Emotion regulatory ability (ER) is the capacity to independently modify the duration or intensity of an affective response. The ability to regulate negative affect is particularly important; heightened and poorly regulated negative affect is considered a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology. While it is known that the early development of negative affect and accompanying emotion regulation skills are related to subsequent mental health, the neural correlates of these processes remain poorly understood. The current studies aimed to increase understanding in these areas.