emotional development summary essay

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Table Of Contents

emotional development , emergence of the experience, expression, understanding, and regulation of emotions from birth and the growth and change in these capacities throughout childhood , adolescence , and adulthood . The development of emotions occurs in conjunction with neural, cognitive , and behavioral development and emerges within a particular social and cultural context .

The expression of emotions during infancy promotes the transition from complete dependency to autonomy . The expression of interest promotes exploration and cognitive development. Social (intentional) smiles and other expressions of joy promote social interaction and healthy attachment relationships with primary caregivers. The expression of sadness encourages empathy and helping behaviour, and the expression of anger signals protest and discomfort. Infants’ unique tendency to experience and express particular emotions and the threshold for expressing those emotions is usually referred to as their temperament or characteristic emotionality.

Researchers generally agree that neonatal (nonintentional) smiles are present at birth and that social smiling and emotional expressions of interest appear as early as six weeks of age. By four to five months of age, infants selectively smile at familiar faces and at other infants, and their caregivers begin to share positive emotional exchanges with them.

Researchers disagree in their explanations of the development and time of emergence of discrete negative emotional expressions. Consistently with the view that infants express negative emotions in early infancy, scientists have shown that infants perceive and respond differentially to the negative emotional expressions (e.g., sadness, anger) of others by the age of four months.

During the second six months of life, as infants gain rudimentary cognitive and memory capacities, they begin to express particular emotions based on context. Emotions begin to emerge dynamically as the infant begins to take a more direct role in emotional exchanges with caregivers. The emotional bond with the caregiver is increasingly important, as infants seek support for exploration and look for signals of danger.

During the toddler period, in conjunction with rapid maturation of the frontal lobes and the limbic circuit in the brain , recognition of the self emerges. As a result, the toddler strives to become more independent, and the expression of anger and defiance increases in that struggle for autonomy. The ability to differentiate the self from others also promotes basic empathetic behaviour and moral understanding. By the end of the second year of life, toddlers respond to negative signals from others, and they have specific emotional responses to their own negative actions. The emotions that emerge with a rudimentary conception of the self are often called self-conscious emotions and include shame, embarrassment, guilt, and pride. Some self-conscious emotions, such as pride and guilt, do not emerge until toddlers and young children have learned to conceptualize internalized standards of behaviour.

As children enter preschool , they begin to label their own emotions and rely on discourse about emotions within the family to facilitate their understanding of basic emotions. Young children first distinguish happiness from negative emotions and then begin to distinguish negative emotions such as sadness, anger, and fear from each other. They begin to recognize these emotions in facial expressions, and then, as they enter middle childhood, they begin to understand situational determinants of emotions. An understanding of emotional subjectivity also develops as children learn that what makes one child happy may not make another child feel the same way.

The emergence of emotional self-regulation is particularly important during early childhood and occurs in the context of family and peer relationships. Open expression of positive emotions and warm, supportive relationships between parents and children promote effective emotional self-regulation. On the other hand, frequent expression of negative emotions in the family and harsh, punitive disciplinary responses increase the experience of distressing and dysregulated emotions that may lead to psychopathology. Appropriate peer relationships characterized by shared play activities are also important for the development of emotional regulation during early childhood. Children gain emotional understanding and the capacity for empathetic and helping behaviour from well-regulated emotional exchanges with peers.

During middle and late childhood, stable self-concepts based on the child’s typical emotional experiences emerge. With the increased capacity for self-reflection, children gain an understanding of their self-conscious emotions. As a result, the consistent experience of patterns of self-conscious emotions has an impact on the child’s self-concept. For example, the tendency to experience shame rather than guilt in response to negative transgressions affects the child’s emergent self-esteem and may encourage a tendency to respond with aggression or violence.

Also during middle and late childhood, children begin to understand that a single situation or event can lead to the experience of multiple, mixed emotions. For example, older children understand that a goodbye party for a sibling who will leave for college is likely to be both a happy and a sad event for the child and his sibling. This capacity likely emerges with the cognitive capacity to understand multiple aspects of a situation, called decentration.

Children also learn emotional display rules as they progress through middle and late childhood. For example, a child learns to look happy even though she feels upset when a friend or family member gives her an undesirable gift. The use of display rules tends to increase as children begin to consider what consequences their actions may have for others. Display rules are used judiciously, and the likelihood of suppressing negative emotion depends on a number of factors, including the child’s gender, the likely recipients of the expression, the specific context, and the child’s cultural milieu .

Towards a Strong Foundation: Social and Emotional Development in Young Children

Nurturing relationships provide the context for human development and are an essential source of resilience for children and adults (e.g., Luthar, 2006; Rutter, 1987). Resilience refers to the capacity to weather and bounce back from both everyday challenges and significant adversity and trauma -- like that we’ve all experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is influenced by foundational social and emotional skills and competencies (e.g., Masten, 2009).

In this short essay we describe children’s early social and emotional skills, show how they are linked to early caregiving and are influenced by stress and vulnerability, and highlight some programs, practices, and strategies that foster them.

Social and Emotional Development and Foundational Relationships

Social and emotional development refers to the processes whereby children learn to identify and express emotions, focus attention and manage impulses, successfully navigate relationships with peers and adults, develop a positive self-concept, make responsible decisions, and solve problems (e.g., Jones, McGarrah, & Kahn, 2019).

Over many decades researchers from an array of disciplines, e.g. human development and psychology, neuroscience, education and economics, have described how these essential skills are deeply intertwined with other areas of development, such as cognitive and physical. These developments in the brain and in behavior all work together to influence school and life outcomes, including higher education, physical and mental health, economic well-being, and civic engagement (Jones & Kahn, 2018).

During development, social and emotional skills grow and change like building blocks. Early skills lay the foundation for more complex skills that emerge later in life. For example, during early childhood, children learn and grow in the context of relationships with parents and other caregivers at home and in childcare and preschool settings. Through responsive, nurturing interactions these relationships shape the growth of basic executive functions, self-regulation and emotional competencies, which are the salient social and emotional skills of early childhood.

These skills encompass young children’s emerging capacity to:

Understand their emotions, communicate about them, and read those of others around them. For example, use feeling words when frustrated, angry, or excited.

Be aware of and begin to manage impulses and behavior. For example, wait for a snack or dinner when hungry or for the chance to share news in the classroom, or remember and follow the routines of bedtime.

Focus and shift attention in explicit ways and imagine the perspectives of another person. For example, move from one activity to another in the classroom, or engage in basic social back and forth and play.

Basic skills like these set the stage for more complex skills later in life such as planning and problem solving, critical thinking and decision making, forming and maintaining sophisticated friendships, and coping skills, among others (Bailey & Jones, 2019).

The Role of Experience and Context Including Stress and Vulnerability

Importantly, these early skills are highly susceptible to stress and vulnerability. Research shows that the prefrontal cortex – which is responsible for executive function and self-regulation -- is closely linked to other brain regions that signal emotions like fear, anger, and anxiety.

These brain regions are connected through the stress response system, which alerts the body to react in times of danger (e.g., Arnsten, 1998). But responding and adapting to stress can come at a cost. When stress is chronic or takes over, it can inhibit children’s early social and emotional skills, resulting in dysregulated, reactive, and sometimes withdrawn behavior, and this is true for young children and adults (e.g., Arnsten, Mazure & Sinha, 2012).

Critical to this dynamic is that predictable, nurturing relationships are protective. They operate as a buffer between stress and strain on the one hand, and children’s healthy development on the other (Center on the Developing Child, 2014).

Research on children’s wellbeing during the pandemic illustrates how these processes can play out. For example, Harvard education researcher Emily Hanno (2021) examined data about a sample of young children and families before and after COVID-19 shut down U.S. childcare centers and preschools in 2020. They found that as parents experienced more stress, households grew more chaotic, and parent-child conflict increased, children displayed more challenging behaviors and fewer adaptive ones.

Another large-scale study, the Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development–Early Childhood (RAPID)https://rapidsurveyproject.com/), documented that high levels of material hardship that families experienced in the first year of the pandemic, coupled with ongoing week-to-week unpredictability, had detrimental effects on both caregivers’ and children’s well-being (Liu, et al 2022). Studies on how poverty, disasters, bereavement, armed conflict, and displacement affect children and adults have produced similar findings.

Supporting Family Well-Being and Social and Emotional Development

Supporting children’s social and emotional development demands coordinated child, family, and education-based efforts. Some examples of these are described here.

As noted above, social and emotional development, indeed successful early childhood development more generally, requires nurturing care. This has been defined as health, nutrition, security and safety, responsive caregiving, and opportunities for early learning (Black, et al, 2016).

Globally, this concept has been advanced through The Nurturing Care Framework for Early Childhood Development ( https://nurturing-care.org/ ) .

The Nurturing Care Framework was developed by WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank Group, in collaboration with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, the Early Childhood Development Action Network and many other partners, and launched alongside the 71st World Health Assembly in May, 2018. It takes a comprehensive approach by outlining important strategies to address the integrated needs of the developing child.

The wellbeing of caregivers is the enabling environment for responsive care. The promotion of social emotional development depends on policies and practices that take a whole family approach, assuring that those who care for young children have the support they need to be successful as caregivers, including adequate housing, income, childcare, education, health, and mental health supports.

A relevant and recently launched innovation focused on parents is the Global Initiative to Support Parents ( https://ecdan.org/global-initiative-to-support-parents/ ) . This unique partnership launched by the Early Childhood Development Action Network, WHO, UNICEF, End Violence Against Children, and Parenting for Lifelong Health includes the ultimate vision that all families worldwide have universal access to evidence-based parenting support.

