mental development essay

Psychology Discussion

Mental development of a child | psychology.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

In this article we will discuss about:- 1. Meaning and Nature of Mental Development 2. Stages of Mental Development 3. The Various Aspects of Mental Development.

Meaning and Nature of Mental Development:

Mental development is an important aspect of growth, embracing the various mental abilities. It begins right from birth, and as the child develops with the passage of time his mental reactions also change. These reactions are very simple to start with, but in due course, they lead to complex mental activities.

Mental development includes such abilities as attending, perceiving, observing, remembering, imagining, thinking, solving problems and growth of intelligence as well as of language. These abilities change, grow and mature with age and decline in old age. The rates of change vary with age and special experiences. In spite of a general pattern of mental development, each individual grows and develops in his down unique manner.

The various mental abilities or activities mentioned above are inter-related and they develop as a whole. They are inter-dependent and do not develop in isolation. Besides this ‘inter-dependence, another typical feature of mental development is its continuity.

Mental development is another name for extending the intellectual horizon of the child. To begin with, the world is one large, “booming, buzzing confusion” to the child. Gradually, details are perceived and understood, differences are realised and experiences and knowledge are organised into new relations. This is made possible through processes of differentiation and organisation or integration.

The factors that affect mental development include maturation, learning and education. The kind of nervous system the human child inherits is an important factor. It helps him to co-ordinate various activities and responses. It regulates the activity of all the organs. The brain, an important part of the nervous system, plays a more significant role in the mental development of the individual than any other part. It helps in the perception of the surrounding world and perception is the basis of the mental activity – all thought and consciousness.

Stages of Mental Development:

(a) From Birth to Three Years:

The child is born with all the sensory equipment that are needed for mental activity. By the age of three, he shows the ability to fulfill his needs in a selective manner. Therein lies his mental development. This is evident from other types of behaviour as well. He secures or tries to secure approval from his parents and others for the things he likes or does. The child’s curiosity is another characteristic of mental development at this stage.

He is curious to know about his immediate environment including the people. Another evidence is the child’s tendency to make believe. He lives in a world of fantasy and personifies the objects that are around him. He develops the ability to differentiate between himself and others as well as a tendency to be negativistic.

(b) From Three to Six Years:

This period of the child’s life is characterised by his ability to use symbols and words. He acquires a variety of sensory and perceptual experiences and these experiences contribute a lot towards his mental development.

(c) Later Childhood:

This period is marked by the ability to acquire keen and accurate perception. With keen and accurate perception grows the process of conceptualization. Mental development is also indicated in his growing interests. He begins to admire things and peoples around him. He begins to imitate the manners and behaviour of those people whom he admires.

(d) Adolescence:

Adolescence is the period when the mental development reaches its climax. The various intellectual development activities such as observation, perception, attention, memory, thinking and reasoning and intelligence reach their maturity.

The Various Aspects of Mental Development:

(i) Sensation and Perception:

Sensation and perception form an important aspect of mental development. Sensation is the first step to knowledge but it assumes the form of knowledge only when it is attended to and a meaning is attached to it. In other words, sensations are objectified and become meaningful. Objectified sensations are called perceptions. To begin with, environment of the child is a vague, undifferentiated mass on account of the lack of previous experience and the undeveloped conditions of the sense organs.

Gaining experience, the child’s sensations of taste, colour, sound, touch or pressure get associated with certain concrete objects. Gradually, the child begins to see distinctions. He discriminates between things and understands meanings. On the one hand, he observes minute differences in quantities and relations, on the other he organises his knowledge into new relations and “gestalts,” according to the Gestalt School of Psychology.

Even a baby perceives an unfamiliar object as a form or as figure. He has an innate tendency to organise his sense-field and to perceive objects as a whole. It may be noted in the beginning, children’s perception lacks richness, definiteness and details. Thus perception involves direct experience with objects, persons or events through a group of sensations.

But it also involves memory images of the past experience of the same object or a similar object. Our past experiences which are responsible for the development of personal interests and mental sets are important factors in perception.

The child perceives those things quickly and clearly which are concerned with his interests and mental sets. The child’s perceptions are also determined by his needs and desires. In an experiment, two groups of children – one, a poor group and the other a rich group were asked to perceive clearly and judge the size of the various coins shown to them. The poor group overestimated the size of the coins considerably more than did the rich group because to the poor group, the coins were of great value and use.

As the human individual grows older and enters adolescence or adulthood, other factors that affect his perceptions are his beliefs, opinions and cultural ideals.

The sensations and perceptions are of eight types. These are tactual, gustatory, olfactory, organic, kinesthetic, bodily equilibrium, auditory and visual, called so because of the sense organ involved – the skin, the tongue, the nose, stomach, muscles, semi-circular canals, the ear and the eye.

(ii) Concept Formation:

A concept is the generalised meaning that is attached to an object. It is the result of our perceptual experiences. For example, ‘horse’ or ‘house’ or ‘table’ or ‘honesty’ or ‘man’ are concepts. We see a number of horses, houses or tables, see their common qualities and characteristics and relations and finally arrive at a generalised notion. When we say horse, it means not this horse, it stands for all types of horse.

We thus arrive at concepts of things, persons and qualities, as a result of our perceptual experience, our ability to compare the common qualities, to relate them to each other, to abstract and generalise. ‘House’, ‘table’, ‘cap’ are concepts of things; ‘father’, ‘mother’, ‘teacher’ are concepts of persons, and ‘honesty’, ‘truthfulness’ are concepts of qualities and ideas.

The formation and acquisition of concepts is a great step forward in the mental development of children. It involves both discrimination and generalisation,. The child’s concepts of the world increase with experience and with his ability to perceive relationships between new and old situations.

Not only do the concepts increase in number, with increased rich and varied experience, these concepts become richer and fuller. The concepts of December will have a different implication if the child has experienced it in Punjab, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

It is for this reason that modern teaching secures the help of trips, excursion and visits to places of interest, for making their experiences richer and fuller. Such experiences and contacts will surely give more meaningfulness and breadth to the concepts formed.

Experience is not the only factor which contributes to comprehensiveness formed. As the children grow older, they are in a position to read extra books, magazines, ask questions from knowing people: in this way, they enrich concepts of people, things and ideas.

The concepts formed by the children in the early stages, are difficult to study for three reasons:

(a) Many of the child’s concepts have meanings which are different from those of adults thus the adult may overlook them completely. For a child, ‘doggie’ may mean all small animals whereas to the adult, the concept of ‘dog’ is specific. The child’s concepts are board and more general rather than specific.

(b) The child’s concepts are not formulated well enough for the child to be able to express them in words understandable to an adult.

(c) Many of children’s concepts cannot be ‘verbalised’ by them on account of limited vocabulary.

Children’s concepts of spatial relations, of distance and depth are vague and inadequate in the beginning. This is responsible for much of the awkwardness in young children, evident in their miscalculations of height and distance Language development leading to the understanding of the words like on, in, below, above, up and down, helps them to understand spatial relations.

The development of time concept takes place, in the beginning in connection with need gratifications and routine. They understand what morning, evening and night mean in terms of feeding, eating and sleeping. By the age of five, they are able to distinguish between the present, past and future. How we measure time, they can understand only by ten or so. Teachers of mathematics need to know these facts which are the results of investigations.

The concepts of number and quantity are first brought home to the minds of children by experiences in the home which convey to them the ideas of ‘less’ or ‘more’ or ‘being heavy’ or ‘light’. According to Piaget children acquire concepts of number even before they are not able to count. They come earlier than those of weight. If home and school can provide concrete experiences with a variety of materials, these concepts are learned easily and in a natural manner.

Scientific concepts with concern causal relations develop when children are presented a variety of problems and they explain or answer questions. These concepts leading to ability in deductive and inductive reasoning grow with advancing age.

Concepts of the self and social concepts of inter personal relations greatly influence the child’s thinking and behaviour – a very important step in the mental development of children. To start with the concept of self means only physical identity of self. Gradually, the child differentiates himself from others. The child’s social concepts are influenced by the nature of inter personal relationship at home, by his experiences of others in the neighbourhood, in the play-ground and by other social activities.

Similarly, the child develops concepts of beauty or aesthetic concepts, through his contacts, his readings, associations, cultural values, his experiences of colour, sound and form, i.e., environmental influences. If the child lives in dirty, drab and colourless environment there is a likelihood that he develops wrong concepts of beauty of colour, form or sound. Training and education and models in the home play an important role in determination of the nature of such concepts.

The development of all types of concepts, therefore takes place slowly but steadily.

The conceptual development takes place in well-marked stages, as shown below:

(iii) Development of Language:

The process of concept formation as already pointed out, is helped by the development of language. Language is a tool of both thinking and communication. It is a tool which has to be effectively used in acquiring knowledge and mastering facts in education. We satisfy our interests, acquire experience, and develop power to think and reason on a higher plan through language. It is the basic tool for social communication, for better understanding among individuals and groups.

It is with and through language that we can pinpoint our problems and difficulties, and express them clearly. This makes for successful adjustments to situations and individuals. It is an important means of influencing personality and modifying the thoughts and feelings of others as well as our own.

The language development starts with mere names and involves the use of other types of words gradually. For a long time, the child uses more ‘nouns’ than other forms of language. Descriptive words like adjectives and adverbs appear at later stages than the names. The child by 1½ years, has learned the use of 10 or 12 simple words. But the range may be much higher than this. By 2½ years the child’s vocabulary is of about 300 words. It may be more in exceptional cases. In sentences also, there is a pattern. The child starts with enumerative sentences and proceeds to descriptive and inter-pretative sentence structures.

One of the important aspects of language development is the growth of speech. It starts with vocalisation in the form of cries or explosive sounds. It is followed by mere ‘parrot talk’. These are the pre-speech forms. Four needs of the child act as incentives to his learning to speak.

(i) The desire to secure information regarding his environment and later about himself and his friends,

(ii) To give commands or express his wants,

(iii) To come into social relationship with others, and

(iv) To express his thoughts and ideas.

The child learns to speak as a result to ‘conditioning’. Certain words or combinations get associated with certain objects which he wants or sees or gets. There are periods or ‘spurts’ and rest in the speech-development. After ‘walking’ has been established as a motor skill, the amount of vocalisation is said to increase. Much of the speech, particularly its quality that the child learn is the result of imitation of others in the environment.

The child has to master four major tasks in the process of learning to speak properly.

(a) Comprehension of the speech of others,

(b) Building a vocabulary,

(c) Combining words into sentences, and

(d) Pronunciation.

By the age of 6, the child can speak every form of sentence structure fluently, with goods pronunciation.

When the child is learning to speak, speech disorders are most apt to develop. Very few speech disorders are hereditary. Occasionally, speech defects may be traced to a tongue-tied condition, to deformed teeth, palate, lips or gins. But the majority of speech disorders are due to faulty learning, imperfect hearing, muscular weakness of the tongue and lips and emotional factors.

Among the speech errors and defects, a mention may be made of omissions, interchanges and substitutions, lisping, slurring or indistinctness of speech, stuttering and stammering.

The content of speech or what children talk about at different ages, gives evidence as to the size of the child’s vocabulary, of their personality and their dominant interests. In the early years, the speech of the child is egocentric. It becomes gradually socialised. Home interests, questions and commands form an important constituent. In adolescence, sex, relationships, in the home and the school, social problems of a personal nature, political interests etc. determine the content of speech.

The type of vocabulary developed by children depends on home training, socio-economic status, parents education and work. The child must be able to speak by 2 years. If he does not, speech may be called “delayed”. The most common cause of delayed speech are low intelligence, poor social environment, severe or prolonged illnesses, inadequate or defective models, negativism, deafness, and bilingualism.

Another aspect of language development is reading. In ability to read properly cause a lot of frustration and children become backward on account of that. Before the child is able to read he should be able to speak clearly and should have adequate vocabulary. This is called “reading readiness”. To start with, the child masters the fundamental skills in reading followed by “intermediate reading stage” in the 4th, 5th and 6th classes. Finally, the child reaches the mature reading stage.

(iv) Growth in Thinking and Problem Solving:

Growth in thinking and problem-solving which follows or is made possible by the formation of concepts with the help of language, is an important aspect of mental development. Thinking is a process of dealing with ideas, thoughts or concepts. It essentially consists in the manipulation of symbols instead of the manipulation of objects and situations in an environment.

