Emotional development in late childhood: interaction between socio-relational and self-regulation factors in pupils of primary school

Available data show the correlation between the ability to controll and assess the outcomes of one's behaviour's and the possibility (Saarni, 1999, 2004; Thompson, 1988) of co-regolating it in social interaction situations. The aim of this study is to analyse how self-regulation factors can mediate variables of a socio-relational nature in school age children, with reference to the way in which they assess friendship and intimate friendship bonds. The study involved 94 partecipants (49 male, 45 female); age group range: 8.03-11.00 years; average: 8.9; sd:0.7. The aim was to exsamine the correlation between self-regulation variables, with reference to school behaviour and socio-relational variables, with respect to the quality attributed to friendship bonds and to intimate friendship. The analysis of socio-regulation components was conducted using the multidimensional self-assessment FQS (Burowsky & al., 1994) and IFS (Sharabany, 1994); the self-segulation behavioural components were assessed using the observation check-list "Social aspects and self-regulation attitudes" from the test battery Q1 Vata /De beni et al., 2005). The resultsobtained show significant correlations between specific components underlying self-regulation in school behaviour and specific dimensions of the intimate friendship bond.