Early childhood services designed for parents and children have for decades been understood to play an important role in offsetting the impact of vulnerability and adversity on healthy growth and development and to be an important setting for cultivating emerging social and emotional skills. A hallmark of these efforts is that they provide families with information, resources, and support that enables those nurturing, connected interactions, and helps all parents navigate the stress that inevitably comes with raising young children (Jones, Bailey & Partee, 2017).

In the early classroom context, there are a large number of curricular and strategy-based approaches that educators can embed in their instructional and caregiving routines. The most effective of these programs typically combine direct teaching of social and emotional skills with structures and routines that provide young children with lots of opportunities to practice emerging skills, as well as support for adult caregivers to proactively manage young children’s behavior (e.g., Jones, Bailey & Jacob, 2014).

As noted above, children across the world have been impacted by the uncertainty, isolation and stress caused by the pandemic. In response, The LEGO Foundation teamed up with HundredED, to identify education innovations from across the world focused on improving social and emotional learning. In 2021, they published Spotlight Social and Emotional Learning which presented 13 innovations from 10 countries. These inspiring examples provide promising solutions that can help respond to the needs of children and offer ideas about how to foster caring and nurturing relationships. Some of these innovations can be found here: https://hundred.org/en/collections/social-emotional-learning-sel .

In summary, research and practice focused on children’s early social and emotional development tells us that these skills:

Develop in the context of primary relationships and interactions.

Are foundational to early learning, as well as important developmental milestones throughout life.

Are optimized when children feel safe, secure, and supported.

Are influenced and shaped by experience, culture, and beliefs.

Effective approaches to fostering and supporting these important skills are situated in families, leverage nurturing relationships and interactions at home and in early learning settings, and are rooted in community and family support.

Stephanie Jones

Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Child Development and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Co-Director, Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative

Joan Lombardi

Senior Fellow, Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues, Georgetown University

Senior Advisor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford Center on Early Childhood

Arnsten, A. (1998). The biology of being frazzled. Science , 280 (5370), 1711-1712, DOI: 10.1126/science.280.5370.1711

Arnsten, A. Mazure. C.M. & Sinha, R. (2012). This Is Your Brain in Meltdown. Scientific American 306, 4, 48-53. DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican0412-48

Bailey, R., & Jones, S. M. (2019). An Integrated Model of Regulation for Applied Settings. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review , 22 (1), 2–23. DOI: 10.1007/s10567-019-00288-y

Black, M. M. et al. (2016). for the Lancet Early Childhood Development Series Steering Committee. Advancing Early Childhood Development: from science to scale 1 , Early Childhood development coming of age: Science through the life course . www.thelancet.com , published online October 4, 2016

Center on the Developing Child (2014). Building adult capacities to improve child outcomes: A theory of change. Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Hanno, E.C., Cuartas, J., Miratrix, L.W., Jones, S.M., & Lesaux, N.K. (2021). Changes in children’s behavioral health and family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001010

Jones, S.M., Bailey, R. & Jacob, R. (2014). Social-emotional learning as a platform for effective classroom management. Phi Delta Kappan . https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721714553405

Jones, S.M., Bailey, R., & Partee, A. (2017). SECURe Families: Interrupting Intergenerational Cycles of Stress and Poverty , The Aspen Journal of Ideas , Aspen Institute.

Jones, S. M., & Kahn, J. (2018). The Evidence Base for How Learning Happens: A Consensus on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development. American Educator , 41 (4), 16-21.

Jones, S.M., McGarrah, M. & Kahn, J. (2019). Social and emotional learning: A principled science of human development in context. Educational Psychologist .

Liu, S., Zalewski, M.,Lengua,L., Gunnar, M., Giuliani, N., Fisher, P. A. (2022) Material hardship level and unpredictability in relation to U.S. Households’, family interactions and emotional well-being: Insights from the C0VID-19 pandemic . Social Science & Medicine, 115173 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953622004798?dgcid=author

Luthar, S. S. (2006). Resilience in development: A synthesis of research across five decades. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Risk, disorder, and adaptation (2nd ed., pp. 739–795). New York: Wiley.

Masten, A. S., & Wright, M. O’. D. (2009). Resilience over the lifespan: Developmental perspectives on resistance, recovery, and transformation. In J. W. Reich, A. J. Zautra, & J. S. Hall (Eds.), Handbook of adult resilience (pp. 213–237). New York: Guilford Press.

Rutter, M. (1987). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. American journal of Orthopsychiatry , 57, 316—331.

Emotional Development in Childhood: 3 Theories Explained

Fast-forward to a 5-year-old playing on the playground. They have words for emotions, can recognize emotions in their friends and family, and use their knowledge of emotions to guide their own behavior and predict the behavior of others. What explains this drastic change in emotional development?

Emotions in the teenager? New and intense social experiences are brimming with emotional highs and lows, sometimes strengthening and sometimes tearing down self-esteem. How do adolescents learn the emotional skills that provide the foundation for healthy adult emotions?

In this article, we will tease apart some of the complexity of emotional development and describe how emotional development is part and parcel of some of the most pivotal experiences of human development.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free . These science-based exercises will enhance your ability to understand and work with your emotions and give you the tools to foster the emotional intelligence of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains

What Is Emotional Development & Why Is It Important?

3 Emotional Development Theories

6 examples of emotional development in childhood, how emotions develop in adolescence, does development continue in early adulthood, our emotional intelligence resources, a take-home message, frequently asked questions, what is emotional development & why is it important.

It is virtually impossible to fathom an experience void of emotion. Give it a try. Recall what you ate for dinner last night. What emotions come to mind? What thoughts, images, or plans were triggered? Are you hungrier?

We are in a constant state of expressing, recognizing, and interpreting emotions in ourselves, our children, our coworkers, and complete strangers. Even though emotions influence every thought, action, decision, attitude, and feeling we have, you may be surprised to learn that emotion was not studied as a developmental process until the 1970s (Pollak et al., 2019).

It is only in the past 20 years that considerable research attention has been given to explaining changes in emotions that occur from infancy through adulthood (Pollak et al., 2019).

A definition of emotional development

The definition of emotional development by Izard and Trentacosta (2020, para. 1) will ground this article. It gives us a common language for thinking about the complexity of emotional development and for analyzing how different theories of emotional development address this complexity.

Emotional development [is the] emergence of the experience, expression, understanding, and regulation of emotions from birth and the growth and change in these capacities throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The development of emotions occurs in conjunction with neural, cognitive, and behavioral development and emerges within a particular social and cultural context.

Based on this definition, there are three implications for theories of emotional development:

Emotional development is a lifelong process, so a theory of emotional development needs to account for change from birth through the end of life (spoiler: we are not there yet).
Emotions develop in conjunction with neural, cognitive, and behavioral changes, so with every hypothesis of emotional change we have to ask what is happening in the brain. How are thinking, memory, and learning involved in this change?
Emotional development occurs within a socio-cultural context. A theory of emotional development needs to account for differences in social experiences and differences in cultural histories, beliefs, and lived experiences in which emotions develop.

2 Reasons understanding emotional development is important

Our experiences make us who we are, literally. Emotional experiences, particularly early in life when neuroplasticity is at its peak, have a profound effect on the developing brain and lifelong health.

1. Emotional experiences become embedded in the architecture of the brain

Rapid neural organization occurs during the first few years of life and establishes the basic foundation upon which future learning, health, and behaviors develop (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2004).

The structure of this foundation is built through neurodevelopmental processes that are highly influenced by the child’s unique experiences, whether positive or negative (Perry 2002).

Neuroimaging studies provide evidence for the impact of early child maltreatment on the structure and function of the brain (Cassiers et al., 2018). A meta-analysis of adults who experienced childhood adversity found structural differences in stress-related areas of the brain compared to adults who did not experience adversity (Calem et al., 2017).

In a separate meta-analysis, studies using fMRI show that children with a history of abuse show disruption in neural pathways in the fronto-limbic networks associated with emotional and reward processing (Hart & Rubia, 2012).

Behavioral research on infant attachment histories also supports the relationship between early experience and emotional development. In a longitudinal study, Kochanska (2001) found that infants with a secure attachment to a caregiver at 14 months showed reduced fear and anger at 33 months in response to situations designed to elicit fear and anger. In contrast, negative emotions increased with age in insecurely attached infants.

2. Early emotional health is foundational for lifelong health outcomes

Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers may not be the population that immediately comes to mind when we think of mental wellness and mental health difficulties. However, because early experiences provide the foundation for neural development, we see that mental wellness begins far earlier than adolescence.

Zero to Three (2017, p. 1) defines infant and early childhood mental health as:

“the developing capacity of the child from birth to 5 years old to form close and secure adult and peer relationships; to experience, manage, and express a full range of emotions; and explore the environment and learn – all in the context of family, community, and culture.”

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) occur in early childhood environments and involve parents and caregivers in the child’s household. Maternal violence, substance abuse, mental illness, and child abuse by a parent are examples. Ample research shows that exposure to ACEs in childhood increases the long-term risk for a wide range of chronic physical diseases and mental health issues in adulthood (Chang et al., 2019; Felitti et al., 1998; Gilbert et al., 2015).

To reduce the risk of exposure to ACEs, research and policy must prioritize:

The support of responsive relationships in early childhood
The reduction of sources of stress experienced by children and their caregivers
Support for core life skills in early childhood, such as daily routines and setting and achieving goals (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2020)

If you are interested in learning more about the health of babies, strength of families, and positive early experiences in the United States, check out the State of Babies Yearbook , which provides data by state.

Researcher and psychologist Bruce Perry gives a powerful and easily accessible public lecture in this video on the urgency of improving early experiences to promote mental and physical health.

