Evaluating parent-mediated interventions to support child emotion regulation: a review of preventative approaches across childhood

Abstract

Parenting plays an important role in children’s emotion regulation (ER) development. Parent-mediated interventions, preventative approaches that equip caregivers with skills to enhance their children’s emotional, behavioural, or developmental outcomes, have emerged as a promising strategy to address difficulties in child ER, particularly during the early to middle childhood years (Morawska et al., 2019). This narrative review synthesized studies evaluating the effectiveness of parent-mediated preventative interventions aimed at enhancing ER in children aged 0–12 years. A search across three databases yielded 3189 articles, with 24 studies retained after applying inclusion criteria. Key interventions included Tuning in to Kids, Incredible Years, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, Family Check-Up, and Triple P – Positive Parenting Program. While the interventions varied in design, all included a parental and child ER element (albeit using varied terminology to describe it), providing caregivers with skills to regulate their emotions, engage in effective parenting practices, and model healthy ER behaviours. Despite these promising outcomes, significant methodological limitations, such as inconsistent and imprecise measurement of ER and limited research on middle childhood, restricted a comprehensive understanding of the impact of these interventions. Future research should incorporate rigorous and comprehensive ER assessments and expand the focus of inquiry to include children in middle childhood to addressing the identified gaps in current literature and further promote adaptive ER development in children.