Emotional Self-regulation - Effects of Low Self Regulation

Effects of Low Self Regulation

With a failure in emotional regulation there is a rise in psychosocial and emotional dysfunctions caused by traumatic experiences due to an inability to regulate emotions. These traumatic experiences typically happen in grade school and are sometimes associated with bullying. Children who can’t properly self-regulate express their volatile emotions in a variety of ways, including screaming if they don't have their way, lashing out with their fists, or bullying other children. Such behaviours often elicit negative reactions from the social environment, which, in turn, can exacerbate or maintain the original regulation problems over time, a process termed cumulative continuity. These children are more likely to have conflict based relationships with their teachers and other children. This can lead to more severe problems such as an impaired ability to adjust to school and predicts school dropout many years later. Children who fail to properly self-regulate grow as teenagers with more emerging problems. Their peers begin to notice this “immaturity”, and these children are often excluded from social groups and teased and harassed by their peers. This “immaturity” certainly causes some teenagers to become social pariahs in their respective social groups, causing them to lash out in angry and potentially violent ways. Being teased or being a pariah in your teenage years is especially damaging and could lead to a dysfunctional future, which is why it is extremely important to inculcate emotional self-regulation in children as early as possible.