Emotional development: Nature vs. nurture

“There need be no “versus” in the equation. We simply have the kind of nature that requires nurture, and they are utterly intertwined.”

Barrett, 2022, para. 10

One of the most unproductive debates in science involves theorizing about human systems through the lens of nature or nurture hypotheses. Framing questions within this dichotomy is a disadvantage to scientific progress and intervention at every level of human health and development, be it biological, sociological, or psychological.

Progress in the field of epigenetics has significantly contributed to our understanding of gene and environmental interactions and how early experience can have lifelong effects.

Epigenetic modification describes chemical alterations to the structure of genes without altering the genetic code itself (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2010). For example, prolonged periods of stress during pregnancy and early child development can produce epigenetic changes in the brain that control how the body responds to stress (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2010).

Theories of emotion explain the nature of emotions: innate, constructed, neurobiological, and cognitive.

Theories of emotional development explain the emergence of emotions and how emotions change across the lifespan.

This article is focused on emotional development, and empirical studies are often vague on the theory of emotion that drives their research and also the theory of emotional development that guides their research.

This lack of clarity has created barriers to progress in emotional development research that have not yet been resolved (Buss et al., 2019; Pollak et al., 2019; Camras, 2022).

At present, there is no widely accepted theory of emotional development that systematically guides research (Pollak et al., 2019). However, most theories agree that emotional development is intimately tied to cognitive development and is driven by social factors (Buss et al., 2019, Camras, 2022).

However, three major theories of emotional development were selected for discussion because they span the spectrum from an innate capacity for emotion to innate capacity and socialization processes to constructivism.

1. Discrete emotions perspective

Carroll Izard’s discrete emotions perspective is one of the most well-recognized theories of infant emotional development. Izard proposes that infants are born with basic emotions that are universal, meaning all humans are born ready to experience and express these emotions.

Emotions are present at birth, are hardwired, and do not rely on cognitive processes. Izard and colleagues posited a set of basic emotions including happiness, anger, fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust (Buss et al., 2019). Each emotion is discrete and distinguishable from one another and associated with specific facial expressions that are also universal.

Although for Izard, basic emotions are innate, the development of dependent emotions such as guilt and shame that emerge around the age of 2 to 3 years, is a result of social experiences and the maturation of socio-cognitive systems (Buss et al., 2019).

2. Theory of self-conscious emotions

Michael Lewis (2022) describes the emergence of a set of self-conscious emotions. Development of embarrassment, empathy, and jealousy are dependent on the development of self-awareness during the second year of life (Camras, 2022).

For example, jealousy may appear in a child when their mother gives attention to a younger sibling. The child has conscious self-awareness that someone else has what they want.

The next set of self-conscious emotions — pride, shame, and guilt — develops between the ages of 2 and 3, when children begin to understand social rules and goals and evaluate themselves against them (Camras, 2022).

It is here that differences in children’s social experiences can influence the expression of these emotions (Lewis, 2022). For example, a child may experience guilt if they spill their milk because messes aren’t tolerated in the home, whereas another child may not experience guilt.

3. Theory of constructed emotion

The theory of constructed emotion developed by Lisa Feldman Barrett posits that emotions are abstract concepts rather than innate capacities. Emotional development is essentially the development of emotion concepts (Hoemann et al., 2019).

Children construct emotions using the same processes they use to construct all abstract concepts that are not directly tied to physical objects or experiences, such as freedom, intelligence, and beauty (Hoemann et al., 2019).

Barrett and colleagues hypothesize that the process of labeling emotions by caregivers is particularly relevant for the construction of emotion concepts. Children hear and observe caregivers using emotion words incidentally across different instances. For example “I’m so angry I could scream,” “Look at my happy baby,” and “You are so grumpy; time for a nap.”

The hypothesis is that children learn to use these emotion words to construct emotion categories and concepts (Hoemann et al., 2019).

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It is nearly impossible to imagine emotional development as separate from changes in cognitive development that occur in the first two decades of life. As memory and thinking become more complex and abstract, emotional development changes as well.

Similarly, markers of emotional development are intimately linked to a child’s social experiences. The following examples are major markers of change in emotional development as they occur within a social context.

Social smile (2 to 3 months) While breastfeeding, the infant shares a gaze with mom. Mom responds with a smile using infant-directed speech. “You are a hungry little fellow!” The infant smiles in response (Pagano & Parnes, 2022).
Attachment (6 to 12 months) Baby is distressed when mom is absent and is comforted with her return (Pagano & Parnes, 2022).
Social referencing (8 to 10 months) Baby looks to the caregiver to make a decision or know how to respond emotionally (Walle et al., 2017).
Theory of mind (3 to 5 years) Children progress in their understanding of the thoughts and emotions of others. Progression occurs from understanding that two people (oneself and another) can have different desires and beliefs about the same thing to understanding hidden emotions; a person may look happy on their face and body but feel angry inside (Wellman et al., 2011).
Emotional competence (7 to 10 years) Emotion expressions are used to manage relationship dynamics, such as smiling at a new friend (Saarni & Camras, 2022).
Emotion regulation (infancy through adulthood) Emotion regulation strategies are processes used to monitor, evaluate, and modify our emotional reactions in order to achieve a goal. Strategies become more sophisticated from extrinsically based regulation in infancy to more intrinsically based regulation from preschool-age through adulthood (Eisenberg et al., 2010; Thompson & Goodvin, 2007).
4 to 6 months: Infants shift their attention away from stressful stimuli.
1 to 2 years: Young toddlers crawl or walk away from stressful stimuli.
2 to 3 years: Older toddlers begin to show beginnings of self-regulation of emotion.
8 to 9 years: Cognitive emotion regulation strategies emerge, and children begin to use thoughts and feelings about themselves and others to control their emotions (Garnefski et al., 2007).

The ability to regulate our emotions is one of the most important skills for learning, social relationships, and mental health. This video by James Gross is an easy-to-follow introduction to the development of emotion regulation and interventions to improve it.

Once self-conscious emotions such as guilt, embarrassment, and shame emerge in middle childhood, very few new emotions develop. Adolescents’ cognitive skills to reason about abstract concepts improve their ability to manage and reason about their own emotions and improve emotional competence in relationships (Rosenblum & Lewis, 2006).

Research on adolescent emotional development shows how emotions change during this time of rapid physical development.

Emotion expression

Emotion expression in adolescence differs from that in childhood and adulthood. Adolescents report experiencing greater extremes of emotion and more negative mood states than adults. Adolescent emotional experiences are reported to include less happiness than during childhood (Rosenblum & Lewis, 2006).

Emotional dissemblance

Emotional dissemblance is the ability to separate one’s emotional expressions from one’s internal feelings. Children learn how to control the emotions they display in order to avoid negative outcomes.

During adolescence, teens begin to display expressions according to the norms of adult interaction (Rosenblum & Lewis, 2006); for example, the ability to outwardly display a facial expression of congratulations to a competitor immediately after a tough loss, while feeling intense emotion internally.

Emotional competence

A successful transition to adulthood is associated with increased emotional competence across several skills during adolescence; for example, learning to regulate intense emotions, knowing how to attend to emotions without becoming overwhelmed by them, and learning how to manage interpersonal relationships in the midst of intense emotions (Rosenblum & Lewis, 2006).

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Research on adult emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to psychological wellbeing provides evidence that emotional development continues into adulthood.

You may think of emotion regulation as a milestone of early childhood that facilitates learning and socio-emotional development. However, the ability to maintain or change one’s emotions, which actively continues to improve with age, is a lifelong skill that predicts positive life outcomes in adulthood (Compas et al., 2014; Martin & Ochsner, 2016).

Cutuli (2014, p. 1) provides an overview of two common emotion regulation strategies in adulthood:

Cognitive reappraisal “the attempt to reinterpret an emotion-eliciting situation in a way that alters its meaning and changes its emotional impact”
Expressive suppression “defined as the attempt to hide, inhibit or reduce ongoing emotion-expressive behavior”

A review article including both experimental and individual differences studies in adults provides converging evidence that cognitive reappraisal strategies are associated with better psychological health, lower symptoms of depression, higher self-esteem, and better interpersonal relationships (Cutuli, 2014).

Adults who use expressive suppression strategies tend to show poorer coping abilities, lower self-esteem, and a lack of close social relationships (Cutuli, 2014).

These findings have significant implications for the development of clinical interventions focused on the improvement of positive reappraisal skills.

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Understanding the Stages of Emotional Development in Children

By Hannah Meinke on 12/30/2019

illustration of children at different ages with heart icons

Emotions are what help us derive meaning from the world around us. Without them, we would experience life with the vibrancy of reading a technical manual on transmission repair. While our emotions—whether good or bad—provide a lot of the excitement in life, there’s still a lot about them that we don’t know.

Researchers have been studying emotions for decades and there are still plenty of questions left unanswered. That said, we know that emotional development is key to living a healthy life. So what can be done to help facilitate this emotional growth in young children? We asked parents, psychologists and educators to tell us everything they know about this process, including caregiver tips for each stage.

Every child is unique and develops a little differently, but overall, there are three major steps to building a well-equipped, emotional toolbox—and they don’t just happen. They involve practice and support from those who understand how important emotional intelligence really is. One crucial aspect of this development is social referencing. Learn more about the role of social referencing in child development here.

Why is teaching emotional development important?

Can you remember the first time you shared your favorite childhood toy? Maybe you noticed someone who needed cheering up. What would have caused a meltdown before, you now do willingly. You might not have known it at the time, but that was a big step in your own emotional growth—and that growth was significantly guided by the adults in your life.

