A Cross-sectional Study On Emotion Regulation And Its Associated Factors Among Preschool Children From Some Rural Area Of Anhui Province

Objective To know the status of emotional regulation of preschool children in rural areas of Anhui Province,and to explore the relationship between children's emotional regulation and left-behind and other associated factors,we investigated the preschoolers in some rural areas of Anhui Province,so as to provide scientific evidence for further work on child health.Methods The study was performed in Funan country of Fuyang City,Qianshan country of Anqing City,Changfeng country and Feixi country of Hefei City,Anhui province.The preschool children from 3 to 7 years old were selected in some rural areas as the research subjects.The interviews of children's fosterer were conducted.The contents and tools of investigation included socio-demographic characteristics,left-behind status,Children's Emotion Regulation Strategies Inventory,Preschool Anxiety Scale-Chinese version,Self-Rating Anxiety Scale,Self-rating depression scale and Adaptation Partnership Growth Affection Resolve.The SPSS 23.0 was used to conduct data analysis.Results A total of 1373 preschool children and their fosterers were included in this study.Among them,there were 621?45.2%?left-behind children.Displacement activity strategy,problem resolution strategy of positive emotion regulation strategies and abreaction strategy of negative emotion regulation strategies were used most.And with age,the use of abreaction strategies was reduced.The main influencing factors of the use of emotional regulation strategies in preschool children are the following:?The cognitive reconstruction strategy?P=0.030?,problem resolution strategy?P=0.014?and self-comfort strategy?P=0.003?were used in only child more than children with siblings.?Children with anxiety symptoms were more likely to use self-comforting?P<0.001?,passive coping?P<0.001?,cognitive reconstruction?P=0.042?,and problem-solving strategies?P=0.002?.?Children with highly educated parents and good economic status were more likely to use cognitive reconstruction and problem-solving strategies.?Alternative action strategies?P=0.035?were more frequently used in children with good family APGAR,while abreaction?P<0.001?,passive coping?P=0.001?,problem solving?P<0.001?,and self-comforting strategies?P=0.019?were less frequently used.?The left-behind children use less cognitive reconstruction and alternative activity strategies than that of non-left-behind children,but use more venting strategies.In different types of parent-child separation,children's cognitive reconstruction?P=0.044?and alternative activity strategies?P=0.003?with parent-child separation during the establishment period of attachment??18 old?were less than those of non-left-behind children,but used more abreaction strategy?P<0.001?.However,there were not statistically significance of the emotion regulation strategies usage between left-behind children older than 18 months old and non-left-behind children.Children with a cumulative separation time less than the median P₅₀?47 months for father-child separation and 36 months for mother-child separation?used less cognitive reconstruction?P=0.002?and alternative activity strategies?P=0.002?than non-left-behind children.The abreaction strategy was used more frequently in left-behind children with longer separation time?P<0.001?.For left-behind children who contacted their parents less than 3 times a week,cognitive reconstruction?P=0.044?was used less than non-left-behind children,and venting strategies were used more often than non-left-behind children?P<0.001?.The left-behind children who were mainly brought up by grandparents were less likely to use cognitive reconstruction?P=0.001?and alternative activity strategies?P=0.002?than non-left-behind children,but the use of venting strategy was more than non-left-behind children?P<0.001?.Conclusions Preschool children aged 3-7 years in some rural areas of Anhui Province had better emotion regulation.The number of left-behind children was relatively large,and the emotional adjustment of left-behind children was worse than that of non-left-behind children.The parent-child separation before the child was 18 months old had a greater impact on the emotional adjustment of preschool children.As the time of separation increases,preschool children may exhibit elastic development in emotional development,which may be a protective factor for negative emotions caused by left-behind.Multiple factors can affect the state of children's emotional regulation,such as age,gender,single child,parental education level,family economic status,family APGAR,the child anxiety,the children's age when parent-child separation,cumulative time of parent-child separation,contacting frequency of parent-child,the type of fosterer and so on.