It is assumed that thinking and problem-solving are activities which occur at the later stages of human development. The child, according to this assumption, cannot think or reason in a logical manner. Piaget maintains that there are stages in children’s thinking. In his earlier experiments he found that upto the age of seven or eight a child tends to reason only in terms of isolated or specific cases, he is incapable of genuine argument and feels no need for verification or logical justification; he has difficulty in making generalizations or deductions and in reasoning from the point of view of another person or from the point of view of a general proposition.

Other studies show that children earlier than seven or eight also could reason about cause-and-effect relationships. But most of the thinkers are of view that highest types of thinking were not always possible earlier than 10 or 11. It is a fact that children show an improvement in most areas of thinking as they become older. Development moves in general from the more simple to the more complex, from the concrete to the abstract.

The younger the child, the more his thoughts tend to center on immediate events and problems as different from more remote concerns or matters. He deals more easily with the concrete than with the abstract. He, however, shows an increase in his knowledge of and ability to deal with the abstract, as he grows in age.

The older the child, the more del’ berate he is in procedure when confronted with a problem. The younger children are more likely to forge ahead in over trial and error. Again, adults are likely to reach a conclusion or correct answer more quickly and to see point more readily.

Problem-solving is an important constituent of mental development. The preceding paragraph indicates that simple problem-solving is not beyond the mental ability of young children. Even a young child at the age of two or three, makes an effort to solve a problem or a difficult situation. It is true that the problem or the situation often is personal and concrete and his effort is generally marked by trail-and-error. The use of insight, however, is not entirely ruled out even in the pre-school years, as shown in a study made by Dentsche.

In order to appreciate the problem-solving powers of young children, adults need to consider both the problem and the solution from the child’s point of view. If they examine it only in terms of the logic of an educated adult, they will get a distorted view of a child’s thinking and problem-solving. Jersild observes, “Children may have a good practical grasp of the idea of cause- and-effect in their own sphere of activities even though they cannot phrase the idea in logical terms.”

(v) The Growth of Intelligence or Intellectual Development:

Intellectual development or the growth of intelligence is the most important aspect of mental development. Here, we will only delineate it from the development or growth point of view.

The growth of intelligence does not take place independently of the rest of the child’s personality. Language development, emotional and social development as well as the physical growth are related to the intellectual development or the growth of intelligence.

During the last fifty years many attempts have been made to measure intelligence and its growth from birth to maturity with the help of developmental schools designed by Gesell, infant tests designed by Cattell, Stanford, Binet Scale, Army Alpha, Otis’ Scale and Wechster’s tests for children and adults, and many others in foreign countries and our own. With the help of these tests and schedules, we are in a position to produce test nouns for all ages and can represent them on a curve.

These test scores have enabled psychologists to screen out children with different intelligence levels, to separate the dull form the borderline cases, the superior from the average group. A study of the typical mental growth curve or the curve of intelligence will show that infancy is marked by rapid intellectual growth; growth is moderate in childhood and it slows down in adolescence and later youth.

Some research studies reveal that scores remain steady or increase slowly in adult life but tend to decline in old age. But this is true only of some aspects of intelligence or certain specific abilities. Different workers have given different types of curves, but all agree that intelligence increases with age with a normal population.

Of course, there are individual variations. Some individuals show a rapid increase in certain areas of intelligence, whereas others indicate a rapid increase in other areas or abilities. These curves also point out to periods when there seems to be no increase or rise i.e., periods of no progress, technically known as plateaus.

Intelligence testing of an individual over a number of years, indicates the course or pattern of his intellectual growth. It also shows how constant is his I.Q. The I.Q. or the rate or ratio of mental growth is not constant in any rigid sense, but what the repeated annual testing shows is that superior children continue to be superior and inferior children continue to be inferior.

After 6 years, there is more constancy of I.Q. than in earlier years. If there are any wide fluctuations in the test scores over the years, these may be ascribed to such disturbing factors as health, interest or motivation, fatigue or, the sudden environmental changes or defects in the methods of testing.

Intelligence seems to grow on to a certain age which is its limit. Teman set the age of 16 as the period at which mental growth reaches its limit, while Kuhlman and Wechlen observe that those who are superior in intelligence continue to grow even in 20’s. These tests have shown that growth continues in certain areas more than in others.

For example, growth is maintained in vocabulary and information up to advanced age, but stops in general reasoning ability, discrimination of spatial relations and arithmetical computations after 16 or 20.

The various conditions or factors which affect intellectual development or the growth of intelligence include are the intra-uterine conditions of the mother, her nutritional status during pregnancy, the intellectual status of the home, the occupational status of parents, the emotional atmosphere in the home arising out of various interpersonal relationships, the nature and kind of education process available in schools and socio-cultural factors both in the family and in the community. It may be noted that the environmental factors do not determine the potential intelligence, they do affect favourably or otherwise the rate of its growth and dimensions.

Other aspects of mental growth are attention in children, memory and imagination. We can, however, briefly, refer to the growth of memory as a part of mental growth, in this paragraph. The developmental schedules of memory as discussed by Hurlock and Schwartz, indicate that the child, in the first half of the year, has memory of an impressionistic kind.

True remembrance appears by the end of the first year. Memory is aroused by sensory stimuli to start with but by end of the second year the child is able to remember ideationally with the help of words or symbols. During the first and second years, child’s memory is stronger for persons and objects than for situations. Situations become significant in the child’s memory from three to six years. The child’s memory is influenced favourably or adversely by the emotional quality of his experiences. Pleasant situations are more likely to be recalled than those which are unpleasant.

Related Articles:

• Cognitive Development in a Child | Educational Psychology
• Language Development of a Child: 8 Main Factors
• Growth and Development in a Child: Comparison | Psychology
• Growth and Development of a Child

Psychology , Child , Mental Development , Mental Development of a Child

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.

Developmental Psychology 101: Theories, Stages, & Research

You can imagine how vast this field of psychology is if it has to cover the whole of life, from birth through death.

Just like any other area of psychology, it has created exciting debates and given rise to fascinating case studies.

In recent years, developmental psychology has shifted to incorporate positive psychology paradigms to create a holistic lifespan approach. As an example, the knowledge gained from positive psychology can enhance the development of children in education.

In this article, you will learn a lot about different aspects of developmental psychology, including how it first emerged in history and famous theories and models.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free . These science-based exercises explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology, including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

What is developmental psychology, 4 popular theories, stages, & models, 2 questions and research topics, fascinating case studies & research findings, a look at positive developmental psychology, applying developmental psychology in education, resources from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message.

Human beings change drastically over our lifetime.

The American Psychological Association (2020) defines developmental psychology as the study of physical, mental, and behavioral changes, from conception through old age.

Developmental psychology investigates biological, genetic, neurological, psychosocial, cultural, and environmental factors of human growth (Burman, 2017).

Over the years, developmental psychology has been influenced by numerous theories and models in varied branches of psychology (Burman, 2017).

History of developmental psychology

Developmental psychology first appeared as an area of study in the late 19th century (Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2007). Developmental psychology focused initially on child and adolescent development, and was concerned about children’s minds and learning (Hall, 1883).

There are several key figures in developmental psychology. In 1877, the famous evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin undertook the first study of developmental psychology on innate communication forms. Not long after, physiologist William Preyer (1888) published a book on the abilities of an infant.

The 1900s saw many significant people dominating the developmental psychology field with their detailed theories of development: Sigmund Freud (1923, 1961), Jean Piaget (1928), Erik Erikson (1959), Lev Vygotsky (1978), John Bowlby (1958), and Albert Bandura (1977).

By the 1920s, the scope of developmental psychology had begun to include adult development and the aging process (Thompson, 2016).

In more recent years, it has broadened further to include prenatal development (Brandon et al., 2009). Developmental psychology is now understood to encompass the complete lifespan (Baltes et al., 2007).

Each of these models has contributed to the understanding of the process of human development and growth.

Furthermore, each theory and model focuses on different aspects of development: social, emotional, psychosexual, behavioral, attachment, social learning, and many more.

Here are some of the most popular models of development that have heavily contributed to the field of developmental psychology.

1. Bowlby’s attachment styles

The seminal work of psychologist John Bowlby (1958) showcased his interest in children’s social development. Bowlby (1969, 1973, 1980) developed the most famous theory of social development, known as attachment theory .

Bowlby (1969) hypothesized that the need to form attachments is innate, embedded in all humans for survival and essential for children’s development. This instinctive bond helps ensure that children are cared for by their parent or caregiver (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980).

Bowlby’s original attachment work was developed further by one of his students, Mary Ainsworth. She proposed several attachment styles between the child and the caregiver (Ainsworth & Bell, 1970).

This theory clearly illustrates the importance of attachment styles to a child’s future development. Consistent and stable caregiving results in a secure attachment style (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). In contrast, unstable and insecure caregiving results in several negative attachment styles: ambivalent, avoidant, or disorganized (Ainsworth & Bell, 1970; Main & Solomon, 1986).

Bowlby’s theory does not consider peer group influence or how it can shape children’s personality and development (Harris, 1998).

2. Piaget’s stage theory

Jean Piaget was a French psychologist highly interested in child development. He was interested in children’s thinking and how they acquire, construct, and use their knowledge (Piaget, 1951).

Piaget’s (1951) four-stage theory of cognitive development sequences a child’s intellectual development. According to this theory, all children move through these four stages of development in the same order (Simatwa, 2010).

The sensorimotor stage is from birth to two years old. Behaviors are triggered by sensory stimuli and limited to simple motor responses. If an object is removed from the child’s vision, they think it no longer exists (Piaget, 1936).

The pre-operational stage occurs between two and six years old. The child learns language but cannot mentally manipulate information or understand concrete logic (Wadsworth, 1971).

The concrete operational stage takes place from 7 to 11 years old. Children begin to think more logically about factual events. Abstract or hypothetical concepts are still difficult to understand in this stage (Wadsworth, 1971).

In the formal operational stage from 12 years to adulthood, abstract thought and skills arise (Piaget, 1936).

Piaget did not consider other factors that might affect these stages or a child’s progress through them. Biological maturation and interaction with the environment can determine the rate of cognitive development in children (Papalia & Feldman, 2011). Individual differences can also dictate a child’s progress (Berger, 2014).

3. Freud’s psychosexual development theory

One of the most influential developmental theories, which encompassed psychosexual stages of development, was developed by Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (Fisher & Greenberg, 1996).

Freud concluded that childhood experiences and unconscious desires influence behavior after witnessing his female patients experiencing physical symptoms and distress with no physical cause (Breuer & Freud, 1957).

According to Freud’s psychosexual theory, child development occurs in a series of stages, each focused on different pleasure areas of the body. During each stage, the child encounters conflicts, which play a significant role in development (Silverman, 2017).

Freud’s theory of psychosexual development includes the oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital stages. His theory suggests that the energy of the libido is focused on these different erogenous zones at each specific stage (Silverman, 2017).

Freud concluded that the successful completion of each stage leads to healthy adult development. He also suggested that a failure to progress through a stage causes fixation and developmental difficulties, such as nail biting (oral fixation) or obsessive tidiness (anal fixation; Silverman, 2017).

Freud considered personality to be formed in childhood as a child passes through these stages. Criticisms of Freud’s theory of psychosexual development include its failure to consider that personality can change and grow over an entire lifetime. Freud believed that early experiences played the most significant role in shaping development (Silverman, 2017).

4. Bandura’s social learning theory

American psychologist Albert Bandura proposed the social learning theory (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1961). Bandura did not believe that classical or operant conditioning was enough to explain learned behavior because some behaviors of children are never reinforced (Bandura, 1986). He believed that children observe, imitate, and model the behaviors and reactions of others (Bandura, 1977).

Bandura suggested that observation is critical in learning. Further, the observation does not have to be of a live actor, such as in the Bobo doll experiment (Bandura, 1986). Bandura et al. (1961) considered that learning and modeling can also occur from listening to verbal instructions on behavior performance.

Bandura’s (1977) social theory posits that both environmental and cognitive factors interact to influence development.

Bandura’s developmental theory has been criticized for not considering biological factors or children’s autonomic nervous system responses (Kevin, 1995).

Overview of theories of development – Khan Academy

Developmental psychology has given rise to many debatable questions and research topics. Here are two of the most commonly discussed.

1. Nature vs nurture debate

One of the oldest debates in the field of developmental psychology has been between nature and nurture (Levitt, 2013).