According to the National Center for Safe and Supportive Learning Environments , strong emotional development leads to five key skills: self-awareness, social-awareness, emotional regulation, responsible decision making and relationship building. These skills in turn influence success at school, at home, in communities and in society.

On the other hand, those who are not given emotional guidance often struggle emotionally, academically, physically, and behaviorally. If you cannot notice, express and manage your emotions, it is incredibly difficult to focus on school, make friends or work on a team.

Emotional development affects all development, and, given the small window of incredible growth in children before the age of five, it is crucial to cultivate from the very beginning.

3 Major emotional stages in childhood development

Take a closer look at three critical stages of emotional development so you can be equipped to help support the children you care for.

1. Noticing emotions: Birth to one

There are a lot of different theories about how emotions develop and function. Some think we are born with only three emotions : happiness, anger and fear. Others believe that babies are capable of feeling a much wider range from birth. It’s impossible to know for sure when they can’t tell us, but through crying and cooing, babies certainly communicate something. At this stage, an infant is discovering the world—good things like cuddles, bad things like full diapers. They are noticing how everything makes them feel.

How to foster growth in this stage

Create a safe, consistent environment. This is the launch pad from which children can feel confident enough to explore and express themselves. When they know that you will be there for them, they are more likely to take the risks necessary for development.

Adina Mahalli, family care specialist from Maple Holistics , believes that to create this environment, fostering healthy relationships is first and foremost.

“Children are born with the need and desire to connect with those around them,” Mahalli says. “When caregivers establish positive relationships with children during the early years, children feel safe and secure, laying the foundation for healthy social and emotional development.”

Encourage self-soothing. Though some are quick to discourage behaviors like thumb sucking, this helps children soothe themselves and is the first step to regulating emotion. It can be difficult not to step in and fix the issue, but if you want a child to be able to manage their emotions later on, it is important to let them figure some things out on their own.

Show your emotion. No matter what stage, children mirror their caregivers. By matching a child’s facial expressions and vocalizing your feelings, you can help a child notice both their emotions and yours. This will also help you practice being an emotional role model.

Kate Tunstall, creator of the lifestyle and parenting site The Less-Refined Mind , argues that these small actions can have a significant impact. “The single biggest influence on the behavior of children of any age is how we as parents respond to big emotions. Our kids will emulate us, so the most critical way to help them regulate their emotions and responses is to model desirable behaviors ourselves.”

2. Expressing emotions: Two to three

As children develop a vocabulary and more independence, they will experiment with expressing emotion in new ways. Some of it will be productive like drawing and narrating a picture of the scary monster under the bed. Some of it will be more like throwing a tantrum in the grocery store because they can’t get cheese puffs. This can be a very difficult stage for adults as children experience complex emotions but have not yet figured out healthy versus unhealthy expression.

Stay calm when they aren’t. Tantrums will happen. They are a normal part of development. As a toddler’s feelings outrun their ability to express them, they will do so in the only way they know how. Your job is to help them find a better way, and you can’t do that when you’re giving into tantrums or having one yourself.

Dr. Fran Walfish, family and relationship psychotherapist , suggests directing your child’s anger or frustration with “clarity, kindness, empathy and firmness.” The first thing to remember is that—as trivial as they may seem—a child is always entitled to their emotions. Instead of pointing out how absurd it is to be angry when you’ve warned them that screen time is coming to an end, validate why they’re mad.

“Be empathetic toward your child at how hard this moment is for him or her,” Dr. Walfish suggests. This approach coupled with praise for completing the (relatively) hard-to-do tasks that have upset them is a model for helping children understand that frustrations happen, but what matters most is how you handle them.

Give them language to name and explain. The best alternative to having a tantrum is being able to express emotion through words. If a child can say, “I’m angry,” or even better “I’m angry because he took my toy,” they can focus on putting words to their feelings rather than melting down. This can, in turn, help them feel more in control of their emotions.

One of the best ways to help children learn about emotion is through story. This not only provides emotional vocabulary but puts it into a creative context. Melissa Hart, parent and author , offers some helpful suggestions. “Many educators and parents use books to foster emotional development in children. There are wonderful picture books like When Sadness Is at Your Door, Odd Dog Out, and Be Who You Are that spark conversations about emotions and give young people the words to express their feelings.”

Provide positive reinforcement. There is certainly a time for the words “No,” “Don’t,” and “Stop,” but if those are the only words you use, they can quickly lose power. Celebrate the little ways that children make progress. By pointing out when they use their words or actions to positively express themselves instead of screams and kicks, you can build their self-confidence and encourage them to grow.

3. Managing emotions: Three to five

At this stage, children are ready to enter preschool. A new social environment and more independence provides a great opportunity for growth but also poses some new challenges. Sharing, listening and playing together can cause friction between children, and since they cannot rely on their parents all the time anymore, they must develop new coping skills to manage on their own. Preschool caregivers play a vital role in this development as they create a safe space and offer guidance.

Give them strategies. Just as infants suck their fingers or clutch their blankets, preschoolers use tangible ways to deal with their intangible emotions. Going to a quiet place, deep breathing, and coloring are all good strategies. The goal is to help children learn what works for them. Do they need to be alone, have a conversation or be distracted before they can process their feelings? Doing this before a child gets upset can go a long way toward influencing their behavior when they are.

Laura Morlok, licensed clinical professional counselor from Playful Therapy Connections , suggests also demonstrating these strategies yourself. “You can support your child in managing their emotions by modeling coping strategies and then practicing them together. ‘I'm feeling angry because I dropped the bowl and it broke. I think I need to take some deep breaths. Can you take some deep breaths with me?’” This can help a child better understand how and when to apply coping strategies.

Have realistic expectations. If you expect too much from a child, you’re going to be disappointed and frustrated. Too much of this and a child will start to associate shame and anxiety with their emotions—something that can hurt their future development. On the other hand, if you expect too little, a child may learn unhealthy behaviors instead of developing effective skills. This is why it is so important to be aware of the different emotional stages. If you know that two-year-olds will have tantrums, it's much easier to empathize with them and help them take the next steps in processing what’s upset them.

Evan Porter, creator of the parenting blog Dad Fixes Everything , admits that his own parenting benefits from understanding what is normal for his daughter. “Probably one of the biggest things I've learned is that she needs lots of room to experience and work through her feelings. It's hard for me, because I'm a fixer and I want to make her feel better when she's upset, but there's really no way to short circuit the process. She has to get the feelings and the tears out before we can have a constructive conversation about what happened and how to handle it better next time, and sometimes that takes a while.”

Validate. Validate. Validate. In order for a child to know that an emotion is manageable, they must first know that it is normal. If they feel like they’re the only one who experiences frustration, they are more likely to believe that they are helpless to it. Say things like, “This is very frustrating. I would be frustrated too.” You can show them that feeling frustrated isn’t bad while also normalizing their experience. This validation is key to building both self-confidence and a healthy response to emotion.

Help children find the tools they need to thrive

It doesn’t take many trips around the sun to know that even adults struggle with noticing, expressing and managing their emotions at times. The process of emotional development is not a straight line. Some days, you may need to encourage yourself, but having a good emotional toolbox will make all the difference. You could be the one to help children find the skills they need to fall back on when life gets tough, and, perhaps even better, you could show them just how meaningful life is when you pay attention to the way it makes your breath catch, your stomach turn, and your heart race.

You might think early childhood education is just about getting kids comfortable with the academic basics—shapes, colors, counting—but in reality, early childhood educators play an important role in helping children develop emotionally and more. Learn more about early childhood education in our article, “ 5 Reasons Why the Importance of ECE Is Impossible to Ignore ."

Toddlers and Technology: A Guide for Responsible Introduction to Devices
What Is Early Childhood Intervention? What ECE Professionals Should Know

Graduates of Early Childhood Education programs at Rasmussen University are not eligible for licensure as a teacher in an elementary or secondary school. A Bachelor’s degree and a state teaching license are typically required to work as a teacher in a public school and some private school settings. States, municipalities, districts or individual schools may have more stringent licensing requirements. Students must determine the licensure requirements in the state and school in which they intend to work. Childcare facilities and the states in which they are located establish qualifications for staff who work with children, and often implement guidelines regarding age, education, experience and professional development. Students must determine the licensure requirements for the state and facilities in which they work. This program has not been approved by any state professional licensing body, and this program is not intended to lead to any state-issued professional license. For further information on professional licensing requirements, please contact the appropriate board or agency in your state of residence.

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About the author

Hannah Meinke

Posted in Early Childhood Education

child development
early childhood education

114 Emotional Development Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Welcome to our list of emotional development essay topics! Whether you want to write about emotional intelligence or feelings, essay topics presented here will definitely inspire you. Besides, our catchy and emotional topics are suitable for university and high school students alike.

🔝 Top-5 Development of Emotions Essay Topics

⚡ personal development: emotional essay topics, 🏆 best emotional development topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 simple & easy emotional development essay titles, 🤔 emotional essay topics for reflective papers, 👍 good essay topics on emotional development, 💡 descriptive essay topics about emotional development, ❓ research questions for emotional development, 🔥 emotional essay topics on emotional development.

Child’s Emotional Development in Caillou TV Show
Emotional Development Among Adolescents
The Development of Emotional Intelligence and Its Application
Physical, Cognitive, Social and Emotional Development
Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence

Organization of Emotional Life in the Early Childhood

Evaluate the importance of properly organizing emotional life in early childhood. Explore the best strategies of helping with emotional understanding, expression, and regulation. Explain how these techniques help children improve their future social skills and emotional health. Provide insights about the role and importance of caregivers in this process.

Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

Analyze how developed emotional intelligence helps people in leader positions. Explain how this skill assists in stress management, collaboration, feedback delivery and team training. Mention the four components of emotional intelligence and how to improve them. Elaborate how each part of the concept makes leaders more effective.

