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June 18, 2025
by University of Edinburgh
edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Andrew Zinin
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Young children who struggle to control their emotions and behavior have more symptoms of anxiety and depression as teenagers, a study says.
Children who had difficulty managing intense emotions at age seven were more likely to show signs of mental health issues such as despair, sadness and worries at ages 11, 14 and 17, research found.
The University of Edinburgh study is among the first to examine the links between early patterns of emotion regulation and teenage mental health.
The findings suggest that helping children to develop emotion regulation skills when they are young could help reduce mental health issues in adolescence, researchers say.
Experts analyzed a large dataset to test whether children who have a problem with regulating their emotions at age seven are more likely to show internalizing behaviors—such as sadness, worry and fear—as teenagers.
Adolescence is a critical period for the onset of internalizing problems. A third of adolescents experience depression and around a fifth are affected by an anxiety disorder, researchers say.
The team examined data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study which follows the lives of around 19,000 young people born in 2000–02.
The researchers analyzed questionnaires and interviews which surveyed parents and teachers on young people’s emotional problems at ages 11, 14 and 17.
They used statistical techniques to compare children with different levels of emotional regulation skills at age seven on their mental health in adolescence, taking into account factors like their earlier mental health and behavior.
Findings showed that a tendency to show signs of emotion regulation difficulties like mood swings, often getting over-excited and being easily frustrated at age seven were significantly associated with internalizing behaviors such as anxiety and depression symptoms in the teenage years.
This was the case even when other factors such as pre-existing mental health issues were taken into account.
The link was present until age 17, suggesting a sustained effect of intense emotions in the early years, the researchers say.
Dr. Aja Murray, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, who led the study, said, “Our findings suggest that early emotion regulation issues are a precursor to later mental health challenges in adolescence. They suggest that supporting children to learn emotion regulation skills early could help reduce these later issues.”
The study is published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
Dr. Angela Hind, CEO of the Medical Research Foundation, said, “Many mental health conditions first emerge in adolescence, and today up to one in five young people in the UK are living with mental health problems. This is a terrible burden on both young people and society.
“By identifying factors in young children that may increase vulnerability to mental health problems in their teenage years, this research brings us closer to shifting from treatment to prevention—enabling early, targeted interventions in childhood that have the power to change the course of young lives.”
More information: Aja Murray et al, Is emotion dysregulation in childhood a precursor to internalising problems in adolescence?, Journal of Affective Disorders (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.119433
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Children with difficulties regulating emotions at age seven are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression throughout adolescence, even after accounting for earlier mental health issues. Early emotion regulation challenges show a sustained association with internalizing behaviors up to age 17, highlighting the importance of early intervention to reduce later mental health problems.
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