Flexible Emotion Regulatory Selection in 10–12‐Year‐Old Children Coping With Negative Emotions

Regulatory flexibility, the ability to adapt emotion regulation strategies to contextual demands, is considered a key component of adaptive functioning, yet its developmental emergence in childhood remains insufficiently understood. The present two‐study investigation examined whether children exhibit context‐sensitive (adult‐like) patterns of regulatory strategy selection and how individual differences shape this pattern. In Study 1, we developed and validated a set of ecologically relevant stimuli varying in emotional intensity among 10–12‐year‐old children ( N = 30). In Study 2 ( N = 58), children selected between cognitive reappraisal and distraction in response to low‐ and high‐intensity situations. Results indicated a context‐sensitive pattern of regulatory selection, reflected in greater use of reappraisal in low‐intensity contexts and distraction in high‐intensity contexts. This pattern reflects a stimulus‐driven operationalization of regulatory flexibility, defined as a systematic association between emotional intensity and strategy choice. Furthermore, individual differences were associated with variability in this pattern: Higher academic achievement was linked to a more pronounced context‐sensitive profile, whereas higher anxiety was associated with reduced use of reappraisal in low‐intensity contexts. These findings suggest that context‐sensitive regulatory selection is evident in late childhood and is shaped by cognitive and emotional characteristics.