Associations Between Emotion Regulation, Callous-Unemotional Traits, and Bullying in Middle Childhood.

Bullying involves repeated aggression with an imbalance of power, significantly impacting children's psychosocial development. While callous-unemotional (CU) traits are linked to bullying behaviors, the role of emotion regulation in relation to both is less understood. This study examines prospective associations between emotion regulation skills and emotional lability/negativity (T1), CU traits (T2), and bullying behaviors (T2) in middle childhood. Data were drawn from a longitudinal questionnaire study involving 189 elementary school children (Mage = 8.48 years) in Germany, with measures taken at timepoint 1 and 6 months later at timepoint 2. A path model was used to examine direct and indirect associations. Emotion regulation skills and emotional lability/negativity were associated with higher CU traits, which were linked to increased bullying perpetration. Emotional lability/negativity was associated with both perpetration and victimization. Indirect effect analyses suggested that CU traits statistically linked lower emotion regulation skills, but not emotional lability/negativity, with bullying perpetration. Emotion regulation skills and emotional lability/negativity were prospectively associated with CU traits and bullying perpetration. These findings highlight the importance of early interventions focusing on emotion regulation to address patterns associated with bullying and CU traits in middle childhood.