REFLECT: In the early months, infants are easily overwhelmed by intense emotion. They depend on soothing interventions of caregiversbeing lifted to the shoulder, rocked, gently stroked, and talked to softlyfor distraction and reorienting of attention. When parents are depressed, they are less likely to provide these interventions. Parents who respond impatiently or angrily or who wait to intervene until the infant has become extremely agitated reinforce the baby's rapid rise to intense distress. When caregivers fail to regulate stressful experiences for infants who cannot yet regulate them for the themselves, brain structures that buffer stress may fail to develop properly, resulting in an anxious, reactive child who has a reduced capacity for managing emotional problems which may be reflected in adulthood.

1. In detail How do you typically manage negative emotion?

2. How might your early experiences, gender, and cultural background have influenced your style of emotional self-regulation?