Emotion regulation (ER) is crucial for children’s mental health in general and traumatic stress in particular. Therefore, therapeutic interventions for post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) address ER in various ways. This article examines whether a psychosocial intervention (Teaching Recovery Techniques; TRT) could increase functional ER and decrease dysfunctional ER, and whether the positive ER change mediates the intervention effects on children’s mental health in a war context. Results show that the TRT intervention was not effective in changing ER, but there was a general decrease in ER intensity. ER did not mediate the intervention effects on children’s mental health, but the decrease in the ER intensity was associated with better mental health, indicated by the decrease in post-traumatic, depressive, and distress symptoms and the increase in psychosocial well-being.

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