Original Articles

Emotion Talk

Helping Caregivers Facilitate Emotion Understanding and Emotion Regulation

Brinton, Bonnie; Fujiki, Martin

Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

Corresponding Author: Bonnie Brinton, Brigham Young University, 127 TLRB, Provo, UT 84602 (e-mail: [email protected]).

The authors thank the McKay School of Education, Brigham Young University, which provided support for the preparation of this article.

The authors have disclosed that they have no significant relationships with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this article.

Topics in Language Disorders 31(3):p 262-272, July/September 2011. | DOI: 10.1097/TLD.0b013e318227bcaa

Abstract

This article focuses on two aspects of emotional intelligence, emotion understanding and emotion regulation. These abilities are important because of their impact on social communication and the way in which they influence a child's access to knowledge. Caregivers who engage their children in emotion talk may strengthen the ability of their children both to understand and to regulate emotion. Caregiver emotion talk can be facilitated by making the language used in emotion talk accessible, making implicit aspects of emotion explicit, and capitalizing on teaching moments when the child is most receptive.