Social and Emotional Development — Poster (Warm Orange)

A guide for parents

Social & Emotional Development in Children

The emerging ability of young children, ages 0–5, to form secure relationships with adults and peers — how they come to understand who they are, what they feel, and what to expect when interacting with others.

Begin.

01 / 09Where it begins

Social and emotional development (SED) is defined as the emerging ability of young children (ages 0–5) to form secure relationships with adults and peers. SED means how children start to understand who they are, what they are feeling, and what to expect when interacting with others. It is the development of being able to form and sustain positive relationships, experience, manage and express emotions, and explore and engage with the environment.

The development of social and emotional skills starts at birth. A child's early experiences affect how they begin to understand themselves and their surroundings. When the needs of infants are fully met by caregivers or other adults, they regulate their emotions better, pay proper attention to their world, and are better able to form secure relationships.

Four parts.

02 / 09Subdomains of SED

There are four components of SED: social competence, emotional competence, behaviour problems, and self-regulation.

Social Competence. The extent to which infants are successful in social interactions with other individuals. They develop and maintain social connections, demonstrate flexibility, and adjust their behaviour to meet the needs of different social contexts. This includes the ability to perceive social cues; interact with adults and peers through cooperation, taking turns, listening, and starting and maintaining conversations; engage in problem-solving; treat other children equitably; understand the rights of others; and balance one's own needs with the needs of others.

Emotional Competence. The ability to understand one's own and others' emotions. Children with emotional competence are able to read emotional cues and respond to others' emotions. They can regulate their own emotions and understand the consequences of emotional expressiveness. This includes emotion regulation and emotion understanding.

Behaviour Problems. Behaviours that are developmentally inappropriate, or that disrupt a child's ability to adapt and function in their family, educational setting, or peer group, are considered problematic. This includes externalising behaviours (e.g. noncompliance, disruptiveness, roughness, hostility or aggression) and internalising behaviours or emotions (e.g. social withdrawal, anxiety, extreme shyness, worry or sadness). The presence of social and emotional competencies is not influenced by problematic behaviours.

Self-Regulation. Also referred to as self-control or self-management, generally defined in early childhood as the ability to manage emotions, focus attention, and control behaviours. Self-regulation is highly interrelated with executive and social-emotional functioning: the ability to focus and shift attention in social situations.

Daily.

03 / 09Ways to encourage it

Parents or primary caregivers play an important role in SED because they offer the most consistent relationships for their child. To nurture a child's social-emotional development, it is very important for parents to spend quality time with the child and actively engage in the activities below on a daily basis, depending on the age of the child.

By age.

04 / 09Milestones, birth to 5

The signs below show whether your child is making progress in social-emotional development.

0–3 months. Babies spend a lot of time getting to know their own bodies: they suck their own fingers, observe their own hands, and look at the place on the body being touched. They are also interested in other people and learn to recognise primary caregivers — most can be comforted by a familiar adult, respond positively to touch, and smile or show pleasure in response to social stimulation.

3–6 months. Babies are more likely to initiate social interaction: they begin to play peek-a-boo, pay attention to their own name, smile spontaneously, and laugh aloud.

6–9 months. Babies show a wider range of emotional expressions towards familiar people. Most can express several clearly differentiated emotions, distinguish friends from strangers, respond actively to language and gestures, and show displeasure at the loss of a toy.

9–12 months. Imitation and self-regulation gain importance. Most babies can feed themselves finger foods, hold a cup with two hands and drink with assistance, hold out arms and legs while being dressed, mimic simple actions, and show anxiety when separated from their primary caregiver.

1–2 years. Children recognise themselves in pictures or the mirror, show intense feelings for parents and affection for other familiar people, initiate their own play, express negative feelings, show pride at new accomplishments, imitate adult behaviours in play, show a strong sense of self through assertiveness while directing others, and begin to be helpful.

2–3 years. Children begin to experience themselves as more powerful or creative doers, exploring everything and expanding their self-help skills — self-regulation is a big challenge. They show awareness of gender identity, indicate toileting needs, are assertive about their preferences, begin self-evaluation, experience rapid mood shifts, show increased fearfulness, and display aggressive feelings and behaviours.

3–4 years. Children are more aware of themselves as individuals: they show some understanding of moral reasoning, compare themselves with others, develop friendships, show awareness of other people's feelings, show interest in exploring sex differences, enjoy imaginative play like dress-up or house, and bring dramatic play closer to reality by paying attention to detail, time and space.

Measure.

05 / 09How it's measured

Measuring social-emotional development in infants is very difficult and challenging, because in the first five years very dramatic changes occur in a child across all developmental domains — so it becomes difficult to distinguish between typical and deviant behaviour. Measuring SED in infants becomes a question of evaluating whether problematic behaviours reduce the child's functioning. There are no specific standardised measures to assess SED in children aged 1–5 years, but literature suggests the four subdomains can be measured separately by asking different questions at an informal level.

