The CODE model: Object-mediated play as a scalable framework for dyadic co-regulation in early childhood

The field of early childhood mental health faces a persistent and well-documented "implementation gap": evidence-based interventions for dyadic co-regulation work in clinics, but remain too resource-intensive to reach most families in everyday settings. This article introduces the CODE Model, an interdisciplinary framework designed to address this gap by reconfiguring the delivery of early regulatory support from therapist-mediated protocols to object-mediated, caregiver-implemented routines. Grounded in developmental psychology, interactional linguistics, and cognitive science-specifically theories of distributed cognition and affordances-the model conceptualizes Co-regulation (the goal), Object-mediation (the tool), and Dyadic Exchange (the process) as three interlocking pillars. We advance a framework for what we term distributed regulation - a specific modality of co-regulation in which selected regulatory functions typically provided by a therapist are partially redistributed into the design of tangible play materials. Drawing on broader work on distributed forms of emotion and learning regulation (e.g., Panadero, 2017; Varga & Krueger, 2013), the term describes how co-regulation can be enacted when carefully designed objects carry part of the scaffolding load, rather than this load being held entirely in the caregiver's working memory. These materials are intentionally designed to externalize regulatory scripts, serving as "material anchors" that reduce caregiver cognitive load and invite turn-taking, joint attention, and repair in everyday interaction. As a conceptual paper, we outline the model's theoretical foundations, describe its operational cycle (Trigger-Intervention-Resolution), and articulate preliminary design criteria for translating psychological constructs into physical affordances. Finally, we discuss how digitally fabricated, low-cost toolkits (e.g., via 3D printing) could enable scalable, culturally adaptable dissemination, and consider the implications of object-mediated scaffolding for democratizing access to preventive early childhood mental health support.