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7 Principles of Regulation Coregulation

Self-regulation is the ability to manage one's cognition and emotions to achieve goals. It develops from birth through young adulthood and is influenced by biological, individual, and external factors that interact. These include skills, motivation, caregiver support, environment, and stress levels. Self-regulation can be strengthened through focused attention, support, and practice opportunities across different contexts.

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Drina Nibbe
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131 views

7 Principles of Regulation Coregulation

Self-regulation is the ability to manage one's cognition and emotions to achieve goals. It develops from birth through young adulthood and is influenced by biological, individual, and external factors that interact. These include skills, motivation, caregiver support, environment, and stress levels. Self-regulation can be strengthened through focused attention, support, and practice opportunities across different contexts.

Uploaded by

Drina Nibbe
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Seven Key Principles of Self-Regulation

and Self-Regulation in Context

Self-regulation serves as the foundation for lifelong functioning across a wide


range of domains, from mental health and emotional wellbeing to academic achievement,
physical health, and socioeconomic success. It has also proven responsive to intervention,
making it a powerful target for change.

Self-regulation is defined from an applied perspective as the act of managing


cognition and emotion to enable goal-directed actions such as organizing behavior,
controlling impulses, and solving problems constructively.
Figure 1
Self-regulation enactment lexibility Self-Regulat

f
is influenced by a adap

ion
combination of t

abi
individual and external

lity
factors including biology,
skills, motivation, care-
giver support, and Willpower
environmental context. Executive functioning
These factors interact Effortful control Emotion regulation
with one another to Self-Control
support self-regulation Self-Management
and create opportunities for
intervention.

Self-regulation can be strengthened and taught like literacy, with focused


attention, support, and practice opportunities provided across contexts. Skills that are not
This brief provides a framework developed early on can be acquired later, with multiple opportunities for intervention.
for understanding self-regula-
tion and its development in an
Development of self-regulation is dependent on “co-regulation” provided by
ecological-biological develop-
parents or other caregiving adults through warm and responsive interactions in which
ment context. It is derived from a
support, coaching, and modeling are provided to facilitate a child’s ability to under-
larger report on work conducted
stand, express, and modulate thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
by the Duke Center for Child and
Family Policy for the Administra-
tion for Children and Families. Self-regulation can be disrupted by prolonged or pronounced stress and
adversity including poverty and trauma experiences. Although manageable stress may build
Many different terms have been coping skills, stress that overwhelms children’s skills or support can create toxic effects that
used to describe one’s ability to negatively impact development and produce long-term changes in neurobiology.
manage emotions and impulses.
Figure 1 illustrates self-regu-
lation as an umbrella term that Self-regulation develops over an extended period from birth through young
encompasses many constructs adulthood (and beyond). There are two clear developmental periods where self-
that may be used to describe regulation skills increase dramatically due to underlying neurobiological changes–
similar skills and processes. early childhood and adolescence – suggesting particular opportunities for intervention.
Understanding Self-Regulation in Context
Figure 2
Figure 2 presents a comprehensive model of self-regulation
enactment which graphically shows the range of factors that
influence whether and how well a child or youth may self-
regulate in any given situation. The next major influence
depicted is the self-regulation skills that the child or youth
has developed over time, which have often served as a
target for interventions.
The most internal factor influencing a child’s capacity
for self-regulation is comprised of the child’s biology,
genetics, and temperament, which contribute to
Bio l o gy
Mo

individual di erences in self-regulation.

)
n al
ti v

Next is an individual’s motivation toself-regulate,


ti o S k ill s te r
x
a

n( E
which can be derived from either external sources
Ca In t e r n a l & (i.e., rewards and consequences) or internal goals
reg and values (i.e. intrinsic motivation).
iver S u p p or t Caregiver support (provided by parents, teachers, or

February 2017
E nv
ir o n m e n t a l C o n t ex t mentors) is the next layer in our model, which serves to
strengthen children’s self-regulation skills and also buffer them
from adverse experiences in the larger environment.
OPRE Report: 2016-39
The environmental context including the demands or stressors placed on children as well as
Project Officer: the external resources available also have a signi cant in uence on their ability to self-regulate.
Aleta Meyer, PhD OPRE
It should be noted that, although the concentric circles in Figure 2 begin with those factors
Prepared by: Tyler Hatch that are most internal and extend outward to those that are most external, each of these factors
Suggested Citation: Murray, may interact with and in uence the others. For example, environment may in uence a child’s biology
D.W., Rosanbalm, K., and Chris- by shaping brain circuitry, and biology or temperament may in uence how a caregiver interacts with
topouFlos, C. (2016). Self Reg- a child.
ulation and Toxic Stress: Seven
Summary
Key Principles of Self Regulation
in Context. OPRE Report #2016- Self-regulation can be defined from an applied perspective as the act of managing one’s thoughts
39. Washington, DC: Office of and feelings to engage in goal-directed actions such as organizing behavior, controlling impulses,
Planning, Research, and Evalua- and solving problems constructively. The act of self-regulating is dependent on several different
tion, Administration for Children factors that interact with each other, those that are individual to the child or youth as well as those
and Families, US. Department of that are external or environmental, including biology, skills, motivation, caregiver support, and
Health and Human Services. environmental context.
This brief was funded by the This report is in the public domain. Permission to reproduce is not necessary.
Office of Planning,
Research and Evaluation,
Administration for Children
and Families, U.S. Depart-
ment of Health and Human
Services under Contract Num-
ber HHSP23320095642WC/
HHSP23337035T.

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