Emotional Development: How to Manage Your Feelings at the Workplace

Make an essay explaining how people can better handle their emotions in a workplace environment. List the most common tips for these exercises and how each helps individuals keep their feelings in check and work with them in a constructive manner. Explain the importance of this process for the person, their colleagues, and the work process.

Social and Emotional Learning Approaches

Analyze and assess the different learning methods of social and emotional education. Explain this notion a bit and the benefits it offers. Go into detail about each type, their pros and cons in an academic and professional environment. Provide brief scenarios where these methods yield the best results.

Human Emotions: Sympathy vs Empathy

Write a paper comparing the emotions of empathy and sympathy. Describe their similarities, differences, and the main situations when people experience them. Give your opinion about if they are the same thing or different emotions? Explain how people can become more sympathetic and empathetic in their daily lives.

Personality and Emotional Development As such, the best qualities of the family environment that can positively contribute to the development of social-emotional skills in children include the following: Encouragement of initiatives and leadership skills in children can make them […]
Physical, Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Development Analysis The constant change in the interests of children also requires educators to pay increased attention to the variety of classroom activities, as well as a constant change of focus.
Imagination and Sexuality: Emotional Development in Preschoolers The article illustrates the theory with a description of the child’s behavior in a given period and recommendations for the behavior of caregivers.
Social Emotional Development of Gifted Children They can do this by setting up meetings with the children and their parents but most importantly, communication can be enhanced by listening to the gifted children and involving them in setting standards for themselves.
Children’s Emotional Development and Media Influence The emotional development of a person is one of the fundamental aspects of human growth as it impacts his/her life, relations with other people, and the ability to cooperate with peers or colleagues.
Child’s Cognitive and Socio-Emotional Development She is able to recognize the voice of the caregiver in the midst of other sounds in the room. She is very eager to respond to every sound that the caregiver makes and the composure […]
Parenting for Healthy Emotional Development The development of emotions gives one the ability to be empathetic to others, handle conflicts in the right way, and understand the importance of regulating emotions.
Effects of Domestic Violence on Children’s Social and Emotional Development In the case of wife-husband violence, always, one parent will be the offender and the other one the victim; in an ideal situation, a child needs the love of a both parents. When brought up […]
Personality & Emotional Development in Children and Adolescents The creation of a positive social environment by the family can also lead to shaping of the children’s and adolescents’ capabilities for the future.
Hangs Emotional Development and The Parallel Changes in Nature Illustrated in Huong’s Paradise of The Blind
Social and Emotional Development of Low-Income Children
Make-Believe Play and Social-Emotional Development
The Social-Emotional Development of Early Childhood
Developmental Psychology and Attention Social-Emotional Development
Romeo and Juliet’s Emotional Development in the Play
The Bilingual Gap in Children’s Language and Emotional Development
The Emotional Development of Depression
The Effect of Child Abuse on The Emotional Development of The Infant
Effects of Parent-Child Dynamics on Emotional Development
Early Childhood Abuse Affects Emotional Development of Child
The Responsibilities of Adults for a Child’s Emotional Development
Understanding Social and Emotional Development in Early Childhood
Timeline for Social and Emotional Development
Parental Support and Cognitive and Emotional Development
Evaluate How Poverty Affects a Child’s Social and Emotional Development
The Effects of Technology on Our Happiness and Emotional Development
Enhancing Emotional Development of Children with Dramatic
The Effects of Divorce on Children ‘s Emotional Development
The Importance of Games For The Social and Emotional Development of Chil
Dealing with Death of A Loved One: A Reflection
Overcoming Fear and Anxiety in Face of Adversity
The Day I Was Happy for the First Time
The Perception of Love Over the Course of One’s Life
Things That Drive You Mad: Why and How You Deal with Them
How to Live with Grief and Loss
The Impact of Kindness on People: Best Experiences of Your Life
The Power of Empathy in Interpersonal Relationships
A Personal Journey of Overcoming Depression
Cultivating Resilience During Tough Times
The Emotional Development of Young Children
Social Emotional Development and Challenging Behavior
The Social and Emotional Development of Children
The Importance of Social-Emotional Development in Our Lives According to Mindess, Chen, and Brenner
How Technology Affects Our Emotional Development and Happiness
Cognitive and Social-Emotional Development of John Bender
The Psychology of Childhood Social and Emotional Development
The Role of Attachment in Infancy is Vital in Subsequent Emotional Development
The Psychosocial Theory of Social and Emotional Development
The Nurturing Curriculum for Socio-Emotional Development
The Effects of Alternative Families on Social and Emotional Development
Competency Statement to Support Social and Emotional Development and to Provide Positive Guidance
Hangs Emotional Development and the Parallel Changes in Nature
Language and Communication and Emotional Development of Toddlers
Play, Social-Emotional Development, and Theory of Mind
The Role of the Family in Regards to a Child’s Intellectual and Emotional Development
Emotional Support Animals Effects on Social-Emotional Development of Children with Autism
The Social and Emotional Development of An Adolescent
The Major Role and Influence of Teachers in the Educational, Social, and Emotional Development of Students
The Role of Friends and Peers on Social and Emotional Development
The Effects of Down Syndrome on the Child’s Intellectual and Emotional Development
Stages of Social-Emotional Development
Strategies for Emotional Development
Understanding the Social-Emotional Development of a Child
The Effects of Social and Emotional Development on Children
The Joy of Work Accomplishments: Why Our Jobs Make Us Happy
Fear in the Moment of Crisis: Most Common Scenarios and Strategies of Overcoming
Childlike Joy No More: Why Our Sense of Happiness Fades
The Feeling of Falling in Love: First Experience
Why We Feel Calmer in Nature
Feeling and Dealing with Anger
Overcoming the Sense of Guilt in Adults
A Moment of Pure Happiness and What It Meant for Me
Profound Loneliness and How It Changes A Person
The Complex Mechanisms of Jealousy
What Is Emotional Development and Examples?
How Did Erik Erikson Describe the Social and Emotional Development in Childhood?
What Are the Three Parts of Emotional Development?
Does Technology Affect Social-Emotional Development and Health of Kids?
How Human Lifespan Develops during Emotional Development?
What Is the Socio-Emotional Development of Maltreated Children?
What Is Emotional Development in Child Development?
How Does Pet Ownership Influence Youths’ Social-Emotional Development?
How Technology Affects Our Emotional Development and Happiness?
What Causes a Lack of Emotional Development?
What Are the Gender Differences in Emotional Development?
How Can I Improve My Child’s Emotional Development?
What Is the Emotional Development in Children with Different Attachment Histories?
What Activities Help Emotional Development?
What Are the Signs of Emotional Development Issues?
What Does Emotional Development Involve?
How Does Emotional Development Affect Learning?
What Are the Indicators of Emotional Development?
What Connects Emotional Regulation and Emotional Development?
What Are the Measures of Social and Emotional Development?
What Is the Differential Emotions Theory of Early Emotional Development?
Why Is There a Depressive Position in Normal Emotional Development?
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Early Childhood Emotional Development
Emotional Intelligence in Adolescence
Emotional Development in Adulthood
How Technology Impacts Emotional Growth
Cultural Perspectives on Emotional Expression
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Nature vs. Nurture in Emotional Development
The Role of Caregivers in Shaping Emotional Resilience
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How Schools Foster Emotional Intelligence in Students
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Strengthening Emotional Development and Emotion Regulation in Childhood—As a Key Task in Early Childhood Education

Ramona thümmler.

1 Faculty Rehabilitation Sciences, TU Dortmund University, 44227 Dortmund, Germany

Eva-Maria Engel

2 Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Intervention, University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd, 73525 Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany; [email protected]

Janieta Bartz

3 Department Health and Social Work, IU International University of Applied Sciences, 99084 Erfurt, Germany; [email protected]

Associated Data

Not applicable.

The following article deals with emotional development and the development of emotion regulation skills in children during early childhood education, focusing primarily on the importance of the early childhood teacher. Emotion regulation is important for success and wellbeing in further life. It is developed in interaction with parents as attachment figures. Teachers can also be important persons for the child in the context of bonding. This leads to the question of how early childhood teachers can support children learning to regulate their emotions. We analyze with the content analysis, four programs for promoting social and emotional skills that are currently used in Germany. The main question is if the programs include elements that increase teachers’ skills in supporting the children in regulating their emotions. The categories to analyze the programs are derived from theories of teacher-child interaction. In addition to programs for promoting emotional and social development, we will discuss aspects of shaping interaction as essential elements in promoting emotion regulation. The conclusion outlines some key implications for educational practice and the importance of developing professional behavior for qualitative teacher-child interactions.

1. Introduction

In recent years, supporting children has become increasingly important. In the context of early childhood education in Germany, training in language and mathematics skills have become well established, especially in the context of inclusive education. Well- developed social and emotional skills in children and young people will lead to success in their schooling and for life beyond the classroom. In our view, insufficient attention is paid to the strengthening of social and emotional skills—especially regulating emotions as an aspect of emotional competence—which is fostered at an early age.

In addition to parents, teachers are the most significant role models for supporting the development of these skills. As there has been little research conducted on this topic so far, we present our paper. We ask what opportunities there are in early childhood education for supporting children in regulating their emotions. We analyze the content of four programs that are currently being used in Germany. One of the key aspects of our analysis is the question: “Do these programs include elements that increase teachers’ skills in supporting the children in regulating their emotions?” We focus on knowledge about emotional development and support of emotion regulation. It is also important for us to reflect upon how a teacher interacts with the children as it is in interacting with other people that a child learns how to regulate his or her emotions, thus developing emotional skills.