Is human development a result of hereditary factors (genes), or is it influenced by the environment (school, family, relationships, peers, community, culture)?

The polarized position of developmental psychologists of the past has now changed. The nature/nurture question now concerns the relationship between the innateness of an attribute and the environmental effects on that attribute (Nesterak, 2015).

The field of epigenetics describes how behavioral and environmental influences affect the expression of genes (Kubota, Miyake, & Hirasawa, 2012).

Many severe mental health disorders have a hereditary component. Yet, the environment and behavior, such as improved diet, reduced stress, physical activity, and a positive mindset, can determine whether this health condition is ever expressed (Śmigielski, Jagannath, Rössler, Walitza, & Grünblatt, 2020).

When considering classic models of developmental psychology, such as Piaget’s schema theory and Freud’s psychosexual theory, you’ll see that they both perceive development to be set in stone and unchangeable by the environment.

Contemporary developmental psychology theories take a different approach. They stress the importance of multiple levels of organization over the course of human development (Lomas, Hefferon, & Ivtzan, 2016).

2. Theory of mind

Theory of mind allows us to understand that others have different intentions, beliefs, desires, perceptions, behaviors, and emotions (American Psychological Association, 2020).

It was first identified by research by Premack and Woodruff (1978) and considered to be a natural developmental stage of progression for all children. Starting around the ages of four or five, children begin to think about the thoughts and feelings of others. This shows an emergence of the theory of mind (Wellman & Liu, 2004).

However, the ability of all individuals to achieve and maintain this critical skill at the same level is debatable.

Children diagnosed with autism exhibit a deficit in the theory of mind (Baron-Cohen, Leslie, & Frith, 1985).

Individuals with depression (psychotic and non-psychotic) are significantly impaired in theory of mind tasks (Wang, Wang, Chen, Zhu, & Wang, 2008).

People with social anxiety disorder have also been found to show less accuracy in decoding the mental states of others (Washburn, Wilson, Roes, Rnic, & Harkness, 2016).

Further research has shown that the theory of mind changes with aging. This suggests a developmental lifespan process for this concept (Meinhardt-Injac, Daum, & Meinhardt, 2020).

World’s Largest Positive Psychology Resource

The Positive Psychology Toolkit© is a groundbreaking practitioner resource containing over 500 science-based exercises , activities, interventions, questionnaires, and assessments created by experts using the latest positive psychology research.

Updated monthly. 100% Science-based.

“The best positive psychology resource out there!” — Emiliya Zhivotovskaya , Flourishing Center CEO

Developmental psychology has included many fascinating case studies and research findings. Here are two that we found particularly interesting.

1. Little Albert

Albert was exposed to several neutral stimuli including cotton wool, masks, a white rat, rabbit, monkey, and dog. Albert showed no initial fear to these stimuli.

When a loud noise was coupled with the initially neutral stimulus, Albert became very distressed and developed a phobia of the object, which extended to any similar object as well.

This experiment highlights the importance of environmental factors in the development of behaviors in children.

2. David Reimer

At the age of eight months, David Reimer lost his penis in a circumcision operation that went wrong. His worried parents consulted a psychologist, who advised them to raise David as a girl.

David’s young age meant he knew nothing about this. He went through the process of hormonal treatment and gender reassignment. At the age of 14, David found out the truth and wanted to reverse the gender reassignment process to become a boy again. He had always felt like a boy until this time, even though he was socialized and brought up as a girl (Colapinto, 2006).

Download 3 Free Positive Psychology Exercises (PDF)

Enhance wellbeing with these free, science-based exercises that draw on the latest insights from positive psychology.

Download 3 Free Positive Psychology Tools Pack (PDF)

By filling out your name and email address below.

Contemporary theories of developmental psychology often encompass a holistic approach and a more positive approach to development.

Positive psychology has intersected with developmental disciplines in areas such as parenting, education, youth, and aging (Lomas et al., 2016).

These paradigms can all be grouped together under the umbrella of positive developmental psychology. This fresh approach to development focuses on the wellbeing aspects of development, while systematically bringing them together (Lomas, et al., 2016).

• Positive parenting is the approach to children’s wellbeing by focusing on the role of parents and caregivers (Latham, 1994).
• Positive education looks at flourishing in the context of school (Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, & Linkins, 2009).
• Positive youth development is the productive and constructive focus on adolescence and early adulthood to enhance young people’s strengths and promote positive outcomes (Larson, 2000).
• Positive aging , also known as healthy aging, focuses on the positivity of aging as a healthy, normal stage of life (Vaillant, 2004).

Much of the empirical and theoretical work connected to positive developmental psychology has been going on for years, even before the emergence of positive psychology itself (Lomas et al., 2016).

We recommend this related article Applying Positive Psychology in Schools & Education: Your Ultimate Guide for further reading.

In the classroom, developmental psychology considers children’s psychological, emotional, and intellectual characteristics according to their developmental stage.

A report on the top 20 principles of psychology in the classroom, from pre-kindergarten to high school, was published by the American Psychological Association in 2015. The report also advised how teachers can respond to these principles in the classroom setting.

The top 5 principles and teacher responses are outlined in the table below.

There are many valuable resources to help you foster positive development no matter whether you’re working with young children, teenagers, or adults.

To help get you started, check out the following free resources from around our blog.

• Adopt A Growth Mindset This exercise helps clients recognize instances of fixed mindset in their thinking and actions and replace them with thoughts and behaviors more supportive of a growth mindset.
• Childhood Frustrations This worksheet provides a space for clients to document key challenges experienced during childhood, together with their emotional and behavioral responses.
• What I Want to Be This worksheet helps children identify behaviors and emotions they would like to display and select an opportunity in the future to behave in this ideal way.
• 17 Positive Psychology Exercises If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others enhance their wellbeing, this signature collection contains 17 validated positive psychology tools for practitioners. Use them to help others flourish and thrive.

17 Top-Rated Positive Psychology Exercises for Practitioners

Expand your arsenal and impact with these 17 Positive Psychology Exercises [PDF] , scientifically designed to promote human flourishing, meaning, and wellbeing.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Earlier developmental psychology models and theories were focused on specific areas, such as attachment, psychosexual, cognitive, and social learning. Although informative, they did not take in differing perspectives and were fixed paradigms.

We’ve now come to understand that development is not fixed. Individual differences take place in development, and the factors that can affect development are many. It is ever changing throughout life.

The modern-day approach to developmental psychology includes sub-fields of positive psychology. It brings these differing disciplines together to form an overarching positive developmental psychology paradigm.

Developmental psychology has helped us gain a considerable understanding of children’s motivations, social and emotional contexts, and their strengths and weaknesses.

This knowledge is essential for educators to create rich learning environments for students to help them develop positively and ultimately flourish to their full potential.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free .

• Ainsworth, M. D. S., & Bell, S. M. (1970). Attachment, exploration, and separation: Illustrated by the behavior of one-year-olds in a strange situation. Child Development , 41 , 49–67. https://doi.org/10.7312/stei93738-006
• Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation . Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203758045
• American Psychological Association. (2015). Top 20 principles from psychology for PREK-12 teaching and learning: Coalition for psychology in schools and education . Retrieved July 16, 2021, from https://www.apa.org/ed/schools/teaching-learning/top-twenty-principles.pdf
• American Psychological Association. (2020). Developmental psychology. Dictionary of Psychology . Retrieved July 20, 2021, from https://dictionary.apa.org/
• Baltes, P. B., Lindenberger, U., & Staudinger, U. M. (2007). Life span theory in developmental psychology. In R. M. Lerner & W. Damon (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (pp. 569–564). Elsevier.
• Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory . Prentice Hall.
• Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory . Prentice-Hall.
• Bandura, A. Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through the imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 63 , 575–582. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045925
• Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. M., & Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a ‘theory of mind’? Cognition , 21 (1), 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(85)90022-8
• Berger, K. S. (2014). The developing person through the lifespan (9th ed.). Worth.
• Bowlby, J. (1958). The nature of the child’s tie to his mother. International Journal of Psychoanalysis , 39 , 350–371.
• Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Volume 1: Attachment . Hogarth Press.
• Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Volume 2: Anger and anxiety . Hogarth Press.
• Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss: Volume 3: Loss, sadness and depression . Hogarth Press.
• Brandon, A. R., Pitts, S., Wayne, H., Denton, C., Stringer, A., & Evans, H. M. (2009). A history of the theory of prenatal attachment. Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychological Health , 23 (4), 201–222.
• Breuer, J., & Freud, S. (1957). Studies on hysteria . Basic Books.
• Burman, E. (2017). Deconstructing developmental psychology . Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315727127
• Colapinto, J. (2006). As nature made him: The boy who was raised as a girl . Harper Perennial.
• Darwin, C. (1877). A biographical sketch of an infant. Mind, 2 , 285–294. https://doi.org/10.1093/mind/os-2.7.285
• Erikson, E. (1959). Psychological issues . International Universities Press.
• Fisher, S., & Greenberg, R. P. (1996). Freud scientifically reappraised: Testing the theories and therapy . John Wiley & Sons.
• Freud, S. (1961). The ego and the id. In J. Strachey (Ed. & Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (pp. 3–66). Hogarth Press. (Original work published 1923).
• Hall, G. S. (1883). The contents of children’s minds. The Princeton Review , 1 , 249–272.
• Harris, J. R. (1998). The nurture assumption: Why children turn out the way they do . Free Press.
• Kevin, D. (1995). Developmental social psychology: From infancy to old age . Wiley-Blackwell.
• Kubota, T., Miyake, K., & Hirasawa, T. (2012). Epigenetic understanding of gene-environment interactions in psychiatric disorders: A new concept of clinical genetics. Clinical Epigenetics , 4 (1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/1868-7083-4-1
• Larson, R. W. (2000). Toward a psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologist , 55 (1), 170–183. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.55.1.170
• Latham, G. I. (1994). The power of positive parenting . P&T Ink.
• Levitt, M. (2013). Perceptions of nature, nurture and behaviour. Life Sciences Society and Policy , 9 (1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/2195-7819-9-13
• Lomas, T., Hefferon, K., & Ivtzan, I. (2016). Positive developmental psychology: A review of literature concerning well-being throughout the lifespan. The Journal of Happiness & Well-Being , 4 (2), 143–164.
• Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1986). Discovery of an insecure-disorganized/disoriented attachment pattern. In T. B. Brazelton & M. W. Yogman (Eds.), Affective development in infancy . Ablex.
• Meinhardt-Injac, B., Daum, M. M., & Meinhardt, G. (2020). Theory of mind development from adolescence to adulthood: Testing the two-component model. British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 38 , 289–303. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12320
• Nesterak, E. (2015, July 10). The end of nature versus nature. Behavioral Scientist. Retrieved  July 19, 2021 from https://behavioralscientist.org/the-end-of-nature-versus-nurture/
• Papalia, D. E., & Feldman, R. D. (2011). A child’s world: Infancy through adolescence . McGraw-Hill.
• Piaget, J. (1928). La causalité chez l’enfant. British Journal of Psychology , 18 (3), 276–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1928.tb00466.x
• Piaget, J. (1936). Origins of intelligence in the child . Routledge & Kegan Paul.
• Piaget, J. (1951). Play, dreams and imitation in Childhood (vol. 25). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315009698
• Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 1 (4), 515–526. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00076512
• Preyer, W. T. (1888). The mind of the child: Observations concerning the mental development of the human being in the first years of life (vol. 7). D. Appleton.
• Seligman, M. E. P., Ernst, R. M., Gillham, J., Reivich, K., & Linkins, M. (2009). Positive education: Positive psychology and classroom interventions. Oxford Review of Education , 35 (3), 293–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054980902934563
• Silverman, D. K. (2017). Psychosexual stages of development (Freud). In V. Zeigler-Hill & T. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of personality and individual differences . Springer.
• Simatwa, E. M. W. (2010). Piaget’s theory of intellectual development and its implications for instructional management at pre-secondary school level. Educational Research Review 5 , 366–371.
• Śmigielski, L., Jagannath, V., Rössler, W., Walitza, S., & Grünblatt, E. (2020). Epigenetic mechanisms in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders: A systematic review of empirical human findings. Molecular Psychiatr y, 25 (8), 1718–1748. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-019-0601-3
• Thompson, D. (2016). Developmental psychology in the 1920s: A period of major transition. The Journal of Genetic Psychology , 177 (6), 244–251. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2016.1243407
• Vaillant, G. (2004). Positive aging. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 561–580). John Wiley & Sons.
• Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes . Harvard University Press.
• Wadsworth, B. J. (1971). Piaget’s theory of cognitive development: An introduction for students of psychology and education . McKay.
• Wang, Y. G., Wang, Y. Q., Chen, S. L., Zhu, C. Y., & Wang, K. (2008). Theory of mind disability in major depression with or without psychotic symptoms: a componential view. Psychiatry Research , 161 (2), 153–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2007.07.018
• Washburn, D., Wilson, G., Roes, M., Rnic, K., & Harkness, K. L. (2016). Theory of mind in social anxiety disorder, depression, and comorbid conditions. Journal of Anxiety Disorders , 37 , 71–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.11.004
• Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology , 3 (1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0069608
• Wellman, H. M., & Liu, D. (2004). Scaling theory of mind tasks. Child Development , 75 , 759–763. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00691.x

Share this article:

Article feedback

What our readers think.

