Preschool Interventions for Self-Regulation: A Global Meta-Analytic Synthesis
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Abstract
The preschool years are a critical period for developing self-regulation in children. These skills predict future prosocial behavior, peer acceptance, and conflict management. They also form a key foundation for long-term academic success and mental health. Many interventions aim to build these skills. However, their effectiveness varies greatly across different cultures and socioeconomic settings. A comprehensive validation is still lacking. This study uses quantitative methods to synthesize global evidence. It examines how social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions affect the self-regulation of preschool children. The goal is to assess the overall impact of these interventions. It also identifies key influencing factors. These factors include intervention intensity, staff qualifications, family socioeconomic status, and cultural orientation. This meta-analysis followed the PRISMA 2020 and MOOSE guidelines. It included 9 intervention studies published between 2010 and 2024 from 2 international databases. These studies involved over 3,700 preschool children. The primary analysis used the Paule-Mandel random-effects model. Other methods were also used to ensure robustness. The combined effect size was Hedges’g = 0.48. This indicates a moderate- to-large positive effect of SEL interventions on self-regulation. Further analysis revealed key findings. Higher intervention intensity led to better outcomes. Teacher-led implementation was effective. Family involvement played a positive role. Interventions in collectivist cultural contexts showed stronger effects. Notably, interventions had a compensatory effect for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. For children from high socioeconomic status families, the interventions provided an enrichment effect. The results confirm that structured SEL interventions effectively improve self-regulation in preschoolers. Beyond traditional SEL frameworks, this study proposes an integrated model. This model combines ecological, developmental, and neurocultural perspectives. It also suggests a four-level implementation strategy. The strategy covers curriculum design, teacher development, digital family engagement, and policy coordination. The study has limitations. Measurement tools were heterogeneous. Non-Western samples were underrepresented. Individual-level data were missing. Future research should use multi-modal assessments and adaptive designs. System-level simulations could also improve precision and generalizability. In conclusion, this study supports social-emotional education in early childhood. It also aids efforts to include SEL in the global education and development agenda.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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