Self-Regulation Interventions for Children in Poverty: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose: Current literature has investigated the effect of self-regulation interventions on children, however, there are no systematic reviews or meta-analysis studies examining the self-regulation interventions specifically on children in poverty. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the overall effects of self-regulation interventions for children in poverty, as well as how effects vary by different intervention approaches and outcome categories. The intervention approaches and outcome categories were divided into behavioral, emotional, and cognitive. We also aimed to investigate whether the measurement approach moderates the relationships between intervention effects and intervention and outcome categories. Methods: The initial search identified 473 publications of randomized controlled trials from 4 databases, including 25 that met all the inclusion criteria. Heterogeneity was assessed with the Q test, I² statistics, the test of theta, and the regression-based Egger’s test. Large between-study heterogeneity was found. Accordingly, we used a random effect meta-analysis with Robust Variance Estimation (RVE) to calculate the overall and subgroup effects of self-regulation interventions. Meta-regression was used to examine the moderating effects of intervention approaches, outcome categories, measurement approaches, and participant age. Results: A small to medium but significant overall impact was found (g = 0.35, 95% CI = [0.29, 0.41]). Behavioral interventions were found to have the greatest overall effects and greatest subgroup effects on behavioral outcomes and emotional outcomes. Emotional interventions showed the largest effects on cognitive outcomes. Cognitive interventions showed the largest effect on cognitive outcomes. Parent-report and educator-report outcomes were associated with larger intervention effects compared with other measurement approaches. Younger children tended to show a larger intervention effect than older children. Discussion: The Self-regulation Promotion Model was used to understand the intervention and outcome category. Behavioral intervention was the most effective self-regulation intervention for children in poverty, especially when improving behavioral outcomes and emotional outcomes. We suggest that future self-regulation interventions might need to focus more on the portion of behavioral regulation components. Lastly, it is suggested that self-regulation interventions might be implemented at the earlier stage of childhood since younger children showed more significant improvement in self-regulation skills. We recommend that future research investigate the effects of mixed interventions, such as which combination of intervention approaches would have the best intervention effects on self-regulation.