Jean Piaget is Swiss, not French. Switzerland is divided into regions by language. One of them is a French language region, including Geneva, Vaud, Neuchatel, etc. Jean Piaget was born in Neuchatel and lived and died in Geneva. Please make the necessary correction.

This article has enticed me to delve deeper into the subject of Positive Psychology. As a primary school teacher, I believe that positive psychology is a field that is imperative to explore. Take my gratitude from the core of my heart for your excellent work.

Let us know your thoughts Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related articles

Hierarchy of Needs: A 2024 Take on Maslow’s Findings

One of the most influential theories in human psychology that addresses our quest for wellbeing is Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. While Maslow’s theory of [...]

Emotional Development in Childhood: 3 Theories Explained

We have all witnessed a sweet smile from a baby. That cute little gummy grin that makes us smile in return. Are babies born with [...]

Using Classical Conditioning for Treating Phobias & Disorders

Does the name Pavlov ring a bell? Classical conditioning, a psychological phenomenon first discovered by Ivan Pavlov in the late 19th century, has proven to [...]

Read other articles by their category

• Body & Brain (52)
• Coaching & Application (39)
• Compassion (23)
• Counseling (40)
• Emotional Intelligence (22)
• Gratitude (18)
• Grief & Bereavement (18)
• Happiness & SWB (40)
• Meaning & Values (26)
• Meditation (16)
• Mindfulness (40)
• Motivation & Goals (41)
• Optimism & Mindset (29)
• Positive CBT (28)
• Positive Communication (23)
• Positive Education (37)
• Positive Emotions (32)
• Positive Leadership (16)
• Positive Parenting (14)
• Positive Psychology (21)
• Positive Workplace (35)
• Productivity (16)
• Relationships (46)
• Resilience & Coping (39)
• Self Awareness (20)
• Self Esteem (37)
• Strengths & Virtues (29)
• Stress & Burnout Prevention (33)
• Theory & Books (42)
• Therapy Exercises (37)
• Types of Therapy (54)

3 Positive Psychology Tools (PDF)

• Entertainment
• Environment
• Information Science and Technology
• Social Issues

Home Essay Samples Psychology Adolescence

My Adolescent Experience and Development: A Reflection

Table of contents

Adolescent experience in my life, physical development, emotional development.

“Perhaps you looked in the mirror on a daily, or sometimes even hourly, basis as a young teenager to see whether you could detect anything different about your changing body. Preoccupation with one’s body image is strong through adolescence, it is especially acute during puberty, a time when adolescents are more dissatisfied with their bodies than in late adolescence.” (Santrock)

Social changes

• Arnett, J. J. (2015). Adolescence and emerging adulthood : A cultural approach. Pearson Education.
• Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. WW Norton & Company.
• Gullotta, T. P., & Adams, G. R. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of adolescent behavioral problems: Evidence-based approaches to prevention and treatment. Springer.
• Steinberg, L. (2014). Age of opportunity: Lessons from the new science of adolescence. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
• Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). Adolescent development. Annual review of psychology, 52(1), 83-110.
• Suler, J. R. (2018). Adolescent development. In Psychology of Adolescence (pp. 11-38). Springer.
• Rutter, M., & Smith, DJ (1995). Psychosocial disorders in young people: Time trends and their causes. John Wiley & Sons.
• American Psychological Association. (2019). APA handbook of the psychology of adolescence.
• Offer, D., & Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (1992). Debunking the myths of adolescence: Findings from recent research. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 31(6), 1003-1014.

*minimum deadline

Cite this Essay

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below

• Sigmund Freud
• Abnormal Psychology
• Forensic Psychology
• Stress Response
• Attachment Theory

Related Essays

Need writing help?

You can always rely on us no matter what type of paper you need

*No hidden charges

100% Unique Essays

Absolutely Confidential

Money Back Guarantee

By clicking “Send Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails

You can also get a UNIQUE essay on this or any other topic

Thank you! We’ll contact you as soon as possible.

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2024 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support
• Trust vs. Mistrust
• Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
• Initiative vs. Guilt
• Industry vs. Inferiority
• Identity vs. Confusion
• Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Generativity vs. Stagnation
• Integrity vs. Despair

Erikson's Stages of Development

A Closer Look at the Eight Psychosocial Stages

• Overview of Erikson's Stages of Development
• Support and Criticism

Take the Pop Quiz

• Next in Psychosocial Development Guide Trust vs. Mistrust: Psychosocial Stage 1

Erik Erikson was an ego psychologist who developed one of the most popular and influential theories of development. While his theory was impacted by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud's work , Erikson's theory centered on psychosocial development rather than psychosexual development .

The stages that make up his theory are as follows:

• Stage 1 : Trust vs. Mistrust (Infancy from birth to 18 months)
• Stage 2 : Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (Toddler years from 18 months to three years)
• Stage 3 : Initiative vs. Guilt (Preschool years from three to five)
• Stage 4 : Industry vs. Inferiority (Middle school years from six to 11)
• Stage 5 : Identity vs. Confusion (Teen years from 12 to 18)
• Stage 6 : Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young adult years from 18 to 40)
• Stage 7 : Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle age from 40 to 65)
• Stage 8 : Integrity vs. Despair (Older adulthood from 65 to death)

Let's take a closer look at the background and different stages that make up Erikson's psychosocial theory.

Test Your Knowledge

At the end of this article, take a fast and free pop quiz to see how much you know about Erikson's stages of development.

Overview of Erikson's Stages of Development

So what exactly did Erikson's theory of psychosocial development entail? Much like Sigmund Freud , Erikson believed that personality developed in a series of stages.

Unlike Freud's theory of psychosexual stages, however, Erikson's theory described the impact of social experience across the whole lifespan. Erikson was interested in how social interaction and relationships played a role in the development and growth of human beings.

Erikson's theory was based on what is known as the epigenetic principle . This principle suggests that people grow in a sequence that occurs over time and in the context of a larger community.

Click Play to Learn More About Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

This video has been medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD .

Conflict During Each Stage

Each stage in Erikson's theory builds on the preceding stages and paves the way for following periods of development. In each stage, Erikson believed people experience a conflict that serves as a turning point in development.  

In Erikson's view, these conflicts are centered on either developing a psychological quality or failing to develop that quality. During these times, the potential for personal growth is high but so is the potential for failure.

If people successfully deal with the conflict, they emerge from the stage with psychological strengths that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. If they fail to deal effectively with these conflicts, they may not develop the essential skills needed for a strong sense of self.

Mastery Leads to Ego Strength

Erikson also believed that a sense of competence motivates behaviors and actions. Each stage in Erikson's theory is concerned with becoming competent in an area of life.

If the stage is handled well, the person will feel a sense of mastery, which is sometimes referred to as ego strength or ego quality. If the stage is managed poorly, the person will emerge with a sense of inadequacy in that aspect of development.

Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust

The first stage of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development occurs between birth and 1 year of age and is the most fundamental stage in life. Because an infant is utterly dependent, developing trust is based on the dependability and quality of the child's caregivers.

At this point in development, the child is utterly dependent upon adult caregivers for everything they need to survive including food, love, warmth, safety, and nurturing. If a caregiver fails to provide adequate care and love, the child will come to feel that they cannot trust or depend upon the adults in their life.

If a child successfully develops trust, the child will feel safe and secure in the world.   Caregivers who are inconsistent, emotionally unavailable, or rejecting contribute to feelings of mistrust in the children under their care. Failure to develop trust will result in fear and a belief that the world is inconsistent and unpredictable.

During the first stage of psychosocial development, children develop a sense of trust when caregivers provide reliability, care, and affection. A lack of this will lead to mistrust.

No child is going to develop a sense of 100% trust or 100% doubt. Erikson believed that successful development was all about striking a balance between the two opposing sides. When this happens, children acquire hope, which Erikson described as an openness to experience tempered by some wariness that danger may be present.

Subsequent work by researchers including John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth demonstrated the importance of trust in forming healthy attachments during childhood and adulthood.

Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

The second stage of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development takes place during early childhood and is focused on children developing a greater sense of personal control.

The Role of Independence

At this point in development, children are just starting to gain a little independence. They are starting to perform basic actions on their own and making simple decisions about what they prefer. By allowing kids to make choices and gain control, parents and caregivers can help children develop a sense of autonomy.  

Potty Training

The essential theme of this stage is that children need to develop a sense of personal control over physical skills and a sense of independence. Potty training plays an important role in helping children develop this sense of autonomy.

Like Freud, Erikson believed that toilet training was a vital part of this process. However, Erikson's reasoning was quite different than that of Freud's. Erikson believed that learning to control one's bodily functions leads to a feeling of control and a sense of independence. Other important events include gaining more control over food choices, toy preferences, and clothing selection.

Children who struggle and who are shamed for their accidents may be left without a sense of personal control. Success during this stage of psychosocial development leads to feelings of autonomy; failure results in feelings of shame and doubt.

Finding Balance

Children who successfully complete this stage feel secure and confident, while those who do not are left with a sense of inadequacy and self-doubt. Erikson believed that achieving a balance between autonomy and shame and doubt would lead to will, which is the belief that children can act with intention, within reason and limits.

Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt

The third stage of psychosocial development takes place during the preschool years. At this point in psychosocial development, children begin to assert their power and control over the world through directing play and other social interactions.

Children who are successful at this stage feel capable and able to lead others. Those who fail to acquire these skills are left with a sense of guilt, self-doubt, and lack of initiative.

The major theme of the third stage of psychosocial development is that children need to begin asserting control and power over the environment. Success in this stage leads to a sense of purpose. Children who try to exert too much power experience disapproval, resulting in a sense of guilt.

When an ideal balance of individual initiative and a willingness to work with others is achieved, the ego quality known as   purpose emerges.

Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority

The fourth psychosocial stage takes place during the early school years from approximately ages 5 to 11. Through social interactions, children begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments and abilities.

Children need to cope with new social and academic demands. Success leads to a sense of competence, while failure results in feelings of inferiority.

Children who are encouraged and commended by parents and teachers develop a feeling of competence and belief in their skills. Those who receive little or no encouragement from parents, teachers, or peers will doubt their abilities to be successful.

Successfully finding a balance at this stage of psychosocial development leads to the strength known as competence, in which children develop a belief in their abilities to handle the tasks set before them.

Stage 5: Identity vs. Confusion

The fifth psychosocial stage takes place during the often turbulent teenage years. This stage plays an essential role in developing a sense of personal identity which will continue to influence behavior and development for the rest of a person's life. Teens need to develop a sense of self and personal identity. Success leads to an ability to stay true to yourself, while failure leads to role confusion and a weak sense of self.

During adolescence, children explore their independence and develop a sense of self.   Those who receive proper encouragement and reinforcement through personal exploration will emerge from this stage with a strong sense of self and feelings of independence and control. Those who remain unsure of their beliefs and desires will feel insecure and confused about themselves and the future.

What Is Identity?

When psychologists talk about identity, they are referring to all of the beliefs, ideals, and values that help shape and guide a person's behavior. Completing this stage successfully leads to fidelity, which Erikson described as an ability to live by society's standards and expectations.

While Erikson believed that each stage of psychosocial development was important, he placed a particular emphasis on the development of ego identity. Ego identity is the  conscious  sense of self that we develop through social interaction and becomes a central focus during the identity versus confusion stage of psychosocial development.

According to Erikson, our ego identity constantly changes due to new experiences and information we acquire in our daily interactions with others. As we have new experiences, we also take on challenges that can help or hinder the development of identity.

