Self- and Co-Regulation in European Caregiver-Child Dyads

Childrens capacity to regulate their impulses increases during early years, supported by their caregivers co-regulation. The questionnaire IMMA (Impulse-Management in the Caregiver-Child Dyad; Pauen et al., 2019) assesses (1) parental ideas and goals regarding child self-regulation development, (2) child self-regulation strategies, and (3) parental co-regulation strategies. A total of N = 2,478 parents from Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Poland with children aged 1 6 years (M = 36.34, range 12 83 months) filled out the IMMA short-form online. The factor structure reached an adequate model fit in all countries and closely resembled that of the original version, with few interesting exceptions. Crosssectional analyses revealed that parents expectations regarding child self-regulation development, childrens selfregulation-, and parents co-regulation strategies changed dynamically throughout early childhood. Based on the findings, we conclude that the IMMA-SF provides a valid instrument to further explore this interplay across development.