To answer this question, we begin by taking a closer, theoretical look at a child’s emotional development in the first years of their life ( Section 2 ). Following this, we present the development and influencing factors of emotion regulation ( Section 3 ) within a focus on family interactions. In Section 4 , we assume, based on Ahnert’s empirical research [ 1 ], that teachers are also significant for the children in terms of bonding. We explore how teachers can support children in regulating their emotions based on how our critical application of the programs. In this context, we also refer to research (e.g., [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]) into teacher-child interaction, as well as our own reflections about improving the skills of teachers regarding emotional regulation. At the end of the article, we provide theory-based implications for the practice of teacher-child interaction. Furthermore, we show how important developing professional behavior is for qualitative teacher-child interactions ( Section 5 ).

2. Emotional Development in the First Years of Life

The development of emotional competencies is a lifelong process that goes hand in hand with physical, cognitive, and social development [ 4 ]. Therefore, emotional development is based on the close relationship we have with our primary caregivers [ 5 ]. Mirror neurons enable infants to imitate the facial expressions of others shortly after birth; they are thus “the neural format for an early, basal form of communication and reciprocal social attunement” [ 6 ] (p. 119).

In the first year of life, children develop basic emotions of joy, fear, anger, sadness, surprise, and interest [ 7 ]. More complex self-referential emotions such as pride, shame, compassion, envy, embarrassment, and guilt are developed toward the end of the second year of life [ 7 ]. “In order to feel these emotions, a child must know socially accepted behavioral standards and be able to implement these in their personal behavior” [ 8 ] (p. 16 f.). The development of self-referential emotions goes hand in hand with children’s increasing language development, which allows them to identify their feelings [ 9 ], see Figure 1 .

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Object name is ijerph-19-03978-g001.jpg

Development of emotions and emotion regulation from 0 to 6 years (Diagram originates [ 7 ] (p. 36); This diagram has been reproduced with the authors’ permission).

The embodiment of language makes emotions, on the one hand, conscious and communicable; on the other hand, it enables a differentiated perception of emotions. This is important to distinguish between feelings and physiological states that sometimes appear to be similar [ 9 ]. Emotionally competent people “can talk about feelings and express them in a culturally appropriate form” [ 10 ] (p. 131). Frank summed up that for early childhood education, “firstly, conversations about emotions are possible and secondly, they are very important” [ 11 ] (p. 27). In this context, some authors use the term “emotional intelligence” [ 12 ] or “emotional literacy” which is essentially emotional alphabetization [ 13 ] (p. 407). This conceptualization has a certain appeal since the learnability and developmental possibility of emotional competence are inherent in it. In the second year of life, the phase of emotional perspective taking begins, which is further refined particularly between the third and fifth years of life [ 8 ] (p. 17) “Children are increasingly able to distinguish between their own feelings and those of others, to take the perspective of others, and to recognize and empathize with their feelings” [ 8 ] (p. 17).

In addition to emotion regulation, which we will discuss separately in the next section, emotion understanding is highly important for emotional development. Emotion understanding means being able to recognize how another person feels according to their expressive behavior. Emotion understanding also means being able to assign specific situations to specific feelings, or even knowing that two feelings can occur at the same time. Between the ages of four and five, children can perceive and describe multiple or ambivalent emotions, and understand and interpret them better with increasing age [ 7 ]. Their own emotional reactions are influenced by a growing understanding of emotional concerns as well as expectations of the environment and the ability to relate this knowledge to their own behavior.

3. Emotion Regulation—Development and Influencing Factors

3.1. the development of emotion regulation.

According to Ulrich and Petermann [ 14 ], emotion regulation is defined as “a person’s ability to influence his or her own emotions in terms of quality, intensity, frequency, and their timing and expression, according to his or her own goals“ [ 14 ] (p. 134). A person who has strong emotion regulation does not simply surrender to his or her emotions but is able to influence them.

The ability to regulate emotions develops in parallel with emotional development, because of the close interaction between child and caregiver. In the first weeks after birth, it is mainly the parents who regulate the child’s level of emotional arousal, protect him or her from hyperarousal, and calm him or her down [ 15 ]. In this phase of interpsychic emotion regulation, the infant experiences support from his or her caregivers in dealing with his or her needs and emotions. This process is supported by the ability of social referencing [ 16 ], an ability that the child acquires from the age of about nine months: in an unfamiliar or ambiguous situation, the child can “read” from the facial expression of the caregiver how he or she evaluates the situation and adjust his or her own behavior accordingly. Between the ages of two and five, children are continually improving their ability to use self-contained regulation strategies. This means that a shift from interpsychic to intrapsychic emotion regulation takes place. The child learns to regulate his or her feelings and the associated expressions more and more independently and to adapt them to social demands. According to Petermann and Wiedebusch [ 7 ], functional regulation strategies at preschool age also consist of interactive strategies such as seeking social support and comfort, redirecting attention (for instance, dealing with something else or thinking about something else), reframing the situation or eliminating stimuli that produce emotional reactions, and verbally labeling his or her own emotions in a positive manner (for example, autodidactically or through positive self-talk). However, children may also develop dysfunctional regulation strategies: externalizing behaviors (for example, physical acting out or revenge) and dysfunctional thoughts (for instance, negative self-assessment or helplessness) [ 7 ].

In a study on the regulation of fear in early childhood education, Bettina Janke [ 17 ] showed that preschoolers are able to use regulation strategies and they can even say which strategies are helpful—i.e., functional, or effective—and which are not. The terms functional or effective and dysfunctional or ineffective are commonly used in clinical psychology in relation to regulatory strategies and express that a method has a positive or negative impact on mental and physical health in the medium or long term [ 18 ] (p. 9). The three-, four-, five-, and six-year-olds heard six stories about children who found themselves in a frightening situation. For each story in turn, two effective and two ineffective strategies were predefined. The children were then asked to assess whether these strategies helped the main actor from the story to not feel afraid anymore. Most children from the age of five can “distinguish effective strategies for regulating fear from ineffective ones” [ 17 ] (p. 571). This again points to the major development steps in emotion regulation during early childhood education.

Among other things, emotions and the regulation of emotions have an impact on self-concept, self-esteem, and locus of control. When a child sees that he or she can influence situations in his or her environment, he or she develops the conviction of being effective himself or herself. “The experience of self-efficacy is a milestone in the child’s development” [ 11 ] (p. 22). There is no doubt that age-appropriate emotion regulation is key to successful psychological development. This is also underlined by the fact that “difficulties in emotion regulation play a central role in most symptom patterns in child psychopathology” [ 19 ] (p. 140).

3.2. Family Interactions with a Focus on Emotion Regulation

Parents play a crucial role in how children develop emotion regulation, as well as influencing their child’s temperament and neurobiological characteristics [ 17 ]. When parents are sensitive and responsive to their child‘s emotional needs, the child learns to manage his or her emotions more and more effectively [ 4 ] (S. 5), [ 20 ]. Mechthild Papousek [ 21 ] has described these processes of successful and failed interaction between babies and their caregivers in early childhood in detail. Through her research, she found that children‘s emotion dysregulations are related to negative reciprocity. What happens if parents have a lack of intuitive competence and do not respond appropriately to the signals from their child? The child sends out negative feedback signals and it all ends in a negative cycle. Conversely, we talk about a positive cycle when parents are sensitive to the child’s signals and immediately respond to the relevant need, and thus regulate the child’s tension. As a result, the child sends out positive signals and the parents’ experience of competence is reinforced [ 21 ].

In addition to Papousek‘s model, which focuses more on interactional processes, Morris et al. [ 22 ] tripartite model focuses on family processes with respect to the development of children’s emotion regulation [ 14 ] (Sp. 134 f.), [ 23 ](p. 48 et seqq.). According to the tripartite model, three mechanisms are significant:

Observational learning: Parents are a role model for children through how they express their own emotions and their behavior when dealing with emotions [ 14 ].
Emotion-related parenting practices: Parents’ reactions to their children’s positive and negative emotions are related to the appropriateness of their children’s emotion regulation [ 23 ]; parents who struggle with appropriate emotion regulation themselves report “being more likely to respond to their child’s negative emotions with non-supportive behaviors such as minimization or punitive reactions” [ 14 ] (p. 140).
Emotional climate of the family: Here, the parenting style is very important. “Parenting based on acceptance, support, affection, and understanding appears to have an optimal impact on children’s emotion regulation” [ 23 ] (p. 48).
The way that parents regulate—or fail to regulate—their child’s emotions according to their own emotion regulation skills has a strong effect on the child’s emotion regulation [ 14 ]. The importance of the family context is clearly evident, and this is the starting point for any form of intervention.

4. Promoting Emotion Regulation

In this chapter, we show that teachers are also significant for children in how they bond with others and develop their emotion regulation skills ( Section 4.1 ). We explore how teachers can promote emotional regulation based on how critically we apply the programs ( Section 4.2 ). Here, we also refer to research about, for example, ref [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] teacher-child interaction as well as to our reflections about how to improve teachers’ ability to offer support in emotional regulation. This is highly important because prevention programs are considered effective, but the effects do not persist for very long (e.g., [ 24 ]). Furthermore, we ask if programs can be helpful in this process.

Promoting emotional development is beneficial for the development of a child’s personality. The complexity of development contexts outlined above offers a wide potential for consciously supporting and promoting children’s emotional development. Below, we discuss the importance of the teacher-child interaction for emotion regulation, as well as the opportunities provided by, and limitations of, prevention programs in early childhood education. In this context, the main research question is: “Do the programs include aspects of increasing the teachers’ skills in supporting children to regulate their emotions?”

