Self regulation is a phrase most commonly connected with early childhood, paediatric, and education settings. Yet our ability to regulate our attention, arousal, thoughts, emotions, and behaviour continues to develop and retains it’s importance throughout our entire lifespan.
Regulation ability impacts on our personal and professional lives, and is not just an indicator of academic performance, but has been linked to physical and mental well-being, personality, intimacy, life satisfaction and purpose in life. People sometimes talk about self regulation as if it is a singular concrete skill, as if once you have ‘it’, you should be able to self regulate in any situation. This isn’t always the case. Perhaps you’ve labelled a person as not being able to manage their thoughts/feelings/behaviours, after seeing them attempt a particular task, or perform in a particular environment. Although I often use the term self regulation (as it’s most commonly referred to/known as), I think it’s a bit of a misnomer, as our ability to regulate is intrinsically linked with what we are doing and where. (Check out the post Independently Dependent for a more in depth exploration of “independence”).
While childhood and adolescence are two periods in our life where our regulation development flourishes, how well we can control our thoughts/feelings/behaviours will always depend on how our ever-evolving personal factors interact with the environment and what we are trying to do (our occupations). This interconnectedness can make it difficult to identify what may be impacting on an individual at any point in time. In this post I’m will explore the influence of environment, not only on long term regulation development, but how it impacts regulation in the moment.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the quote about the fish and it’s ability to climb a tree (frequently attributed to Einstein, although he probably didn’t say it). While I’ll leave deciding whether we are all “geniuses” for others to debate, I like the quote for the imagery and questions it creates. If we ask a person to perform a task that they either cannot do, don’t want to do, or can’t do in the environment required, does this mean they have somehow failed or not achieved something?
Let’s assume a fish can physically climb a tree, and has the motivation to do so. Assessing whether or not they can climb a tree outside of the water would be futile. The environment simply doesn’t support them, in this instance from a physical point of view. So why do we so often make decisions about a person when they are metephorically a fish out of water?
Part of it (I think) is due to our expectations from a developmental or societal point of view. We have set expectations of what is age or situationally appropriate, which is essentially a way of getting all the different shaped pegs into the same hole. When a person does not perform the same way others do, we point to what’s “wrong” with them, rather than exploring what supports are lacking in the environment for that person to achieve success. I’m not proposing we completely overhaul all our preconcieved expectations, but rather take a moment to step back and assess a situation with a broader mindset. Instead of jumping to a conclusion about an individual’s abilities (or lackof), we need to consider if that person is responding they way they are due to the environment they are or have been exposed to.
This is not just a mindset when supporting a child or youth, it also runs through our adult relationships in the workplace, social networks and families. We so rarely consider what a person’s Regulation Rocket looks like, and how their environment is supporting, altering or downright hindering it’s ability to ‘launch’.
So how does the environment influence both regulation development and regulation performance? We often think of a person’s environment as just the physical space they are in. But that is only one part of it. Environment encompasses social and cultural influences too. The following is a list of environmental factors that shape self regulation development and/or performance:
1. Coregulation:
Co-regulation is the name given to the nuturing and caring interactions and responses provided to a child from their caregiver(s). Caregivers are needed to support arousal, respond appropriately to emotional events, model appropriate behaviours and reduce the impact of stressors. In adulthood, we often rely on family, partners or close friends to provide these nuturing responses to help us manage and maintain regulation. Read more on co-regulation here and here.
2. Social Supports:
This is referring to wider supports such as peers and acquaintances. Our social supports can provide us with the information we need to solve a problem, help us to respond or cope with difficulties, give us a sense of belonging and purpose, and assist us to process stressful events. The quality of social supports is a contributing factor to mental and physical health and well being. When we lack quality social supports from those around us, we find it harder to respond to challenges when they arise, and feel a lack of connectedness which causes regulation difficulties.
3. Social Role and Expectations:
We all have a role (usually multiple) within a social group. Examples of roles include mother, father, daughter, son, student, teacher, employee, boss, neighbour, friend, teammate etc. Our roles are part of the social environment, and while we sometimes get to choose them, othertimes they are assigned to us beyond our control. What role we play influences how others respond to us and the expectations they have on us. If we are unable to reach these expectations, those around us alter their behaviour in response. We quickly learn how to alter our behaviour in response to these demands. Individuals who are exposed to roles and expectations that limit development and exposure to a variety of occupations will have altered regulation skills compared to their peers. Individuals thrust into a new role may lack the experience to regulate themselves as required.
4. Natural and Built Environment:
The natural environment includes access to sunlight, fresh food, clean water and clean air, all which impact an individual’s health and therefore their self regulation. The built environment refers to the infrastructure of the home, town/city, school, workplace etc. The physical environment impacts both our attention and arousal level. An environment that provides too little or too much stimulation for an individual will alter how well that individual can remain focused on a task. The physical space that an individual is in will determine what personal factors are required to perform specific occupations. For example, to move, work or play within a crowded space requires mobility, problem solving, attention shifting, predicting the intentions of others and an ability to tune out unneeded sensory information.
5. Societal Culture:
There is a huge array of studies on culture within various societies and the influence the differences have on the behaviours of that particular community. Looking purely from a self regulation perspective within general Australian society, our current societal culture is one that is heavily dependent on technology and social media, and is one that prioritises academia over creativity and play. This limits many natural opportunities for children and young people to partake in occupations that meet their needs and develop their skills amd abilities. As adults we may have trouble maintaining healthy self awareness and esteem, be pressured to multi task at the risk of our attention, and compare ourselves to other with limited information. Our culture is one dependent on money and individual worth which can have damaging consequences to mental and physical health.
6. Socio-economic Status:
Studies have shown that children from low socio-economic and poverty stricken households have changes in their neural networks that negatively impact on skills required for regulation such as impulse control and emotional regulation. While parenting practices and classroom based interventions may negate these neurological differences, studies have also shown that the impact can be lifelong and influence regulation through adulthood.
7. Available Supports and Resources:
When flourishing in an environment we may be unaware of the supports afforded to us. These may be social, cultural or physical in nature. For example, if you are a procrastinator, you may find working in an open planned office highly distracting. Although if the culture of your workplace is to be quiet and attentive to task, the pressure of being constantly seen may keep you on track. Perhaps you are a desk worker who needs a lot of movement to maintain attention. Being allowed an exercise ball to sit on, treadmill to walk on or frequent opportunities to get up and move will do wonders for your productivity. If an individual has difficulty following the rules or structure of an activity, they may need visuals, simplified instructions and increased adult support to successfully engage. Availability and acceptance of a wide range of supports, including uncommon or unusual supports allows each individual to meet their regulation needs.
8. Stressors:
The impact of stress on regulation has been well researched in childhod development. Stressors can include domestic violence, divorce, substance abuse, bullying or death of a caregiver or loved one. If experienced as a child, self regulation development can be greatly impacted. These stressors can obviously also be present in adulthood, alongside financial or performance related stressors. As adults, long term or chronic stress can impact regulation during day to day and mastered tasks.
Take home message: Our environment shapes our response. We can not look solely at an individual and decide if they can/cannot do a particular task to a certain degree without first zooming out and looking at where that person is. Not just physically, but socially and culturally too. We should all take responsibility to ensure that our contributions to the environment are supportive to a range of individual needs. Those in the position to make structural changes should make efforts to do so, and those that aren’t should advocate alongside those who need it. By supporting each other, we allow our families, communities and workplaces to flourish.