There are several internal and external factors which can impact upon a child’s ability to self-regulate. Berger (2011) highlights the following factors which can affect self-regulation, both positively and negatively:

• Biology: Biological, genetics and a child’s individual temperament are the most internal factors which can influence a child’s ability to self-regulate. It is important to recognise that each child is an individual and they learn and develop in different ways and at different paces. Therefore, you should support and respond to children in an age and developmentally appropriate way.
• Skills: Over time, through experiences, children develop their skills in relation to understanding, expressing, and responding to their emotions. However, if children are not supported or encouraged to develop these skills, they will not be able to put them into practice. This will have a negative impact on their ability to self-regulate.
• Motivation (intrinsic and external): Again, self-regulation is something that a child needs to learn, and they need to have the motivation to do this. Motivation can come in two main forms: intrinsic comes from the child wanting to achieve internal goals and values, there is a desire to learn; external motivations come from rewards/praise and understanding consequences of their actions and behaviours. If a child has no desire to learn or are not encouraged to, they will not learn the skills needed to self-regulate.
• Caregiver support: The quality of caregiving (by parents and practitioners) is fundamentally important to children’s personal, social and emotional development. Children will learn to co-regulate and self-regulate through responsive, consistent, and warm caregiving approaches. If a child experiences adverse caregiving support, this can have a significant and detrimental impact on a child’s emotional regulation. This can lead to them developing low self-esteem and self-efficacy.
• Environmental context: Providing children with a safe, secure, and playful home and learning environment can positively impact upon a child’s self-regulation. In terms of wider environmental contexts, although it is not possible to shelter children from all adverse experiences, reducing some of the demands and stresses placed upon them can have a positive impact. However, if a child remains in stressful and/or unsafe environments for a prolonged period of time, this can lead to poor self-regulation.

It is important to note that each of the factors listed above can interact and influence one another.