Children tailor metacognitive strategy type to emotion: changing goals most for sadness, changing thoughts most for fear¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r1 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2010 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 In Study 2, the frequency of changing goals versus thoughts differed across emotions: changing goals was reported most for sadness and changing thoughts most for fear. → Davis 2010

Evidence¶

Davis 2010¶

Davis, E. L., Levine, L. J., Lench, H. C., & Quas, J. A. (2010). Metacognitive Emotion Regulation: Children’s Awareness that Changing Thoughts and Goals Can Alleviate Negative Emotions. Emotion, 10(4), 498–510. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018428

q3 · i2 · associational · r1

Mixed ANOVA on specific metacognitive strategy frequencies in Study 2 (92 children, autobiographical events). The emotion × strategy-type interaction was significant, η2p = .08. Post hoc tests: changing goals more for sadness than anger, t(91) = 2.70, p < .01, or fear, t(91) = 2.58, p < .015; changing thoughts more for fear than anger, t(91) = 3.83, p < .001, or sadness, t(91) = 2.40, p = .018.

"Also, as predicted, the frequency with which children reported changing goals versus thoughts differed across emotions, F(2, 180) = 7.62, p < .01, η2p = .08."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Children's emotion-specific strategy use emerges for autobiographical events but not hypothetical stories, suggesting personal experience supports flexible regulation — a broader claim this one bears on
• Five- and six-year-olds describe changing thoughts more often than changing goals as a metacognitive strategy — related
• When recalling their own experiences, 5- and 6-year-olds use metacognitive strategies more to alleviate sadness and fear than anger — related
• In hypothetical scenarios, 5- and 6-year-olds most often suggest goal reinstatement and goal substitution, and their strategies do not differ for sadness versus anger — related