477 British Journal of Developmental Psychology (2012), 30, 477–492 C  2011 The British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society www.wileyonlinelibrary.com Awareness and regulation of emotions in deaf children Carolien Rieffe ∗ Developmental Psychology, Leiden University, The Netherlands In this study, deaf children’s understanding of their own emotions was compared with that of hearing peers. Twenty-six deaf children (mean age 11 years) and 26 hearing children, matched for age and gender, were presented with various tasks that tap into their emotion awareness and regulation (coping) regarding the four basic emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, and fear). The findings suggest that deaf children have no difficulties in identifying their own basic emotions and the elicitors, or multiple emotions of opposite valence (happy and sad). Yet, they did show an impaired capacity to differentiate between their own emotions within the negative spectrum, which suggests a more generic evaluation of the situation. Deaf children’s emotion regulation strategies showed a strong preference for approaching the situation at hand, but almost no deaf child reported the use of an avoidant tactic in order to diminish the negative impact of the situation. Overall, deaf children’s emotion regulation strategies seemed less effective than those of their hearing peers. The implications for deaf children’s emotional development are discussed. The social problems in deaf children are frequently discussed in the literature. Compared to their hearing peers, deaf children show a lower self-esteem, fewer prosocial, and more withdrawn behaviours in the company of their peers; they feel less accepted, but more often rejected and lonely (Keilmann, Limberger, & Mann, 2007; Kluwin, Stinson, & Colarossi, 2002; Mejstad, Heiling, & Svedin, 2008; Wauters & Knoors, 2008). Deaf children’s friendships with deaf peers are less stable, even in preschool years (Lederberg, Rosenblatt, Vandell, & Chapin, 1987), than those between hearing children, but the same applies to their friendships with hearing peers. This may be because deaf children show less understanding of social rules and goals associated with friendship (Rachford & Furth, 1986) and because they are more likely to attribute hostile intentions to others (Murdock & Lybarger, 1998). Additionally, teachers and parents also report more emotional and behavioural problems in deaf children (Coll, Cutler, Thobro, Haas, & Powell, 2009; Dammeyer, 2010), even independently of the child’s level of deafness (Fellinger, Holzinger, Sattel, & Laucht, 2008). ∗ Correspondence should be addressed to: Carolien Rieffe, Developmental Psychology, FSW, Leiden University, PO Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands (e-mail: crieffe@fsw.leidenuniv.nl). DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.2011.02057.x