Early intervention strategies for emotion regulation in preschool children and their effects on neurobehavioral development

Abstract Background The preschool period represents a critical developmental window for the rapid maturation of children’s emotion regulation abilities and neurobehavioral functions. Early deficits in emotion regulation are closely associated with subsequent attention problems, emotional disorders, and difficulties in social adaptation. Although increasing attention has been given to emotional competence development in preschool education, quantitative research on systematic early emotion regulation interventions and their effects on neurobehavioral development remains limited. In particular, comprehensive evaluations based on behavioral tasks and objective indicators are still lacking. Therefore, this study investigates early intervention strategies for emotion regulation in preschool children and examines their effects on neurobehavioral development, with the aim of improving the effectiveness of preschool educational practices. Methods A quasi-experimental design was adopted to implement a 12-week early emotion regulation intervention among preschool children aged 3-6 years. A total of 96 children were enrolled and assigned to an intervention group or a control group according to class-based grouping principles. In addition to routine preschool curricula, the intervention group participated in two structured emotion training sessions per week, each lasting 30 minutes. The training content included emotion recognition, guided emotional expression, emotion regulation strategy practice, and scenario-based role interaction, while the control group maintained standard educational activities. Assessments were conducted at baseline, at 6 weeks, and after the 12-week intervention using standardized emotion regulation scales to measure emotional awareness, emotional control, and emotional recovery. Behavioral observation coding systems were used to record impulsive behaviors, attentional disengagement, and social interaction performance in classroom and play settings. Results At the 6-week assessment, the intervention group demonstrated a 12.64% increase in total emotion regulation scores compared with baseline, which was significantly higher than the 4.21% increase observed in the control group (p.05). After completion of the intervention, the total emotion regulation score in the intervention group increased by 21.38% from baseline, significantly exceeding the 8.74% improvement in the control group (p.01). In neurobehavioral assessments, at 6 weeks the intervention group showed an increase in attentional control task accuracy from 72.15% at baseline to 78.32%, a reduction in mean reaction time of 9.84 ms, and a 10.27% decrease in impulsivity scores, all of which were statistically significant (p.05). After 12 weeks, attentional control accuracy further increased to 83.46%, cumulative reaction time reduction reached 18.27 ms, and impulsivity scores decreased by 19.62% (p.05). Behavioral observation results further indicated a marked reduction in the frequency of emotional dysregulation behaviors during classroom and free-play activities in the intervention group at 6 weeks, whereas no significant changes were observed in the control group at either 6 or 12 weeks (p.05). Discussion The findings indicate that introducing structured and sustained early emotion regulation interventions during the preschool period not only enhances children’s emotion regulation abilities but also exerts positive effects on key neurobehavioral functions, including attentional control and behavioral inhibition. Future studies will integrate neuroimaging or physiological measures and extend follow-up durations to further explore the long-term mechanisms through which emotion regulation interventions influence neurobehavioral development.