Year

2026

Season

Spring

Paper Type

Master's Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree Name

Master of Science in Psychological Science (MSPS)

Department

Psychological and Brain Sciences

NACO controlled Corporate Body

University of North Florida. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Committee Chairperson

Dr. Anita Fuglestad

Second Advisor

Dr. Paul Fuglestad

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Department Chair

Dr. Lori Lange

Abstract

The experiment was an investigation on the differences in child emotion regulation between two groups during a disappointing gift task. Fifteen four-to-five-year-olds were randomly assigned to either receive coercive control with a digital tablet or an emotion-coping intervention. All children received a disappointing gift a second time as emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reframing, self-soothing, comfort-seeking) were recorded. A χ2 test revealed a nonsignificant difference between frequency of post-manipulation emotion regulation strategies. Three cognitive-reframing subtypes were coded and an independent-samples t-test revealed between-group differences approaching significance, suggesting that adults can teach cognitive reframing to this age range. Additional analysis revealed age was associated with total strategies used, which aligns with prior research on emotion regulation development. The current study expands upon prior interventions through an experimental design that draws attention to the suspected negative impact of coercive control with digital devices. The potential negative effect of coercive control with digital devices on emotion regulation development requires further investigation. The current study served as a pilot study to be continued for this purpose.

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