Why Identity Is Important

Our personal identity gives each of us an integrated and cohesive sense of self that endures through our lives. Our sense of personal identity is shaped by our experiences and interactions with others, and it is this identity that helps guide our actions, beliefs, and behaviors as we age.

Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation

Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people. Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness and isolation. This stage covers the period of early adulthood when people are exploring personal relationships.  

Erikson believed it was vital that people develop close, committed relationships with other people. Those who are successful at this step will form relationships that are enduring and secure.

Building On Earlier Stages

Remember that each step builds on skills learned in previous steps. Erikson believed that a strong  sense of personal identity  was important for developing intimate relationships. Studies have demonstrated that those with a poor sense of self tend to have less committed relationships and are more likely to struggler with emotional isolation,  loneliness , and depression.

Successful resolution of this stage results in the virtue known as love. It is marked by the ability to form lasting, meaningful relationships with other people.

Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation

Adults need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often by having children or creating a positive change that benefits other people. Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the world.

During adulthood, we continue to build our lives, focusing on our career and family. Those who are successful during this phase will feel that they are contributing to the world by being active in their home and community.   Those who fail to attain this skill will feel unproductive and uninvolved in the world.

Care is the virtue achieved when this stage is handled successfully. Being proud of your accomplishments, watching your children grow into adults, and developing a sense of unity with your life partner are important accomplishments of this stage.

Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair

The final psychosocial stage occurs during old age and is focused on reflecting back on life.   At this point in development, people look back on the events of their lives and determine if they are happy with the life that they lived or if they regret the things they did or didn't do.

Erikson's theory differed from many others because it addressed development throughout the entire lifespan, including old age. Older adults need to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment. Success at this stage leads to feelings of wisdom, while failure results in regret, bitterness, and despair.

At this stage, people reflect back on the events of their lives and take stock. Those who look back on a life they feel was well-lived will feel satisfied and ready to face the end of their lives with a sense of peace. Those who look back and only feel regret will instead feel fearful that their lives will end without accomplishing the things they feel they should have.​

Those who are unsuccessful during this stage will feel that their life has been wasted and may experience many regrets. The person will be left with feelings of bitterness and despair.

Those who feel proud of their accomplishments will feel a sense of integrity. Successfully completing this phase means looking back with few regrets and a general feeling of satisfaction. These individuals will attain   wisdom, even when confronting death.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Erikson's Theory

Erikson's theory also has its limitations and attracts valid criticisms. What kinds of experiences are necessary to successfully complete each stage? How does a person move from one stage to the next?

One major weakness of psychosocial theory is that the exact mechanisms for resolving conflicts and moving from one stage to the next are not well described or developed. The theory fails to detail exactly what type of experiences are necessary at each stage in order to successfully resolve the conflicts and move to the next stage.

One of the strengths of psychosocial theory is that it provides a broad framework from which to view development throughout the entire lifespan. It also allows us to emphasize the social nature of human beings and the important influence that social relationships have on development.

Researchers have found evidence supporting Erikson's ideas about identity and have further identified different sub-stages of identity formation.   Some research also suggests that people who form strong personal identities during adolescence are better capable of forming intimate relationships during early adulthood. Other research suggests, however, that identity formation and development continues well into adulthood.  

Why Was Erikson's Theory Important?

The theory was significant because it addressed development throughout a person's life, not just during childhood. It also stressed the importance of social relationships in shaping personality and growth at each point in development.

See how much you've learned (or maybe already knew!) about Erik Erikson's stages of development with this quick, free pop quiz.

It is important to remember that the psychosocial stages are just one theory of personality development . Some research may support certain aspects of this theoretical framework, but that does not mean that every aspect of the theory is supported by evidence. The theory can, however, be a helpful way to think about some of the different conflicts and challenges that people may face as they go through life.

It is also easy to look at each stage of Erikson's theory and consider how it can apply to your life. Learning about each stage can provide insight into what you might face as you age. It can also help you reflect on things that may have happened in the past and help you see ways you might be able to improve your coping skills to better deal with today's challenges.

Vogel-Scibilia SE, McNulty KC, Baxter B, Miller S, Dine M, Frese FJ. The recovery process utilizing Erikson's stages of human development . Community Ment Health J . 2009;45(6):405-14. doi:10.1007/s10597-009-9189-4

Malone JC, Liu SR, Vaillant GE, Rentz DM, Waldinger RJ. Midlife Eriksonian psychosocial development: Setting the stage for late-life cognitive and emotional health . Dev Psychol . 2016;52(3):496-508. doi:10.1037/a0039875

Orenstein GA, Lewis L. Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.

Meeus W, van de Schoot R, Keijsers L, Branje S. Identity statuses as developmental trajectories: A five-wave longitudinal study in early-to-middle and middle-to-late adolescents .  J Youth Adolesc . 2012;41(8):1008-1021. doi:10.1007/s10964-011-9730-y

Fadjukoff P, Pulkkinen L, Kokko K. Identity formation in adulthood: A longitudinal study from age 27 to 50 .  Identity (Mahwah, N J) . 2016;16(1):8-23. doi:10.1080/15283488.2015.1121820

Carver, CS & Scheir, MF.  Perspectives on Personality . Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon; 2011.

• Erikson, E.H. Childhood and Society . (2nd ed.). New York: Norton; 1993.
• Erikson, EH & Erikson, JM. The Life Cycle Completed. New York: Norton; 1998.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Library Health & Wellness Lifespan Development Adolescent Development Child Development Theory: Adolescence

Child Development Theory: Adolescence

Summary and Conclusion

Adolescence is an amazing period of growth spanning the ages of 12-24 years old. Youth enter this developmental stage with the body and mind of a child, and then exit 10-12 years later, with the body and mind of an adult. This article examined the physical, cognitive, emotional, social, moral, and sexual dimensions of adolescent development. While these individual areas of development were discussed separately by necessity, it was emphasized there is a strong inter-relationship among these various aspects of development. Furthermore, it was emphasized that there is a great deal of individual variation within the normal developmental process. Individual youth may reach developmental milestones at ages that are different from averages presented in this article, and yet these youth would still be considered “normal.” Caregivers were advised to consult a health care professional if they have concerns about their child’s developmental progress in any of these areas.

MentalHealth.com is a health technology company guiding people towards self-understanding and connection. The platform offers reliable resources, accessible services, and nurturing communities. Its mission involves educating, supporting, and empowering people in their pursuit of well-being.

The content on this page was originally from MentalHelp.net, a website we acquired and moved to MentalHealth.com in September 2024. This content has not yet been fully updated to meet our content standards and may be incomplete. We are committed to editing, enhancing, and medically reviewing all content by March 31, 2025. Please check back soon, and thank you for visiting MentalHealth.com. Learn more about our content standards here .

We take mental health content seriously and follow industry-leading guidelines to ensure our users access the highest quality information. All editorial decisions for published content are made by the MentalHealth.com Editorial Team, with guidance from our Medical Affairs Team.

Further Reading

• Understanding Teen Social Development
• Adolescent Sexual Development: What to Expect
• Understanding Adolescent Physical Development
• How Social Pressures Affect Teen Behavior
• Key Stages of Adolescent Growth and Development
• Comprehensive Guide to Puberty Changes
• Recognizing and Supporting Adolescent Depression
• Teens' Romantic Relationships and Interactions with Adults
• Balancing Discipline and Love in Parenting Teens
• Understanding and Helping Unsociable Teenagers
• Building Self-Esteem through Effective Communication

Early Childhood Mental Health

As early experiences shape the architecture of the developing brain , they also lay the foundations of sound mental health. Disruptions to this developmental process can impair a child’s capacities for learning and relating to others — with lifelong implications. By improving children’s environments of relationships and experiences early in life, society can address many costly problems, including incarceration, homelessness, and the failure to complete high school.

Significant mental health problems can and do occur in young children. Children can show clear characteristics of anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and neurodevelopmental disabilities, such as autism, at a very early age. That said, young children respond to and process emotional experiences and traumatic events in ways that are very different from adults and older children. Consequently, diagnosis in early childhood can be much more difficult than it is in adults.

The interaction of genes and experience affects childhood mental health.  Genes are not destiny. Our genes contain instructions that tell our bodies how to work, but the chemical “signature” of our environment can authorize or prevent those instructions from being carried out. The interaction between genetic predispositions and sustained, stress-inducing experiences early in life can lay an unstable foundation for mental health that endures well into the adult years.

Toxic stress can damage brain architecture and increase the likelihood that significant mental health problems will emerge either quickly or years later. Because of its enduring effects on brain development and other organ systems, toxic stress can impair school readiness, academic achievement, and both physical and mental health throughout the lifespan. Circumstances associated with family stress, such as persistent poverty, may elevate the risk of serious mental health problems. Young children who experience recurrent abuse or chronic neglect, domestic violence, or parental mental health or substance abuse problems are particularly vulnerable.

It’s never too late, but earlier is better.  Some individuals demonstrate remarkable capacities to overcome the severe challenges of early, persistent maltreatment, trauma, and emotional harm, yet there are limits to the ability of young children to recover psychologically from adversity.

“Most potential mental health problems will not become mental health problems if we respond to them early.” InBrief: Early Childhood Mental Health

Even when children have been removed from traumatizing circumstances and placed in exceptionally nurturing homes, developmental improvements are often accompanied by continuing problems in self-regulation, emotional adaptability, relating to others, and self-understanding. When children overcome these burdens, they have typically been the beneficiaries of exceptional efforts on the part of supportive adults. These findings underscore the importance of prevention and timely intervention in circumstances that put young children at serious psychological risk.

It is essential to treat young children’s mental health problems within the context of their families, homes, and communities. The emotional well-being of young children is directly tied to the functioning of their caregivers and the families in which they live. When these relationships are abusive, threatening, chronically neglectful, or otherwise psychologically harmful, they are a potent risk factor for the development of early mental health problems. In contrast, when relationships are reliably responsive and supportive, they can actually buffer young children from the adverse effects of other stressors. Therefore, reducing the stressors affecting children requires addressing the stresses on their families.

Explore Related Resources

• Reports & Working Papers
• Tools & Guides
• Presentations
• Infographics

Videos : InBrief: Early Childhood Mental Health

Reports & Working Papers : Establishing a Level Foundation for Life: Mental Health Begins in Early Childhood

Reports & Working Papers : From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts

Reports & working papers : the foundations of lifelong health are built in early childhood.

Reports & Working Papers : Children’s Emotional Development Is Built into the Architecture of Their Brains

Reports & Working Papers : Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined

Reports & Working Papers : El lugar es importante: El entorno que creamos define los pilares del desarrollo saludable

Tools & Guides : El lugar es importante: Guía para la aplicación de políticas

Infographics : el lugar importa: lo que nos rodea nos define.

Briefs : Health and Learning Are Deeply Interconnected in the Body: An Action Guide for Policymakers

Videos : How Early Childhood Experiences Affect Lifelong Health and Learning

Briefs : How to Support Children (and Yourself) During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Briefs : InBrief: Early Childhood Mental Health

Reports & Working Papers : Maternal Depression Can Undermine the Development of Young Children

Reports & Working Papers : O Lugar Importa: O Ambiente Molda as Bases do Desenvolvimento Saudável

Reports & Working Papers : Persistent Fear and Anxiety Can Affect Young Children’s Learning and Development

Tools & guides : place matters: an action guide for policy.

Reports & Working Papers : Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development

Infographics : place matters: what surrounds us shapes us.

Podcasts : The Brain Architects Podcast: COVID-19 Special Edition: A Different World

Podcasts : The Brain Architects Podcast: COVID-19 Special Edition: Creating Communities of Opportunity

Podcasts : The Brain Architects Podcast: COVID-19 Special Edition: Mental Health in a Locked-Down World

Podcasts : The Brain Architects Podcast: COVID-19 Special Edition: Self-Care Isn’t Selfish

Infographics : The Brain Circuits Underlying Motivation: An Interactive Graphic

Infographics : What Is COVID-19? And How Does It Relate to Child Development?

Infographics : Epigenetics and Child Development: How Children’s Experiences Affect Their Genes

Tools & Guides , Partner Resources : Training Module: Health Care Practitioner Module and Resources

Developmental Psychology

• Read this journal
• Read free articles
• Journal snapshot
• Advertising information

Journal scope statement

Developmental Psychology ® publishes articles that significantly advance knowledge and theory about development across the life span. The journal focuses on seminal empirical contributions. The journal occasionally publishes exceptionally strong scholarly reviews and theoretical or methodological articles. Studies of any aspect of psychological development are appropriate, as are studies of the biological, social, and cultural factors that affect development.

