular, we examined the effects of sociodramatic play on a four-year-old boy named Andreas, who demonstrated signs of limited emotional regulation, such as angry outbursts, inability to control his emotions and inability to cope in emotion-inducing situations. This swift in his behaviour, caused by his mother's negative control behaviour, was measured through the Emotion Regulation Checklist, the Delay Gratification Task and the Task of Effortful Control. Drawing from a plethora of theorists who support the benefits of sociodramatic play for the development of emotion regulation skills, we designed a three months school based intervention for Andreas and employed the tests beforehand and after the end of the sociodramatic sessions to explore the efficiency of the intervention. Results are discussed in regards to relevant literature.

Development of critical thinking competence in children of early and preschool age

“…Preuzimanjem različitih uloga dijete razvija vještinu sagledavanja situacija iz različitih perspektiva te usvaja i pokazuje različite načine razmišljanja i ponašanja (Berk, 2015;Klarin, 2017). Aktivno sudjelovanje djeteta u ovoj vrsti igre podupire razvoj divergentnog mišljenja, kreativnosti, društvenosti, komunikacijskih vještina, vještina rješavanja problema te nadgledanja i kontroliranja vlastitih misli, emocija i ponašanja, ali i razumijevanja tuđih (Berk, 2008(Berk, , 2015Klarin, 2017;Sawyer i Brooks, 2021;Stavrou, 2019).…”

Preschool Aggression and Victimization: A Short-Term Longitudinal Analysis of the Immediate Social Environment

“… 4 Emotionally, they become more capable of recognizing and managing their feelings, although emotional outbursts are still common. 5 , 6 Socially, they start forming friendships and learning about cooperation, sharing, and empathy. 7 , 8 This period is crucial for the acquisition of foundational skills and behaviours that will lay the groundwork for their future development and educational experiences.…”