Abstract
BACKGROUND: Adolescence is a crucial developmental phase marked by significant social, emotional, and psychological transformations. During this period, adolescents frequently face challenges in managing their emotions, which can lead to issues such as irritability, low self-esteem, and mood disorders. As a result, understanding the factors influencing emotional regulation and identifying effective strategies to improve these skills is critical for their overall well-being. This study aims to explore the factors affecting emotional regulation in adolescents and examine the strategies implemented in educational settings to enhance emotional regulation skills among adolescents in South Asian countries. METHOD: The “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA)” 2020 was adopted to conduct this systematic review. The literature search was performed via seven databases: PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase (Ovid), Web of Science, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), ProQuest, Scopus and Google scholar. The PRISMA checklist was adopted to report the study findings for transparency and completeness of the study. PROSPERO registration ID is CRD42023467532. RESULTS: A total of 449 records were initially identified. After screening and full-text review, 24 studies met the inclusion criteria. The included studies were from India (n = 14), Nepal (n = 2), Pakistan (n = 6), Sri Lanka (n = 1) and Bangladesh (n = 1). The main facilitating factors for Emotional Regulation (ER) were identified as strong peer relationships, parental emotional support, academic motivation, and life skills education. Key hindering factors included authoritarian parenting, parental emotional unavailability, peer victimization, and socioeconomic hardship. Three types of school-based interventions were reported: life skills training, cognitive-emotional regulation programs, and mindfulness-based approaches. Most interventions showed positive short-term outcomes on ER-related behaviors. CONCLUSION: ER among South Asian adolescents is shaped by a complex interplay of individual, familial, and contextual factors. While school-based interventions show potential, their limited scope and weak integration into education and health systems constrain their impact. Future efforts must focus on culturally tailored, scalable, and sustainable interventions that are embedded within national adolescent health and education frameworks. Investment in longitudinal research and intersectoral policy responses is essential to address adolescent ER as a core public health priority in the region. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-025-24793-8.