The journal welcomes not only laboratory-based experimental studies but studies employing other rigorous methodologies, such as ethnographies, field research, and secondary analyses of large data sets. We especially seek submissions in new areas of inquiry and submissions that will address contradictory findings or controversies in the field as well as the generalizability of extant findings in new populations.

Although most articles in this journal address human development, studies of other species are appropriate if they have important implications for human development.

Submissions can consist of single manuscripts, proposed sections, or short reports.

Disclaimer: APA and the editors of Developmental Psychology ® assume no responsibility for statements and opinions advanced by the authors of its articles.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion

Developmental Psychology supports equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in its practices. More information on these initiatives is available under EDI Efforts .

Open science

The APA Journals Program is committed to publishing transparent, rigorous research; improving reproducibility in science; and aiding research discovery. Open science practices vary per editor discretion. View the initiatives implemented by this journal .

Editor’s Choice

Each issue of Developmental Psychology will highlight one manuscript with the designation as an “ Editor’s Choice ” paper. Selection is based on the recommendations of the associate editors, based on the paper’s potential impact to the field, the distinction of expanding the contributors to, or the focus of, our science, or its discussion of an important future direction for science.

Call for papers

• Varieties of household experiences and children's positive social development in culturally diverse contexts
• Living in a digital ecology

Author and editor spotlights

Explore journal highlights : free article summaries, editor interviews and editorials, journal awards, mentorship opportunities, and more.

Prior to submission, please carefully read and follow the submission guidelines detailed below. Manuscripts that do not conform to the submission guidelines may be returned without review.

Submissions

Please submit manuscripts electronically through the Manuscript Submission Portal in Microsoft Word (.docx) or LaTex (.tex) as a zip file with an accompanied Portable Document Format (.pdf) of the manuscript file.

Prepare manuscripts according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association using the 7 th edition. Manuscripts may be copyedited for bias-free language (see Chapter 5 of the Publication Manual ). APA Style and Grammar Guidelines for the 7 th edition are available.

Submit Manuscript

Koraly Pérez-Edgar The Pennsylvania State University

General correspondence may be directed to the editor's office .

Manuscripts should be the appropriate length for the material being presented. Manuscripts can vary from a maximum of 4,500 words for a brief report to 10,500 words for a larger research report to 15,000 words for a report containing multiple studies or comprehensive longitudinal studies. Please note that the total length includes the cover page, abstract, main manuscript text, references section, tables, and figures. Editors will decide on the appropriate length and may return a manuscript for revision before reviews if they think the paper is too long. Please make manuscripts as brief as possible. We have a strong preference for shorter papers.

Author contribution statements using CRediT

The APA Publication Manual (7th ed.) stipulates that “authorship encompasses…not only persons who do the writing but also those who have made substantial scientific contributions to a study.” In the spirit of transparency and openness, Developmental Psychology has adopted the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) to describe each author's individual contributions to the work. CRediT offers authors the opportunity to share an accurate and detailed description of their diverse contributions to a manuscript.

Submitting authors will be asked to identify the contributions of all authors at initial submission according to this taxonomy. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the CRediT designations will be published as an author contributions statement in the author note of the final article. All authors should have reviewed and agreed to their individual contribution(s) before submission.

CRediT includes 14 contributor roles, as described below:

• Conceptualization: Ideas; formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aims.
• Data curation: Management activities to annotate (produce metadata), scrub data, and maintain research data (including software code, where it is necessary for interpreting the data itself) for initial use and later reuse.
• Formal analysis: Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyze or synthesize study data.
• Funding acquisition: Acquisition of the financial support for the project leading to this publication.
• Investigation: Conducting a research and investigation process, specifically performing the experiments, or data/evidence collection.
• Methodology: Development or design of methodology; creation of models.
• Project administration: Management and coordination responsibility for the research activity planning and execution.
• Resources: Provision of study materials, reagents, materials, patients, laboratory samples, animals, instrumentation, computing resources, or other analysis tools.
• Software: Programming, software development; designing computer programs; implementation of the computer code and supporting algorithms; testing of existing code components.
• Supervision: Oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution, including mentorship external to the core team.
• Validation: Verification, whether as a part of the activity or separate, of the overall replication/reproducibility of results/experiments and other research outputs.
• Visualization: Preparation, creation, and/or presentation of the published work, specifically visualization/data presentation.
• Writing—original draft: Preparation, creation, and/or presentation of the published work, specifically writing the initial draft (including substantive translation).
• Writing—review and editing: Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work by those from the original research group, specifically critical review, commentary, or revision—including pre- or post-publication stages.

Authors can claim credit for more than one contributor role, and the same role can be attributed to more than one author.

Public significance statements

Authors submitting manuscripts to the journal Developmental Psychology are now required to provide 2–3 brief sentences regarding the relevance or public health significance of their study or review described in their manuscript. This description should be included within the manuscript on the abstract/keywords page.

The public significance statement (similar to the Relevance section of NIH grant submissions) summarizes the significance of the study's findings for a public audience in one to three sentences (approximately 30–70 words long). It should be written in language that is easily understood by both professionals and members of the lay public. Please refer to the Guidance for Translational Abstracts and Public Significance Statements page to help you write these statements. This statement supports efforts to increase dissemination and usage of research findings by larger and more diverse audiences.

When an accepted paper is published, these sentences will be boxed beneath the abstract for easy accessibility. All such descriptions will also be published as part of the table of contents, as well as on the journal's web page. This policy is in keeping with efforts to increase dissemination and usage by larger and diverse audiences.

Facilitating manuscript review

In addition to email addresses, please supply mailing addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers. Most correspondence will be handled by email. Keep a copy of the manuscript to guard against loss.

Masked review policy

This journal uses masked review for all submissions. Make every effort to see that the manuscript itself contains no clues to the authors' identity, including grant numbers, names of institutions providing IRB approval, self-citations, and links to online repositories for data, materials, code, or preregistrations (e.g., Create a View-only Link for a Project ). The submission letter should indicate the title of the manuscript, the authors' names and institutional affiliations, and the date the manuscript is submitted.

The first page of the manuscript should omit the authors' names and affiliations but should include the title of the manuscript and the date it is submitted. Author notes, acknowledgments, and footnotes containing information pertaining to the authors' identity or affiliations may be added on acceptance.

Methodology

Description of sample.

Authors should be sure to report the procedures for sample selection and recruitment. Major demographic characteristics should be reported, such as sex, age, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and, when possible and appropriate, disability status and sexual orientation. Even when such demographic characteristics are not analytic variables, they provide a more complete understanding of the sample and of the generalizability of the findings and are useful in future meta-analytic studies.

Authors should provide a justification that their sample size is appropriate beyond just citing convention in the literature. Justification could include a power analysis, a stopping rule, and/or some other type of valid justification.

Significance

For all study results, measures of both practical and statistical significance should be reported. The latter can involve either a standard error or an appropriate confidence interval. Practical significance can be reported using an effect size, a standardized regression coefficient, a factor loading, or an odds ratio.

Reliability

Manuscripts should include information regarding the establishment of interrater reliability when relevant, including the mechanisms used to establish reliability and the statistical verification of rater agreement and excluding the names of the trainers and the amount of personal contact with such individuals.

Journal Article Reporting Standards

Authors must adhere to the APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS) for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. The standards offer ways to improve transparency in reporting to ensure that readers have the information necessary to evaluate the quality of the research and to facilitate collaboration and replication.

Transparency and openness

APA endorses the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines developed by a community working group in conjunction with the Center for Open Science ( Nosek et al. 2015 ). Empirical research, including meta-analyses, submitted to Developmental Psychology  must at least meet the “requirement” level for all aspects of research planning and reporting. Authors should include a subsection in the method section titled “Transparency and Openness.” This subsection should detail the efforts the authors have made to comply with the TOP Guidelines. 

For example:

• We report how we determined our sample size, all data exclusions (if any), all manipulations, and all measures in the study, and we follow JARS (Appelbaum et al., 2018). All data, analysis code, and research materials are available at [stable link to repository]. Data were analyzed using R, version 4.0.0 (R Core Team, 2020) and the package ggplot , version 3.2.1 (Wickham, 2016). This study’s design and its analysis were not pre-registered.

Data, materials, and code

Authors must state whether data, code, and study materials are posted to a trusted repository and, if so, where to access them, including their location and any limitations on use. If they cannot be made available, authors must state the legal or ethical reasons why they are not available. Trusted repositories adhere to policies that make data discoverable, accessible, usable, and preserved for the long term. Trusted repositories also assign unique and persistent identifiers. Recommended repositories include APA’s repository on the Open Science Framework (OSF), or authors can access a full list of other recommended repositories .

In a subsection titled “Transparency and Openness” at the end of the method section, specify whether and where the data and material will be available or note the legal or ethical reasons for not doing so. For submissions with quantitative or simulation analytic methods, state whether the study analysis code is posted to a trusted repository, and, if so, how to access it (or the legal or ethical reason why it is not available).

• All data have been made publicly available at the [trusted repository name] and can be accessed at [persistent URL or DOI].
• Materials and analysis code for this study are not available because [legal or ethical reason].
• The code behind this analysis/simulation has been made publicly available at the [trusted repository name] and can be accessed at [persistent URL or DOI].

Preregistration of studies and analysis plans

Preregistration of studies and specific hypotheses can be a useful tool for making strong theoretical claims. Likewise, preregistration of analysis plans can be useful for distinguishing confirmatory and exploratory analyses. Investigators are encouraged to preregister their studies and analysis plans prior to conducting the research via a publicly accessible registry system (e.g., OSF , ClinicalTrials.gov, or other trial registries in the WHO Registry Network). There are many available templates; for example, APA, the British Psychological Society, and the German Psychological Society partnered with the Leibniz Institute for Psychology and Center for Open Science to create Preregistration Standards for Quantitative Research in Psychology (Bosnjak et al., 2022).

Articles must state whether or not any work was preregistered and, if so, where to access the preregistration. If any aspect of the study is preregistered, include the registry link in the method section. Preregistrations must be available to reviewers; authors may submit a masked copy via stable link or supplemental material. Links in the method section should be replaced with an identifiable copy on acceptance.

• This study’s design was preregistered; see [STABLE LINK OR DOI].
• This study’s design and hypotheses were preregistered; see [STABLE LINK OR DOI].
• This study’s analysis plan was preregistered; see [STABLE LINK OR DOI].
• This study was not preregistered.

Replications and Registered Reports

Developmental Psychology publishes direct replications. Submissions should include “A Replication of XX Study” in the subtitle of the manuscript as well as in the abstract.

Developmental Psychology also publishes Registered Reports. Registered Reports require a two-step review process. The first step is the submission of the registration manuscript. This is a partial manuscript that includes hypotheses, rationale for the study, experimental design, and methods. The partial manuscript will be reviewed for rigor and methodological approach.

If the partial manuscript is accepted, this amounts to provisional acceptance of the full report regardless of the outcome of the study. The full manuscript will be reviewed for adherence to the preregistered design (deviations should be reported in the manuscript).

Manuscript preparation

Prepare manuscripts according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association using the 7th edition. Manuscripts may be copyedited for bias-free language (see Chapter 5 of the Publication Manual ).

Review APA's Journal Manuscript Preparation Guidelines before submitting your article.

Double-space all copy. Other formatting instructions, as well as instructions on preparing tables, figures, references, metrics, and abstracts, appear in the Manual . Additional guidance on APA Style is available on the APA Style website .

Below are additional instructions regarding the preparation of display equations, computer code, and tables.

Display equations

We strongly encourage you to use MathType (third-party software) or Equation Editor 3.0 (built into pre-2007 versions of Word) to construct your equations, rather than the equation support that is built into Word 2007 and Word 2010. Equations composed with the built-in Word 2007/Word 2010 equation support are converted to low-resolution graphics when they enter the production process and must be rekeyed by the typesetter, which may introduce errors.

To construct your equations with MathType or Equation Editor 3.0:

• Go to the Text section of the Insert tab and select Object.
• Select MathType or Equation Editor 3.0 in the drop-down menu.