4.1. Teacher-Child-Interaction and Its Relevance for Emotion Regulation

From the beginning of a child’s life, the parents are his or her most important caregivers. However, in this initial phase, other people also become important caregivers. The emotional and social socialization initially framed by the family is continued and refined during early childhood education. The early childhood teacher plays a special role here, supporting and monitoring the child [ 25 ]. As we all know, children develop a meaningful relationship with their teacher during early childhood education [ 1 ]. Children allow their teacher to guide and stimulate them and they refer to him or her in difficult situations. Teachers in turn give them comfort and help them feel more secure. Consequently, the childhood teacher becomes a significant caregiver for the child [ 26 , 27 ]. There is, however, an important difference between the behavior of parents and teachers. Although parents mostly interact intuitively, childhood teachers interact based on their knowledge and skills; these are professionally designed interactions. They also have the ability and willingness of a professional to design relational, stimulating, and developmentally supportive interactions [ 28 ] (p. 8 f.). Regarding the development of emotion regulation, teachers offer children a developmental space where emotions can be experienced and discussed [ 29 ]. The childhood teacher is there to help the child to fulfill his or her needs and has a mediator role in conflicts with other children. In her studies, Remsperger [ 2 ] (p. 287) was able to show that the interactions between children and their teachers are not only determined by the teacher; children are able to influence the response behavior of their teacher with their own behavior. Children can therefore contribute to a sensitive responsiveness. These findings show the reciprocity of the interaction process. The teacher’s handling of the child’s emotional states should be based on the children’s developmental steps in the context of emotion regulation: although children from the age of five can handle their emotions more and more independently, younger children certainly need support and guidance. If we take a closer look at the interactions between childhood teacher and child, we can see similarities to the above-mentioned parent-child interaction. “From the child’s perspective, the shaping of interactions can only have positive effects if the corresponding signals of the child are perceived and adequately understood or interpreted on the basis of professional knowledge and the response behavior is aligned accordingly” [ 28 ] (p. 9).

The framework model of the research group headed by Robert C. Pianta and Bridget K. Hamre provides important information and starting points regarding interaction quality in a professional setting. They proved, based on several studies, that there are essentially three important domains for the teacher-child interaction [ 3 ]: 1. teacher-child interactions for emotional support, 2. activities to organize the classroom, and 3. instructional support that facilitates quality of feedback or concept development. The valid observation instrument CLASS (Classroom Scoring Assessment System) was used in the various studies in daycare centers, kindergartens, and elementary schools. CLASS operationalizes interactions according to the three areas of emotional support, organization of the classroom, and instructional support [ 3 , 28 ] (p. 17). Since this paper focuses on emotion regulation, the area of emotional support and relationship and attachment building will be elaborated below. This “refers to the building of high-quality relationships between adults and children” and is based on work on attachment theory that can be applied to the teacher-child relationship (e.g) [ 1 ]. Through her research, Ahnert was able to show that attachment relationships between teacher and children are possible and necessary. She was able to identify five factors that promote attachment characteristics in everyday life in a kindergarten.

Professionals show affection through loving and emotionally warm communication, which makes the children and the professional alike enjoy the interaction.
A key task of the professional is to convey security.
Teachers help to reduce stress by supporting the regulation of emotions.
Exploration support combined with the availability of the teacher in the event of uncertainty contributes to successful attachment.
When the child reaches his or her limits, the teacher offers assistance and guides the child back to being able to act.

These relation characteristics change depending on age: younger children are more dependent on safety aspects and methods of stress reduction than preschoolers. In addition, Ahnert [ 1 ] pointed out the importance of the social group, as it has been found that it is the professional’s activity in the children’s group that has an impact on the child’s attachment security rather than the individual care of individual children. If the work in the group is characterized by group-oriented, empathic behavior by the teacher, the dynamics in this group can be regulated and the needs of the individual child can be served at the right time, taking the requirements of the group into consideration. Remsperger’s study also showed that structural conditions have an effect. Sensitive responsiveness is not a character trait of the relevant teacher, but it depends primarily on the situations in the kindergarten: in noisy, troubled situations, the teacher is able to show little responsive behavior and offer little stimulation for the child [ 2 ] (p. 280 f.).

Let us come back to Pianta and Hamre’s model. These researchers were able to demonstrate “stronger effects of teacher-child interaction on the learning and development of children who show some vulnerability or developmental risk” [ 3 ] (p. 25). They conclude, “that interaction quality is of even greater importance for children with developmental disabilities” [ 3 ] (p. 26).

The importance of teacher-child interactions for children’s developmental opportunities is undisputed in professional policy and well documented empirically. However, various studies show how rarely linguistically and cognitively stimulating interactions are observed in kindergartens (for the US see [ 3 ]). Against this background, various concepts for the qualitative further development of the teacher-child interaction have been elaborated based on research in recent years. Coaching approaches to train teachers’ observational behaviors through video-based microanalysis of everyday interaction situations show promise [ 3 ]. “Children whose educators had participated in coaching showed higher gains in literacy skills and lower levels of problem behavior” [ 3 ] (p. 28). The data refer to the coaching program MyTeachingPartner, a combination of knowledge transfer and video analysis in 14 three-hour sessions conducted by local colleges. Weltzien et al. [ 28 ] developed a similar tool for Germany: the video-based evaluation tool for designing interactions (GinA-E) was developed and evaluated in various practice research projects. With the aid of GinA-E, the quality of interaction becomes observable and can be reflected based upon the 22 specified criteria on three scales: Shaping Relationships, Stimulating Thought and Action, and Stimulating Speech and Language. What is important here is the behavior of the teacher in everyday interactions, about which a dialogue can be entered into with colleagues during the evaluation. In addition, the importance of consulting with colleagues or even intervision and supervision groups should be pointed out here.

4.2. Promoting a Child’s Emotional Development through Development Training

In the last few years, several international programs stemming from the field of primary prevention for the social and emotional development of children have become established. These programs play an important role in pedagogical practice in Germany. What now follows is an analysis of four programs that are often used in German early childhood education, and which serve as examples: 1. Faustlos [ 30 ], 2. Lubo aus dem All [ 31 ], 3. Papilio [ 32 ], and 4. Prävention und Resilienzförderung in Kitas—PRiK [ 33 ]. Some are adaptations of American programs; for example, the Faustlos program is based on the US program Second Step. These programs have all been evaluated empirically and have proven to promote the development [ 19 , 24 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. We have selected these programs because they are frequently recommended for practice in Germany and are, therefore, used very often. Each program has a different focus on preventing behavioral problems, and they support social and emotional development. Some of them have already been analyzed regarding both the aims and scope of the program, and the didactical methods [ 19 ]. The programs Faustlos, Lubo aus dem All, and Papilio have similar objectives: 1. the promotion of a socially acceptable expression of one’s own emotions, 2. an appropriate perception of one’s own emotions and the emotions of others, 3. socially acceptable regulation of negative emotions, and 4. the promotion of prosocial behavior. The aim here is to teach a “canon of values containing cooperative and socially acceptable behavior and an appropriate expression of emotions” [ 19 ]. A positive group climate helps all children to be integrated well into the group. The methods used in these three programs are similar since they all use psychology-based means of reinforcement. In addition to knowledge transfer on emotions and setting an example of model behavior, imitation and praise are specifically used, as well as a token system in the case of Lubo and Papilio. The starting point of the PRiK program [ 33 ] is different to the others as it represents a positive relationship with the child as a basis for promoting resilience. It also focuses on strengthening personal resilience (e.g., self-awareness, self-control, and self-efficacy). The concept refers to skills that the children already have and promotes them in 26 units. The units are, in turn, described in the manual and feature many games, exercises, and proposals for materials. The idea is not to work through the program units by following the instructions closely—it is rather that the children are empowered to contribute and reflect on their experiences, allowing for deeper engagement with the content. The authors propose using the manual as a golden thread that “must always be related to the particular group and situation” [ 33 ] (p. 31).

In our analysis, in addition to the mentioned aspects, the focus is on teacher-child interaction to support children’s emotion regulation in their early education. To achieve this, we work deductively according to Mayring’s qualitative content analysis [ 38 ]. We refer to Ahnert [ 1 ] and Remsperger [ 2 ], who show the importance of the teacher for conveying security, helping the children reduce stress by supporting them in regulating their emotions, and offering assistance for a child that has reached their limits and that requires support ( Section 4.1 ). Our main categories are guidance of teacher-child interaction [ 1 , 2 , 25 ], knowledge transfer concerning emotion regulation development [ 27 ], guidance for supporting emotion regulation [ 1 ], offering security in small groups [ 1 ], and focusing on interactions to provide emotional support to children [ 3 ].

When we examine the programs more closely, we see that Faustlos, Lubo aus dem All, and PRiK are prescribed, and have a pre-structured procedure, additional materials, and at least 20 units, which are carried out over several weeks in the kindergarten. In the manual instruction, there are often written dialogs, which the teacher reproduces with hand puppets or using picture stories. Papilio’s aims are changes in the everyday life in the kindergarten by, for example, initiating a toy-free day. The analysis of the programs focuses on the question of whether the programs can improve a teacher’s skills to support the children’s emotion regulation. The table below ( Table 1 ) illustrates which aspects are considered in each program.

Results of analysis of four prevention programs for social and emotional development—categories.

