Molly Adrian, Janice Zeman, Gina Veits

This investigation analyzed the methods used over the past 35 years to  study emotion regulation (ER) in children. Articles published from 1975 through  2010 were identified in 42 child clinical, developmental, and emotion psychology  journals. Overall, 61.1% of published ER articles relied on one method and 23.6%  used two
methods. Analyses revealed (a) 82.8% of published ER research  occurring within the past decade; (b) higher rates of observational methods with  infant and toddler/preschool samples, but more use of self-report methodology  with middle childhood and adolescent samples; (c) a longer history of published  ER research with samples of infants to 5-year-olds, including the use of more  longitudinal design, compared with older samples; and (d) a positive association  between journal impact ratings and the use of physiological and observational  measurement. Review of the measurement tools used to capture ER revealed great  diversity in how emotion processes are understood and evaluated.