If you have an equation that has already been produced using Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010 and you have access to the full version of MathType 6.5 or later, you can convert this equation to MathType by clicking on MathType Insert Equation. Copy the equation from Microsoft Word and paste it into the MathType box. Verify that your equation is correct, click File, and then click Update. Your equation has now been inserted into your Word file as a MathType Equation.

Use Equation Editor 3.0 or MathType only for equations or for formulas that cannot be produced as Word text using the Times or Symbol font.

Computer code

Because altering computer code in any way (e.g., indents, line spacing, line breaks, page breaks) during the typesetting process could alter its meaning, we treat computer code differently from the rest of your article in our production process. To that end, we request separate files for computer code.

In online supplemental material

We request that runnable source code be included as supplemental material to the article. For more information, visit Supplementing Your Article With Online Material .

In the text of the article

If you would like to include code in the text of your published manuscript, please submit a separate file with your code exactly as you want it to appear, using Courier New font with a type size of 8 points. We will make an image of each segment of code in your article that exceeds 40 characters in length. (Shorter snippets of code that appear in text will be typeset in Courier New and run in with the rest of the text.) If an appendix contains a mix of code and explanatory text, please submit a file that contains the entire appendix, with the code keyed in 8-point Courier New.

Use Word's insert table function when you create tables. Using spaces or tabs in your table will create problems when the table is typeset and may result in errors.

Academic writing and English language editing services

Authors who feel that their manuscript may benefit from additional academic writing or language editing support prior to submission are encouraged to seek out such services at their host institutions, engage with colleagues and subject matter experts, and/or consider several vendors that offer discounts to APA authors .

Please note that APA does not endorse or take responsibility for the service providers listed. It is strictly a referral service.

Use of such service is not mandatory for publication in an APA journal. Use of one or more of these services does not guarantee selection for peer review, manuscript acceptance, or preference for publication in any APA journal.

Submitting supplemental materials

APA can place supplemental materials online, available via the published article in the PsycArticles ® database. Please see Supplementing Your Article With Online Material for more details.

Abstract and keywords

The abstract must include major demographic characteristics about the sample (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status) so the reader can judge the degree to which the sample reflects the diversity, equity, and inclusion of participants. The abstract should not exceed a maximum of 250 words and typed on a separate page. After the abstract, please supply up to six keywords or brief phrases.

List references in alphabetical order. Each listed reference should be cited in text, and each text citation should be listed in the references section.

Examples of basic reference formats:

Journal article

McCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development. Psychological Review , 126 (1), 1–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126

Authored book

Brown, L. S. (2018). Feminist therapy (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000092-000

Chapter in an edited book

Balsam, K. F., Martell, C. R., Jones. K. P., & Safren, S. A. (2019). Affirmative cognitive behavior therapy with sexual and gender minority people. In G. Y. Iwamasa & P. A. Hays (Eds.), Culturally responsive cognitive behavior therapy: Practice and supervision (2nd ed., pp. 287–314). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000119-012

Software/Code citation

Viechtbauer, W. (2010). Conducting meta-analyses in R with the metafor package.  Journal of Statistical Software , 36(3), 1–48. https://www.jstatsoft.org/v36/i03/

Wickham, H. et al., (2019). Welcome to the tidyverse. Journal of Open Source Software, 4 (43), 1686, https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01686

All data, program code, and other methods must be cited in the text and listed in the references section.

Data set citation

Alegria, M., Jackson, J. S., Kessler, R. C., & Takeuchi, D. (2016). Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), 2001–2003 [Data set]. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR20240.v8

Preferred formats for graphics files are TIFF and JPG, and preferred format for vector-based files is EPS. Graphics downloaded or saved from web pages are not acceptable for publication. Multipanel figures (i.e., figures with parts labeled a, b, c, d, etc.) should be assembled into one file. When possible, please place symbol legends below the figure instead of to the side.

• All color line art and halftones: 300 DPI
• Black and white line tone and gray halftone images: 600 DPI

Line weights

• Color (RGB, CMYK) images: 2 pixels
• Grayscale images: 4 pixels
• Stroke weight: 0.5 points

APA offers authors the option to publish their figures online in color without the costs associated with print publication of color figures.

The same caption will appear on both the online (color) and print (black and white) versions. To ensure that the figure can be understood in both formats, authors should add alternative wording (e.g., “the red (dark gray) bars represent”) as needed.

For authors who prefer their figures to be published in color both in print and online, original color figures can be printed in color at the editor's and publisher's discretion provided the author agrees to pay:

• $900 for one figure
• An additional $600 for the second figure
• An additional $450 for each subsequent figure

Permissions

Authors of accepted papers must obtain and provide to the editor on final acceptance all necessary permissions to reproduce in print and electronic form any copyrighted work, including test materials (or portions thereof), photographs, and other graphic images (including those used as stimuli in experiments).

On advice of counsel, APA may decline to publish any image whose copyright status is unknown.

• Download Permissions Alert Form (PDF, 13KB)

Publication policies

For full details on publication policies, including use of Artificial Intelligence tools, please see APA Publishing Policies .

APA policy prohibits an author from submitting the same manuscript for concurrent consideration by two or more publications.

See also APA Journals ® Internet Posting Guidelines .

APA requires authors to reveal any possible conflict of interest in the conduct and reporting of research (e.g., financial interests in a test or procedure, funding by pharmaceutical companies for drug research).

• Download Full Disclosure of Interests Form (PDF, 41KB)

In light of changing patterns of scientific knowledge dissemination, APA requires authors to provide information on prior dissemination of the data and narrative interpretations of the data/research appearing in the manuscript (e.g., if some or all were presented at a conference or meeting, posted on a listserv, shared on a website, including academic social networks like ResearchGate, etc.). This information (2–4 sentences) must be provided as part of the author note.

Ethical Principles

It is a violation of APA Ethical Principles to publish "as original data, data that have been previously published" (Standard 8.13).

In addition, APA Ethical Principles specify that "after research results are published, psychologists do not withhold the data on which their conclusions are based from other competent professionals who seek to verify the substantive claims through reanalysis and who intend to use such data only for that purpose, provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and unless legal rights concerning proprietary data preclude their release" (Standard 8.14).

APA expects authors to adhere to these standards. Specifically, APA expects authors to have their data available throughout the editorial review process and for at least 5 years after the date of publication.

Authors are required to state in writing that they have complied with APA ethical standards in the treatment of their sample, human or animal, or to describe the details of treatment.

• Download Certification of Compliance With APA Ethical Principles Form (PDF, 26KB)

The APA Ethics Office provides the full Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct electronically on its website in HTML, PDF, and Word format. You may also request a copy by emailing or calling the APA Ethics Office (202-336-5930). You may also read "Ethical Principles," December 1992, American Psychologist , Vol. 47, pp. 1597–1611.

Other information

See APA’s Publishing Policies page for more information on publication policies, including information on author contributorship and responsibilities of authors, author name changes after publication, the use of generative artificial intelligence, funder information and conflict-of-interest disclosures, duplicate publication, data publication and reuse, and preprints.

Visit the Journals Publishing Resource Center for more resources for writing, reviewing, and editing articles for publishing in APA journals.

Koraly Pérez-Edgar, PhD The Pennsylvania State University, United States

Associate editors

Irma Arteaga, PhD University of Missouri, United States

Sheretta T. Butler-Barnes, PhD Washington University in St. Louis, United States

Christopher Beam, PhD University of Southern California, United States

Peter Bos, PhD University of Leiden, The Netherlands 

Natalie Brito, PhD New York University, United States 

Lucas Butler, PhD University of Maryland, United States

Gustavo Carlo, PhD University of California, Irvine, United States

Elisabeth Conradt, PhD University of Utah, United States

Timothy Curby, PhD George Mason University, United States

Judith Danovitch, PhD University of Louisville, United States

John Franchak, PhD University of California, Riverside, United States

Emily Fyfe, PhD Indiana University, United States

Melinda Gonzales Backen, PhD Florida State University, United States

Wendy Gordon, PhD Auburn University, United States

Noa Gueron-Sela, PhD Ben-Gurion University, Israel

Elizabeth Gunderson, PhD Indiana University, United States

Amanda Guyer, PhD University of California, Davis, United States

Larisa Solomon, PhD Columbia University, United States

Lana Karasik, PhD City University of New York, United States

Melissa Kibbe, PhD Boston University, United States

Elizabeth Kiel, PhD Miami University of Ohio, United States

Su Yeong Kim, PhD University of Texas, Austin, United States

Diana Leyva, PhD University of Pittsburgh, United States

Jennifer McDermott, PhD University of Massachusetts, Amherst, United States

Kristine Marceau, PhD Purdue University, United States

Julie Markant, PhD Tulane University, United States

Kalina Michalska, PhD University of California, Riverside, United States

Francisco Palermo, PhD University of Missouri, United States

Carlomagno Panlilio, PhD The Pennsylvania State University, United States

Mikko Peltola, PhD Tampere University, Finland

Gavin Price, PhD Exeter University, United Kingdom

Joanna Williams, PhD Rutgers University, United States

Qing Zhou, PhD University of California, Berkeley, United States

Consulting editors

Melissa Barnett, PhD University of Arizona, United States

Martha Ann Bell, PhD Virginia Tech, United States

Deon Benton, PhD Vanderbilt University, United States

Tashauna Blankenship, PhD University of Massachusetts, Boston, United States

David Bridgett, PhD Northern Illinois University, United States

Rebecca Brooker, PhD Texas A&M University, United States

Samantha Brown, PhD Colorado State University, United States

Claire Cameron, PhD University at Buffalo, United States

Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez, PhD University of Southern California, United States

Rona Carter, PhD, LLP, RYT University of Michigan, United States

Stephen Chen, PhD Wellesley College, United States

Elizabeth Davis, PhD University of California, Riverside, United States

Leah Doane, PhD Arizona State University, United States

Jessica Dollar, PhD University of North Carolina, Greensboro, United States

Robert Duncan, PhD Purdue University, United States

Ari Eason, PhD University of California, Berkeley, United States

Katie Ehrlich, PhD University of Georgia, United States

Paola Escudero, PhD Western Sydney University, Australia

Caitlin Fausey, PhD University of Oregon, United States

Gregory M. Fosco, PhD The Pennsylvania State University, United States

Nicole Gardner-Neblett, PhD University of Michigan, United States

Erica Glasper, PhD Ohio State University, United States

Selin Gulgoz, PhD Fordham University, United States

Ernest Hodges, PhD St. John’s University, United States

Adam Hoffman, PhD Cornell University, United States

Stefanie Höhl, PhD University of Vienna, Austria

Caroline Hornburg, PhD Virginia Tech, United States

Yang Hou, PhD University of Kentucky, United States

Marina Kalashnikova, PhD Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language, Spain

Heather Kirkorian, PhD University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States

Olga Kornienko, PhD George Mason University, United States

Deborah Laible, PhD Lehigh University, United States

Jonathan Lane, PhD Vanderbilt University, United States

Tessa Lansu, PhD Radboud University, Netherlands

Kathryn Leech, PhD University of North Carolina, United States

Ryan Lei, PhD Haverford College, United States

Jeffrey Liew, PhD Texas A&M University, United States

Betty Lin, PhD University at Albany, United States

Eric Lindsey, PhD Penn State Berks, United States

Jessica Lougheed, PhD University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Canada

Alexandra Main, PhD University of California, Merced, United States

Henrike Moll, PhD University of Southern California, United States

Santiago Morales, PhD University of Southern California, United States

Dianna Murray-Close, PhD University of Vermont, United States

Shaylene Nancekivell, PhD University of Manitoba, Canada

Justin Parent, PhD Brown University, United States

Livio Provenzi, PhD IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Italy

Laura Quiñones-Camacho, PhD University of Texas, Austin, United States

Rachel Romeo, PhD, CCC-SLP University of Maryland, United States

Samuel Ronfard, EdD University of Toronto, Canada

Kathleen Rudasill, PhD Virginia Commonwealth University, United States

Adena Schachner, PhD University of California, San Diego, United States

Yishan Shen, PhD Texas State University, United States

Cara Streit, PhD University of New Mexico, United States

Cin Cin Tan, PhD University of Toledo, United States

Rachel Thibodeau-Nielson, PhD University of Missouri, United States

Sho Tsuji, PhD University of Tokyo, Japan

Yuuko Uchikoshi, EdD University of California, Davis, United States

Carlos Valiente, PhD Arizona State University, United States

Nicholas Wagner, PhD Boston University, United States

Jinjing Wang, PhD Rutgers University, United States

Jun Wang, PhD Texas A&M University, United States

Christina Weiland, EdD University of Michigan, United States

Eric Wilkey, PhD Louisiana State University, United States

Peer review coordinator

Emily Densmore American Psychological Association

Abstracting and indexing services providing coverage of Developmental Psychology ®

