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The indirect link of emotion regulation in the associations between lability/negativity, depressed affect, and aggression in preschool children.

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Title: The indirect link of emotion regulation in the associations between lability/negativity, depressed affect, and aggression in preschool children.
Authors: Köklü-Yaylacı H; Faculty of Education, Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Türkiye. Electronic address: hasretkoklu@aksaray.edu.tr., Olgan R; Faculty of Education, Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye. Electronic address: rolgan@metu.edu.tr.
Source: Acta psychologica [Acta Psychol (Amst)] 2026 Aug; Vol. 268, pp. 107340. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jul 13.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Language: English
Journal Info: Publisher: North Holland Publishing Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 0370366 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-6297 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00016918 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Acta Psychol (Amst) Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Publication: Amsterdam : North Holland Publishing
Original Publication: The Hague.
MeSH Terms: Aggression*/psychology , Aggression*/physiology , Emotional Regulation*/physiology , Child Behavior*/physiology , Child Behavior*/psychology , Depression*/psychology , Emotions*/physiology , Interpersonal Relations*, Humans ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Male ; Turkey
Abstract: This study examined how preschool children's ability to regulate emotions is linked to the relationship between their emotion lability/negativity, depressed affect, as well as physical and relational aggression. The data were collected from 188 preschoolers enrolled in public schools in a central city of Türkiye. The sample primarily included children of Turkish ethnic background. Using the Children's Emotion Regulation Checklist and the Preschool Children's Prosocial Behaviors Teacher Form, findings revealed that higher levels of emotion lability/negativity and depressed affect were directly associated with higher physical aggression. Emotion regulation exerted contrasting relationships between aggression types: it was strongly linked to reduced physical aggression but moderately associated with increased relational aggression. This suggests better emotion regulation may reduce physical aggression but might contribute to relational aggression. Moreover, emotion regulation was indirectly associated with the relationship between lability/negativity and relational aggression, but not with physical aggression. Finally, emotion regulation is associated with 69.1% of the variance in physical aggression and 28.2% of the variance in relational aggression highlighting, its significant impact on understanding these behaviors.
(Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Comments: Erratum in: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2026 Sep 11:107796. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107796.. (PMID: 42728160)
Contributed Indexing: Keywords: Depressed affect; Early childhood; Emotion regulation; Lability/negativity; Physical and relational aggression
Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20260713 Date Completed: 20260724 Latest Revision: 20260911
Update Code: 20260912
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107340
PMID: 42442063
Database: MEDLINE
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  Data: The indirect link of emotion regulation in the associations between lability/negativity, depressed affect, and aggression in preschool children.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AU" term="%22Köklü-Yaylacı+H%22">Köklü-Yaylacı H</searchLink>; Faculty of Education, Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Türkiye. Electronic address: hasretkoklu@aksaray.edu.tr.<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AU" term="%22Olgan+R%22">Olgan R</searchLink>; Faculty of Education, Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye. Electronic address: rolgan@metu.edu.tr.
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  Data: This study examined how preschool children's ability to regulate emotions is linked to the relationship between their emotion lability/negativity, depressed affect, as well as physical and relational aggression. The data were collected from 188 preschoolers enrolled in public schools in a central city of Türkiye. The sample primarily included children of Turkish ethnic background. Using the Children's Emotion Regulation Checklist and the Preschool Children's Prosocial Behaviors Teacher Form, findings revealed that higher levels of emotion lability/negativity and depressed affect were directly associated with higher physical aggression. Emotion regulation exerted contrasting relationships between aggression types: it was strongly linked to reduced physical aggression but moderately associated with increased relational aggression. This suggests better emotion regulation may reduce physical aggression but might contribute to relational aggression. Moreover, emotion regulation was indirectly associated with the relationship between lability/negativity and relational aggression, but not with physical aggression. Finally, emotion regulation is associated with 69.1% of the variance in physical aggression and 28.2% of the variance in relational aggression highlighting, its significant impact on understanding these behaviors.<br /> (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
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  Data: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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  Data: Erratum in: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2026 Sep 11:107796. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107796.. (PMID: <searchLink fieldCode="PM" term="%2242728160%22">42728160)</searchLink>
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