The mediating role of mothers' emotion regulation difficulties in the relationship between preschool children's working memory and their emotion regulation abilities

This study aims to investigate the mediating role of maternal emotion regulation difficulties in the relationship between preschool children's working memory and their emotion regulation skills. In line with this purpose, a relational survey model, one of the general survey designs, was employed. The sample of the study consisted of 379 preschool children attending early childhood education institutions affiliated with the Buca District Directorate of National Education in Izmir and their mothers. Data collection was conducted using the Preschool Emotion Regulation Scale, Working Memory Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form (DERS-16), and a Mother-Child Information Form. In this study, the dependent variable is "emotion regulation," the independent variable is "working memory," and the mediator variable is "mothers' emotion regulation difficulties." The collected data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS 29 statistical software package. According to the results, a positive and statistically significant relationship was found between Preschool Emotion Regulation Scale scores and Working Memory Scale scores. Additionally, a negative and statistically significant relationship was observed between the scores of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Working Memory Scale, as well as between the scores of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Preschool Emotion Regulation Scale. According to bootstrap analysis results regarding the mediating role of maternal emotion regulation difficulties, it was determined that mothers' emotion regulation difficulties mediated the relationship between preschool children's working memory and their emotion regulation skills. Children's working memory scores differed significantly based on variables such as birth order, previous attendance in preschool education institutions, mothers' educational level, and the number of children in the household; however, no significant differences were found regarding the child's gender. Similarly, children's emotion regulation scores significantly differed in terms of birth order, previous attendance in preschool education institutions, mothers' educational level, and the number of children in the household, but did not significantly differ according to the child's gender. Furthermore, mothers' emotion regulation difficulty scores significantly varied based on educational level, employment status, and the number of children they had. Key Words: Difficulties in Emotion Regulation, Emotion Regulation, Working Memory