Building Emotion and Affect Regulation (BEAR): Preliminary Evidence from an Open Trial in Children’s Residential Group Homes in Singapore

Background: The Building Emotion and Affect Regulation (BEAR) program is a theory-based group intervention for enhancing resilience in children, with a focus on strengthening emotion regulation. The BEAR is a 6-session protocol for children aged 7–12 who have been subject to traumatic life events. Objective: This paper presents the guiding principles of the BEAR program, evaluates its feasibility and presents the preliminary evidence from an open trial among children in residential group homes in Singapore. Methods: Ten BEAR groups (N = 73, mean age = 10.52, SD = 1.53) were conducted and evaluated with questionnaires for children, facilitators and caregivers before and after the intervention. Results: The BEAR program was well received by children, caregivers and facilitators. The children reported high enjoyment of the program, learning positive coping strategies, and elevated help-seeking behavior. Facilitators indicated that the content of the program was well understood by the children, and that the children cooperated well and showed high levels of competence in performing the tasks. Additionally, there were minimal signs of distress during the sessions. The caregivers reported an increase in emotion regulation, (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.437) and positive coping (p = 0.003, Cohen’s d = 0.389), as well as a decrease in general distress among the participants (p = 0.036, Cohen’s d = 0.266). Conclusions: This study demonstrated the feasibility of the BEAR intervention in children’s residential group homes in Singapore and provided promising preliminary evidence for positive outcomes. There is a need for randomized controlled studies and further evidence from implementation of the BEAR program in other cultural contexts.