Emotion regulation in preschoolers: the roles of behavioral inhibition, maternal affective behavior, and maternal depression.

Background: This study examined preschoolers' emotion regulation (ER) strategies and the association with temperament, maternal interactive style, and maternal history of childhood-onset depression (COD).

Methods: Participants were 62 children and their mothers, 37 of whom had mothers with COD. Children's ER was assessed using a disappointment paradigm; temperament assessment also was laboratory-based.