Social competence is assessed by using adult reports of a child's ability, or by observing the child. Parents or primary caregivers can be asked whether the child greets people with an appropriate verbal salutation. Observation can be done by seeing whether a child interacts during group activities or responds to a question asked.

Emotional competence is measured by asking parents or a teacher to report whether the child shows affection towards familiar adults, understands the happy or sad feelings of others, or develops control after a tearful episode.

Behaviour problems are measured by asking whether the child is exceedingly bossy, argumentative, anxious, or sensitive towards physical conflict or outbursts. These questions might also cover personality traits (shyness, introversion, etc.) or feelings of inferiority. They're often asked of parents or teachers, since these behaviours are infrequent and difficult to capture through direct observation.

Self-regulation is measured by asking parents or primary caregivers whether a child refrains from interrupting others when they are speaking, or maintains eye contact with a person despite minor distractions.

Together.

06 / 09Build these skills

Be a role model. Model the behaviours and emotions you want from your child — parents are the child's first teacher, and in the first years of life a child learns a lot through observation.

Ask open questions. Ask open-ended questions such as "What would you do?" to develop problem-solving skills.

Use stories. Talk to your child about different social situations or the feelings of others.

Be responsive. Respond to your child's emotions and behaviours — this plays a major role in developing trust between you and your child.

Encourage new things. Ask questions when your child is upset, and try to understand the root cause of their unhappiness.

Play together. Play games that teach your child how to win or lose, take turns, and negotiate.

Make time daily. Sit with your child during screen time (not recommended under 18 months) or social activity — always make time for puzzles or turn-taking games.

Coach.

07 / 09The role of parents

Parents are their child's first teacher and should remain their best teacher throughout life. Functioning as a coach, parents expose a child to age-appropriate challenges in order to encourage development. They allow the child to explore and learn through interaction with the environment.

Parents help nurture social-emotional skills, and because of this, infants develop healthy relationships with friends and family members. Even as a baby, the infant is picking up how their caregivers respond to their social and emotional needs, and how safe they feel at home in their presence. The infant learns how to feel empathy, recognise emotions, and say sorry by following the caregiver's lead.

How long does it take? Social-emotional growth requires time and continues throughout life. Early experiences with primary caregivers, family and peers highly influence SED — throughout our lives, our skills are shaped by our own early experiences, including raising children, overcoming difficult situations, or meeting new people.

Matters.

08 / 09Why it matters

Early experiences shape the functioning of an infant's brain, the way they react to stress, and their ability to develop congenial relationships. During the 1–5 years, the brain passes through its most dramatic period, in which growth occurs, language and basic motor abilities form, and thinking becomes complex.

Confidence. As social and emotional skills develop, children gain the confidence required to build relationships, solve problems, and cope with different emotional changes.

Later achievement. Social and emotional competencies evident early in life are the best predictors of later competencies, including academic achievement, managing behaviour, developing social connections, and bearing frustration with peers.

Adult health. Children with greater self-regulation (self-control) are more likely to grow into adults with better physical and mental health, less likely to engage in disruptive behaviours such as substance abuse, and tend to have fewer financial struggles, higher incomes, and fewer chances of a criminal history than those with weaker self-regulatory skills.

Risk of deficits. Children cannot perform well in school, family, or other contexts if there is a deficit in the social and emotional domain, and may face difficulties later in life communicating, managing emotions, or developing healthy relationships with peers.

Adolescence. Emotional or behavioural problems early in life are linked to behavioural and health-related problems in adolescence, including engaging in criminal acts and dropping out of school.

Long-term risk. A persistent social-emotional skills deficit is a major risk factor in developing disorders including depression and anxiety.

Support.

09 / 09Seeking help

As soon as you realise that your child is not performing age-appropriate tasks or has a social-emotional deficit, you should consult a healthcare professional. The sooner your child gets help, the better their psychological health will be. Your healthcare provider may be able to help you address the issue, or refer you to someone who can help. Specialists who can help your child include a child psychologist, neuropsychologist, social worker, psychiatrist, developmental and behavioural paediatrician, and speech-language pathologist.

A note for parents

Beyond physical health

Most parents focus only on the physical health and wellbeing of their child, without realising how important psychological health is too. Psychological health — more specifically, social and emotional aspects — is very important in early life. Psychological development in early life sets the stage for development in later life. Children who are psychologically fit become healthy and happy adults; they flourish at every stage of life, including academic, social, emotional, occupational and even marital. Parents are encouraged to spend quality time with their child, and if you notice a deficit in any psychological domain, please consult a healthcare professional.