A Study Exploring an Intervention for Emotion Regulation and Stress Coping in Preschool Children.

BACKGROUND: The mental health development of preschool children has garnered increasing societal attention. However, empirical studies on mental health curriculum programs for preschool children in China remain limited. This study aims to evaluate interventions suitable for emotion regulation and stress coping strategies among preschool children and to provide a reference for early intervention that promotes their mental well-being. METHODS: This study was designed as a cluster randomised controlled trial conducted in two public kindergartens in Shanghai. Preschool children from middle and senior classes were recruited. To minimise classroom contamination, cluster randomisation was performed to assign classes to either the intervention group or the waiting-list control group. The intervention group received a 10-week Child Emotion and Stress Intervention Program (CESIP), delivered once weekly for 30 min, while the control group continued their regular kindergarten curriculum during the study period and did not receive any CESIP-related training or activities. Parents or caregivers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) at baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately after the intervention (post-intervention). Group differences in changes from pre- to post-intervention were examined using a difference-in-differences (DID) framework, operationalised through the group-by-time interaction term. RESULTS: A total of 211 children (intervention group: n = 97; waiting-list control group: n = 114) completed both assessments. DID analyses showed no significant group differences in changes across SDQ subscales (all p > 0.05). In contrast, compared with the waiting-list control group, the intervention group demonstrated significantly greater reductions in ICU uncaring scores (DID estimate = -0.16, 95% CI -0.31, -0.01, p = 0.039) and ICU total scores (DID estimate = -0.11, 95% CI -0.20, -0.01, p = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: The CESIP intervention did not produce differential effects on behavioural difficulties but was associated with significant improvements in callous-unemotional traits, particularly uncaring characteristics, among preschool children. These findings suggest that classroom-based emotion and stress interventions may be beneficial for specific aspects of emotional development in early childhood.