The Effects of an Emotion Regulation Program on the Social and Emotional Competency of Children from Divorced Families

Abstract

Purpose: Determine the effects of an emotion regulation program on the social and emotional competency of children from divorced families.

Design: Quasi-Experimental Research

Methods: The sample consisted of 60 children from divorced families in grades 4 to 6, recruited using inclusion criteria from schools in Pathumthani province, Thailand. The students were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups, with 30 children in each group. The experimental group participated in the emotion regulation program. The control group received regular care. The research instruments were the following: 1) the emotion regulation program, which was content validated by three experts; and 2) a social and emotional competency questionnaire, developed by the researcher. The reliability of this questionnaire was determined with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .89. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test.

Findings: 1) The experimental group’s participants’ mean scores on the social and emotional competency posttest (M=121.50, SD=4.84) after participating in the emotion regulation program were significantly higher than their mean scores on social and emotional competency on the pretest (M=91.13, SD=8.40) before participating in the program (t=9.55, p < .001), and 2) The mean difference in the social and emotional competency scores between the pretest and posttest of the experimental group that participated in the emotion regulation program (=30.37, SD=17.41) was significantly higher than the mean difference in the social and emotional competency score of the control group that received regular care (= -6.93, SD=8.40) (t=10.57, p < .001).

Conclusion: The emotion regulation program was able to effectively increase the social and emotional competency of the children from divorced families in this study.