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The Effect of Peer Acceptance on Behavior Problems in Preschoolers:The Moderating Effect of Emotion Regulation

This study examined the effect of peer acceptance and emotion regulation on behavior problems of preschoolers. It further investigated whether their emotion regulation moderated the relationship between peer acceptance and behavior problems. The participants were 400 young children(187 boys and 213 girls) aged five-six years attending one of six kindergartens in Seoul city, Gyeonggi and Incheon provinces. They were interviewed individually to assess the degree of peer acceptance among classmates. Questionnaires on emotion regulation and behavior problems were completed by their teachers. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, multiple regression, and hierarchical regression. Regression analyses were performed by gender. The results indicated that peer acceptance significantly predicted boys’ and girls’ overall behavior problems, hostile-aggressiveness and hyperactive-distractibility. But for boys only, peer acceptance predicted anxious–fearfulness. For both boys and girls, emotion regulation meaningfully explained overall behavior problems, hostile-aggressiveness, hyperactive- distractibility, and anxious-fearfulness. Lastly, for girls only, emotion regulation moderated the effect of peer acceptance on their overall behavior problems, hostile-aggressiveness, and hyperactive-distractibility.