Abstract for the 11th Biennial Conference of Asian Association of Social

Psychology from 19-22 August, 2015

Self-regulation and Emotion Regulation of Pre-adolescents, Adolescents and
their Parents
Nadisha Coelho and Mrinmoyi Kulkarni
Nadisha Coelho, Research Scholar, IIT Bombay, Powai. Email: nadisha@iitb.ac.in
Mrinmoyi Kulkarni, Assistant Professor, IIT Bombay Powai. Email:
mrinmoyi@hss.iitb.ac.in
Abstract
Adolescence is a crucial developmental phase, which involves grooming teenagers for
the tasks of adulthood. Self-regulation is an umbrella term encompassing thoughts,
feelings and behaviours directed toward the successful attainment of ones goals. It
has been observed that self-regulation in childhood is associated with outcomes in
adolescence such as academic competence, social competence, and substance abuse
(Krueger et al., 2002). The present study examined the development of self-regulation
from late childhood to adolescence, parents strategies at regulating their child and the
role of emotion regulation in self-regulation. Qualitative data was collected using
semi-structured interviews with 45 pre-adolescents (10-12 year-old), adolescents (1315 year-olds, and 16-18 year olds) and their parents (all mothers and a sub-set of 5
fathers). The data was content analyzed and themes were extracted. Age emerged as
an important factor, with older adolescents indicating better self-regulation. Mothers
employment and family composition surfaced as influential factors for self-regulation.
Results were moderated by social class. The study has implications for parenting
adolescents.
Keywords: self-regulation, emotion regulation, preadolescence, adolescence,
parenting