	Papillio	Faustlos	Lubo Aus Dem All	PRiK
Knowledge transfer concerning emotion regulation development	-	✔✔	✔✔	✔✔✔
Guiding emotion regulation support	-	✔	✔✔	✔
Offering security in small groups	✔	✔	✔	✔
Focusing on interactions to provide emotional support to children	-	✔	-	✔✔
Guidance of teacher-child interaction
focus on teacher-child interaction: behavioral psych.	✔	✔	✔	✔
focus on teacher-child interaction: bonding oriented	-	-	-	✔✔✔
Legend:	- not included ✔ included to a small extent ✔✔ included to a medium extent ✔✔✔ included to a large extend

The Table 1 shows that most of the programs do provide little knowledge about the development and processes of emotion regulation. There is also not enough information on how the educators can transfer their knowledge into everyday practice. Furthermore, we examined the approach the program takes on reflecting children’s emotions. It is noticeable that these are often very cognitive, learning psychology approaches, which are not easy to grasp in the early childhood phase. There is therefore a lack of impetus for interactions between educators and children. This is also evident in the last point of the analysis. The interactions in the program are not bonding oriented. Our main findings are as follows.

Hermann and Holodynski [ 19 ] (p. 154) have also analyzed the programs Lubo aus dem All, Faustlos, and Papilio and criticized the fact that they are more similar to exercises in which the focus is on desired prosocial target behavior rather than on a sociodramatic free play in which children play a fascinating and dramatic part. Finally, they evaluated the attractiveness of the programs as too knowledge heavy and somewhat dry. However, if they are carried out with enthusiasm and commitment to the children, the programs can contribute to the promotion of social-emotional development. Our analysis shows that not enough attention is paid to the interaction between teacher and child as a part of emotional development. In doing so, the programs push too much for the children to develop their emotional skills, disregarding the teacher’s responsibility as a significant figure in the child’s life; only PRiK adopts a bonding-oriented approach.

Several aspects seem to be relevant in the question of the benefits of such programs. The fact that all children in a group can be reached with the prevention program and can participate in this speaks in favor of applying it in the kindergarten. The topic of emotions thus gains a certain significance over a certain period in the kindergarten. The added values of such programs lie primarily in the process that they trigger. There is a discussion of the topic of emotions in childhood. Involvement of the team, the continuous transfer into everyday life, and sustainability are all important factors. If an institution succeeds in transferring elements of the specific program into everyday life, for example, if every team member carries out the training and is thus familiar with it, the teacher can tie their work in with the topics of the program. In addition, preparing for and engaging with a program provides a good opportunity to update one’s knowledge of emotional development, but as shown in our analysis, the programs still need to be expanded in this respect.

Critically, in addition to the points made by Hermann and Holodynski above, we would like to note that some programs convey a certain image of children and pedagogy. Sometimes the impression cannot be denied that children are to be “made fit” to fit into peer groups and educational institutions. Behind this is the seductive thought that manualized programs achieve universal effectiveness. In addition, the material and the effort required are manageable. There is a risk that the individual child with his or her specific needs is out of sight and the teacher relies on the effect of a program. This can contribute to an apparent simplification of an everyday pedagogical life that is generally characterized by uncertainty and marked by antinomies [ 39 ]. Programs may tempt to oversimplify the complex interplay of individual and contextual factors in child development. It is possible that a child who has been “overlooked” in this way does not need manualized intervention over a period of several weeks but, rather, a vigilant teacher who can recognize and offer the necessary freedom for the child and phases of intensive support, in accordance with the aspects of successful teacher-child interaction described above.

The programs and concepts mentioned above bring practical added value if institutions and teachers can be motivated to set out and further develop their own concepts. Not everything offered in manuals or programs is new: some of the activities compiled in the concepts are already being used in various institutions.

5. Conclusions

In this article, the importance of emotion regulation and the interaction between adults and children are described in detail, based on our analysis. Teachers need to have expertise in developmental psychology related to the emotional development of children and to understand how important a highly qualitative teacher-child interaction is. Training and development can help teachers to keep strengthening their knowledge. The teacher’s behavior toward the children is highly important as part of the interaction. During these developmental steps of the child, the teacher’s behavior sensitively addresses the child’s emotions, reflects them, and offers himself or herself as a container for those emotions. Thus, the behavior of the teacher promotes the self-awareness of the child and the perception of emotions in others.

Teachers can provide a framework for children in their day-to-day activities, allowing them to talk about emotions and deal with conflicts as significant figures in a child’s life. Moreover, the potential of the group can be of advantage. In his text about inclusion and emotions, Markus Dederich explained the correlations of emotions—using the term “affective resonance” in this context—and the social group [ 40 ]. These aspects are relatively new, and it is possible that they will be more important in the future.

The reflection of one’s own behavior is becoming more and more important. The chance to take a closer look at complex situations in a slowdown mode offers valuable food for thought. Video analyses [ 28 , 41 ], supervision, or consulting with colleagues, for example, have proven to be possible methods for taking a closer look at one’s own behavior and interactions during the slowdown. It is important here that responsible bodies provide sufficient resources, such as time and funding, for these team-related measures.

Aspects of emotional development and emotion regulation are also important when working with parents. When we work with parents, the aspects of emotional development and emotion regulation should also be dealt with. As part of the kindergarten’s mission to support parenting skills, this topic area can be addressed in the context of development discussions, parents’ evenings, or as a specific parents’ education program [ 42 , 43 , 44 ]. It is important that the teachers support the children in a thoughtful and sensitive way. The aim is to focus necessary offers of support (e.g., counseling services in the context of early child intervention), and develop an awareness for the life situation of the family and think about meaningful perspectives from the viewpoint of the family.

Relation experiences in the first six years of life are fundamental to the development and strengthening of emotional competences. This requires valuable learning stimuli and successful interactions that are consciously designed in early childhood education. We demonstrate that the commonly used programs in Germany look closely at the processes of change concerning the children, and the programs have a certain effect on their emotional and social development. The reality is very complex, and the effects recorded in the studies only are really the tip of the iceberg. Future research in this field is necessary, especially into how teacher-child interaction determines the quality of early childhood development. Further studies should also be conducted into the effects such programs could have on increasing knowledge early childhood teachers have as to how to support children in regulating their emotions, and what they learn about emotional regulation before and after using such a program in their kindergarten. These and other perspectives focusing on professional skills should be examined further, in mixed methods-based research.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, R.T., E.-M.E. and J.B.; methodology, R.T. E.-M.E., and J.B.; formal analysis, R.T. and E.-M.E.; data curation, R.T. and E.-M.E.; writing—original draft preparation, R.T.; writing—review and editing, R.T., E.-M.E. and J.B.; visualization, R.T.; funding acquisition, R.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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New Perspectives on the Development of Human Emotion

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About the special issue

The articles in this issue are intended to challenge our concepts and take research on emotional development in new directions.

Toward this end, this special issue includes empirical studies, theoretical articles, novel conceptualizations, methodological innovations, and invited commentaries from scholars across a range of disciplines.

Articles in this issue

View the table of contents with abstracts on APA PsycNET

Progress in Understanding the Emergence of Human Emotion Seth D. Pollak, Linda A. Camras, and Pamela M. Cole

New Ways to Conceptualize Emotion and Emotional Development

Expressions as Signs and Their Significance for Emotional Development Manfred Holodynski and Dorothee Seeger
Emotion Words, Emotion Concepts, and Emotional Development in Children: A Constructionist Hypothesis Katie Hoemann, Fei Xu, and Lisa Feldman Barrett
Culture-Specific Development of Early Mother–Infant Emotional Co-Regulation: Italian, Cameroonian, and West African Immigrant Dyads Manuela Lavelli, Cecilia Carra, Germano Rossi, and Heidi Keller
Understanding the Development of Face and Emotion Processing Under a Predictive Processing Framework Mariana R. Pereira, Fernando Barbosa, Michelle de Haan, and Fernando Ferreira-Santos
Rethinking Emotions in the Context of Infants' Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Interest and Positive Emotions Stuart I. Hammond and Jesse K. Drummond
Fear in Infancy: Lessons From Snakes, Spiders, Heights, and Strangers Vanessa LoBue and Karen E. Adolph

New Ways to Consider Mechanisms Underlying Emotion and Emotion Change

Empathic Responding and Hippocampal Volume in Young Children Jessica A. Stern, Morgan Botdorf, Jude Cassidy, and Tracy Riggins
Spatial and Temporal Cortical Variability Track With Age and Affective Experience During Emotion Regulation in Youth João F. Guassi Moreira, Katie A. McLaughlin, and Jennifer A. Silvers
Expressive Suppression of Negative Emotions in Children and Adolescents: Theory, Data, and a Guide for Future Research Jacquelyn T. Gross and Jude Cassidy

New Methodological Approaches to Exploring Emotion and Emotional Development

Age Differences in Emotion Regulation Strategy Use, Variability, and Flexibility: An Experience Sampling Approach Lizbeth Benson, Tammy English, David E. Conroy, Aaron L. Pincus, Denis Gerstorf, and Nilam Ram
The Promises and Perils of Automated Facial Action Coding in Studying Children's Emotions Aleix M. Martinez
Adolescents' Emotion System Dynamics: Network-Based Analysis of Physiological and Emotional Experience Xiao Yang, Nilam Ram, Jessica P. Lougheed, Peter C. M. Molenaar, and Tom Hollenstein

Invited Commentaries

The Developing Brain as Historical Artifact Rob Boddice
Something Old, Something New: Leveraging What We Know to Optimize New Directions in Emotion Development Research Amrisha Vaish
Modeling the Evolution and Development of Emotions Willem E. Frankenhuis
The Future of Emotion Regulation Research Is in How We Measure the Dynamics of Change Tracy A. Dennis-Tiwary
Context and Dynamics: The New Frontier for Developmental Research on Emotion Regulation Jennifer S. Silk
Could Emotion Development Really Be the Acquisition of Emotion Concepts? Justin D'Arms and Richard Samuels
Meeting Infant Affect Vasudevi Reddy
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