ABSTRACT
The capacity for children to effectively regulate their emotions is a critical component of healthy psychosocial development. Children who are able to effectively regulate their emotions display appropriate emotions at expected times that are proportional in intensity to situational demands. They are able to exibly allocate their attention during emotional situations and recruit a greater repertoire of coping strategies to control their behavior and achieve their goals successfully. Children who fail to develop effective emotion regulation strategies often acquire serious behavior problems that impair their ability to pursue long-term goals successfully. Advances in neuroimaging have provided important insights into the brain regions and neural circuitry that are involved in typical and atypical patterns of emotional development.
