The process of self-regulation in adolescents: A narrative approach Kelly Conover LCSW, MA * , Colette Daiute Ed.D The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Ave, 6th Fl, New York, NY 10016, USA article info Article history: Received 17 August 2016 Received in revised form 17 March 2017 Accepted 18 March 2017 Keywords: Self-regulation Emotion regulation Adolescent development High-risk setting Narrative abstract This qualitative study utilized a narrative approach to explore the process of self- regulation in adolescents and to examine the functions of various relational genres on psychological state and context expressions in this process. Nineteen participants, who live in high-risk settings were recruited from a youth development and life skills program located at an urban public high school in the United States. The goal of this project is to craft a process method for research and practice on adolescents' self-regulation while providing evidence for self-regulation being a complex process. This research uses an exploratory study design with a narrative approach, utilizing text message based activities in the method. Findings from the plot analysis suggest that for adolescents, the process of self-regulation begins as highly emotional and then becomes a more emotionally and cognitively balanced process. In addition, adolescents utilize different strategies to resolve conflict situations across different contexts and relational genres. © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction An adolescent is sitting in a public high school classroom when his classmate intentionally kicks his chair while the teacher has her back to the class. This simple act of a classmate kicking his chair has the ability to set off a range of thoughts, feelings and behaviors for the adolescent. While the adolescent may be knowledgeable about the self-regulation strategies he could use in his reaction to the situation, how the adolescent self-regulates, or modulates his thoughts, emotions and behaviors, involves more than only strategy knowledge (Karoly, 1993). Previous incidents and hostility between the adolescent and his classmate may evoke immediate physical or verbal retaliation while a lack of relationship may result in no response at all. Because this situation occurred in the classroom, the adolescent may decide not to give an aggressive response, motivated by the desire to succeed academically. However, leaving the room to “cool down”, which is typically identified as a positive self- regulation strategy, may not be appropriate if the adolescent will be disciplined by his teacher for walking out and subse- quently identified as having poor self-regulation. Therefore, self-regulation is more complex than having knowledge of self- regulation strategies and using them. The context of the situation and the relationship with the characters involved are also factors in self-regulation as not all strategies work in the same way across all situations. According to Steinberg (2014) “the capacity for self-regulation is probably the single most important contributor to achievement, mental health, and social success” (p. 16). Researchers have reported a relationship between adolescent self- * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: kellyaconover@gmail.com (K. Conover), CDaiute@gc.cuny.edu (C. Daiute). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Adolescence journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jado http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.03.006 0140-1971/© 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Journal of Adolescence 57 (2017) 59e68