Family characteristics, the quality of teacher-child interactions, and emotion regulation play an essential role in interactions and relationships with peers. Previous research has provided support for the relationship between maternal sensitivity and the development of emotion regulation. For example, mothers who are highly sensitive are likely to provide children models of effective emotion regulation (Cassidy, 1994). Other studies also have established that higher levels of quality in early childhood education and care are linked with better outcomes for children (e.g., Mashburn et al., 2008). There is emerging evidence that teachers influence preschoolers’ emotional competence (e.g., emotion regulation), providing experiences that promote or hinder its development (Denham, Bassett, & Zinsser, 2012). For example, teacher–child conflict was negatively associated with children’s emotion regulation (Garner, Mahatmya, Moses, & Bolt, 2014). However, there is little consistent data on how the quality of teacher-child interactions affects the relationship between family context (e.g., maternal sensitivity) and emotion regulation of children in preschool context. Within this framework, we aim to test the moderating effect of the quality of teacher-child interactions on the relationship between maternal sensitivity and emotion regulation, when controlled child’s individual characteristics (i.e., temperament, verbal ability, gender, age). To this purpose, during the 2015/2016 school year, 30 randomly selected preschool classrooms and teachers (Area of Lisbon), 180 typically developing preschoolers (six randomly selected children, three boys and three girls, aged 4 to 6 years, in each classroom), and 180 mothers (of the randomly selected children) will participate in this study. The following procedures will be adopted: (a) assessment of maternal sensitivity with the Three Boxes Task (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1999) (free-play session); (b) assessment of children’s emotion regulation with the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment (PSRA; Smith-Donald, Raver, Hayes, & Richardson, 2007) - Toy Sort, Toy Wrap, and Snack Delay tasks; (c) observation of classroom quality with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008); (d) assessment of temperament with the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ; Putnam & Rothbart, 2006); and (e) assessment of verbal ability with the Portuguese version of Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence – Revised (WPPSI-R; Wechsler, 2003). Multilevel analysis will be conducted and associations between variables presented. We expect to contribute to the knowledge of emotion regulation predictors in preschool-aged children, identifying potential promoting and compensatory effects of the quality of teacher-child interactions.

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