The Effect of Educational Programs Implemented to Improve the Self-Regulation Skills of Children Aged 36–72 Months Attending Preschool Education: A Meta- Analysis Study

Abstract

This meta-analysis study aimed to systematically examine the effectiveness of educational
programs implemented to improve the self-regulation skills of children aged 36–72 months
attending preschool education institutions, as well as the moderator variables affecting this
effectiveness. A total of 28 experimental or quasi-experimental studies conducted between 2010
and 2025 in Türkiye, identified through national academic databases using specified keywords
and providing statistical data, were included in the analysis. The results of the meta-analysis
showed that the educational programs had a significant and high-level positive effect on
children's self-regulation skills. Since a high level of heterogeneity was detected among the effect
sizes in the study, subgroup analyses were conducted to determine the sources of this
heterogeneity. As a result of these analyses, age and measurement instrument variables were
found to be significant moderators. In order to examine this finding in more detail, a multiple
meta-regression analysis was conducted in which the variables of scale type and mean age were
considered together. It was observed that the two-variable model significantly explained the
variation in effect size and that the mean age variable lost its statistical significance.