Seven Key Principles of Self-Regulation and Self-Regulation in Context

This brief highlights seven key principles that summarize a framework for understanding self-regulation development:

1. Self-regulation serves as the foundation for lifelong functioning
2. Self-regulation is the act of managing cognition and emotion
3. A combination of individual and external factors influence self-regulation
4. Teachers, providers, caregivers, and parents can teach and strengthen self-regulation
5. Self-regulation is dependent on “co-regulation” provided by parents or other caregiving adults
6. Prolonged or pronounced stress and adversity, including poverty and trauma experiences, can disrupt self-regulation
7. Self-regulation develops over an extended period from birth through young adulthood

These seven principles come from the Self-Regulation and Toxic Stress: Foundations for Understanding Self-Regulation from an Applied Developmental Perspective report.