• Academic OneFile
• Academic Search Alumni Edition
• Academic Search Complete
• Academic Search Elite
• Academic Search Index
• Academic Search Premier
• Advanced Placement Psychology Collection
• ASSIA: Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts
• CAB Abstracts
• Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Psychology
• Child Development & Adolescent Studies
• CINAHL Complete
• CINAHL Plus
• Criminal Justice Abstracts
• Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text
• Current Abstracts
• Current Contents: Social & Behavioral Sciences
• EBSCO MegaFILE
• Education Abstracts
• Education Full Text
• Education Research Complete
• Education Source
• Educational Research Abstracts Online
• Educator's Reference Complete
• Expanded Academic ASAP
• Family & Society Studies Worldwide
• Family Studies Abstracts
• General OneFile
• Global Health
• Health & Wellness Resource Center and Alternative Health Module
• Health Reference Center Academic
• Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective
• IBZ / IBR (Internationale Bibliographie der Rezensionen Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlicher Literatur)
• InfoTrac Custom
• Journal Citations Report: Social Sciences Edition
• Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts
• MLA International Bibliography
• NSA Collection
• Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews
• OmniFile Full Text Mega
• Professional Collection
• Professional Development Collection
• Professional ProQuest Central
• ProQuest Central
• ProQuest Criminal Justice
• ProQuest Discovery
• ProQuest Education Journals
• ProQuest Platinum Periodicals
• ProQuest Professional Education
• ProQuest Psychology Journals
• ProQuest Research Library
• ProQuest Social Science Journals
• Psychology Collection
• Social Sciences Abstracts
• Social Sciences Citation Index
• Social Sciences Full Text
• Social Sciences Index Retrospective
• Social Work Abstracts
• Studies on Women and Gender Abstracts
• TOC Premier
• Tropical Diseases Bulletin
• Women's Studies International

Special issue of APA's journal Developmental Psychology, Vol. 60, No. 9, September 2024. This special issue illustrates how prenatal influences affect children’s psychological development across childhood and adolescence and beyond through a diverse array of biobehavioral mechanisms and biosocial processes.

Special issue of the APA journal Developmental Psychology, Vol. 56, No. 3, March 2020. Articles discuss the impact of emotion-related socialization behaviors on children’s emotion, self-regulation, and developmental outcomes.

Special issue of the APA journal Developmental Psychology, Vol. 55, No. 9, September 2019. The issue is intended to present and highlight examples of innovative recent approaches and thinking to a range of questions about emotional development and to inspire new directions for future research.

Special issue of the APA journal Developmental Psychology, Vol. 53, No. 11, November 2017. The articles examine identity in developmental stages ranging from early childhood to young adulthood, and represent samples from 5 different countries.

Special issue of the APA journal Developmental Psychology, Vol. 49, No. 3, March 2013. The articles pose important questions concerning how children learn from others, what the characteristic signatures of social learning might be, and how this learning changes over time.

Transparency and Openness Promotion

APA endorses the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines by a community working group in conjunction with the Center for Open Science ( Nosek et al. 2015 ). The TOP Guidelines cover eight fundamental aspects of research planning and reporting that can be followed by journals and authors at three levels of compliance.

• Level 1: Disclosure—The article must disclose whether or not the materials are posted to a trusted repository.
• Level 2: Requirement—The article must share materials via a trusted repository when legally and ethically permitted (or disclose the legal and/or ethical restriction when not permitted).
• Level 3: Verification—A third party must verify that the standard is met.

At a minimum, empirical research, including meta-analyses, submitted to Developmental Psychology must, at a minimum, meet Level 2 (Requirement) for all aspects of research planning and reporting. Authors should include a subsection in their methods description titled “Transparency and Openness.” This subsection should detail the efforts the authors have made to comply with the TOP Guidelines.

The list below summarizes the minimal TOP requirements of the journal. Please refer to the TOP guidelines for details, and contact the editor (Koraly Pérez-Edgar, PhD) with any further questions. Authors must share data, materials, and code via trusted repositories (e.g., APA’s repository on the Open Science Framework (OSF)). Trusted repositories adhere to policies that make data discoverable, accessible, usable, and preserved for the long term. Trusted repositories also assign unique and persistent identifiers.

We encourage investigators to preregister their studies and to share protocols and analysis plans prior to conducting their research. Clinical trials are studies that prospectively evaluate the effects of interventions on health outcomes, including psychological health. Clinical trials must be registered before enrolling participants on ClinicalTrials.gov or another primary register of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) . There are many available preregistration forms (e.g., the APA Preregistration for Quantitative Research in Psychology template, ClininalTrials.gov , or other preregistration templates available via OSF ). Completed preregistration forms should be posted on a publicly accessible registry system (e.g., OSF , ClinicalTrials.gov, or other trial registries in the WHO Registry Network).

The following list presents the eight fundamental aspects of research planning and reporting, the TOP level required by  Developmental Psychology , and a brief description of the journal's policy.

• Citation: Level 2, Requirement—All data, program code, and other methods developed by others must be cited in the text and listed in the references section.
• Data Transparency: Level 2, Requirement—Article states whether the raw and/or processed data on which study conclusions are based are available and either where to access them or the legal or ethical reasons why they are not available.
• Analytic Methods (Code) Transparency: Level 2, Requirement—Article states whether computer code or syntax needed to reproduce analyses in an article is posted to a trusted repository and either how to access it or the legal or ethical reasons why it is not available
• Research Materials Transparency: Level 2, Requirement—Article states whether materials described in the method section are posted to a trusted repository and either how to access them or the legal or ethical reasons why they are not available.
• Design and Analysis Transparency (Reporting Standards): Level 2, Requirement—Article must comply with APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS-Quant, JARS-Qual, and/or MARS).
• Study Preregistration: Level 2, Requirement—Article states whether the study design and (if applicable) hypotheses of any of the work reported was preregistered and, if so, how to access it. Authors must submit a masked copy via stable link or supplemental material.
• Analysis Plan Preregistration: Level 2, Requirement—Article states whether any of the work reported preregistered an analysis plan and, if so, how to access it. Authors must submit a masked copy via stable link or supplemental material.
• Replication: Level 3, Verification—The journal publishes replications and Registered Reports.

Other open science initiatives

• Open Science badges: Not offered
• Public significance statements: Offered
• Author contribution statements using CRediT: Required
• Registered Reports: Published
• Replications: Published
• Detailed sample descriptions: Required

Explore open science at APA .

Inclusive study designs

• Registered Reports

Definitions and further details on inclusive study designs are available on the Journals EDI homepage .

Inclusive reporting standards

• Bias-free language and community-driven language guidelines (required)
• Author contribution roles using CRediT (required)
• Data sharing and data availability statements (required)
• Impact statements (required)
• Participant sample descriptions (required)

More information on this journal’s reporting standards is listed under the submission guidelines tab .

Pathways to authorship and editorship

Editorial fellowships.

Editorial fellowships for this journal will begin in 2023.

Other EDI offerings

Orcid reviewer recognition.

Open Research and Contributor ID (ORCID) Reviewer Recognition provides a visible and verifiable way for journals to publicly credit reviewers without compromising the confidentiality of the peer-review process. This journal has implemented the ORCID Reviewer Recognition feature in Editorial Manager, meaning that reviewers can be recognized for their contributions to the peer-review process.

Masked peer review

This journal offers masked peer review (where both the authors’ and reviewers’ identities are not known to the other). Research has shown that masked peer review can help reduce implicit bias against traditionally female names or early-career scientists with smaller publication records (Budden et al., 2008; Darling, 2015).

Editor Spotlight

• Read the January 2023 editorial by Editor Koraly Pérez-Edgar
• Read an interview with Editor Koraly Pérez-Edgar, PhD

From APA Journals Article Spotlight ®

• Does children's biological functioning predict parenting behavior?
• New directions in the study of human emotional development

Journal Alert

Sign up to receive email alerts on the latest content published.

Welcome! Thank you for subscribing.

Subscriptions and access

• Pricing and individual access
• APA PsycArticles database

Calls for Papers

Access options

• APA publishing resources
• Educators and students
• Editor resource center

APA Publishing Insider

APA Publishing Insider is a free monthly newsletter with tips on APA Style, open science initiatives, active calls for papers, research summaries, and more.

Social media

Contact Journals

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

The PMC website is updating on October 15, 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Front Psychol

Children and Adolescents Mental Health: A Systematic Review of Interaction-Based Interventions in Schools and Communities

Rocío garcía-carrión.

1 Faculty of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain

Beatriz Villarejo-Carballido

2 Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain

Lourdes Villardón-Gallego

Background: There is growing evidence and awareness regarding the magnitude of mental health issues across the globe, starting half of those before the age of 14 and have lifelong effects on individuals and society. Despite the multidimensional nature of this global challenge, which necessarily require comprehensive approaches, many interventions persist in seeking solutions that only tackle the individual level. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic review of evidence for positive effects in children and adolescents' mental health resulting from interventions conducted in schools and communities in which interaction among different agents is an integral component.

Methods: An extensive search in electronic databases (Web of Knowledge, SCOPUS, ERIC, and PsycINFO) was conducted to identify interventions in which interactions between peers, teachers, families or other community members or professionals played a role. Their effects on children and adolescents' mental health were also reviewed. We carried out a systematic review of papers published from 2007 to 2017. Eleven studies out of 384 met the inclusion criteria. Seven of the articles reviewed focus on interventions conducted in schools and promote supportive interactions involving students, teachers, families and mental health professionals. Four of the articles develop interventions that engage community members in dialogic interactions with children and adolescents.

Results: Interventions in schools and communities implement strategies that foster supportive interactions among diverse actors including teachers, parents, community members, and other professionals. The effects of the mental health interventions reported on children and adolescents' problems include a decrease in disruptive behaviors and affective symptoms such as depression and anxiety, together with an increase in social skills, as well as an improvement in personal well-being.

Conclusions: There is evidence of a positive effect on the mental health of children and adolescents, both in decreasing symptoms of mental disorder and in promoting emotional well-being. Whereas, interactions among different actors seem to be a relevant aspect across the interventions, more research is needed to conclude its effect on the outcomes of the studies reviewed.

Introduction

Childhood and adolescence are critical periods to promote mental health as more than half of mental health problems start at these stages, and many of these persist throughout adult life (Kessler et al., 2005 ). Currently, this has become a priority as worldwide data shows an increase in the prevalence of mental health issues in childhood and adolescence (de la Barra M, 2009 ) and the percentage of those afflicted reaching nearly 20% (WHO, 2016 ). The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that many of these children and adolescents are not receiving the specialized care they require (Mills et al., 2006 ; Weist and Murray, 2008 ; Green et al., 2013 ).

Consequently, important efforts to bring together the best evidence about mental health have been done and raised the challenge of agreeing about fundamental issues in the field such as the definition of mental health and other related concepts (Mehta et al., 2015 ). According to WHO, mental health is understood not as a mere absence of illness, but rather, in a broader sense, as a state of well-being in which individuals develop their abilities, face the stress of daily life, perform productive and fruitful work, and contribute to the betterment of their community (WHO, 2004 ). This definition served as the basis for WHO Mental Health Action Plan, 2013–2020, which incorporates the concepts of mental health promotion, mental illness prevention and treatment, and rehabilitation. Particularly, developmental aspects of children and young people, including, for instance, the ability to manage thoughts, emotions, as well as to build social relationships, and the aptitude to learn, are emphasized in the plan as critical facets to be tackled in mental health interventions.

Mental health interventions conducted in schools and in the communities start from the premise that the problems experienced by adolescents are determined by the interaction of individual, environmental and family factors (Manjula, 2015 ). Accordingly, schools and communities offer an optimal context to intervene as children and adolescents grow and develop through social interaction. Schools and communities can make the most of its environment to foster child and youth development and to promote good mental health (Weist and Murray, 2008 ). Many of the mental health programs implemented in schools promote the development of social skills, socio-emotional competences, and learning outcomes while at the same time reducing disruptive behavior (Dowdy et al., 2010 ; Moreira et al., 2010 ; Durlak et al., 2011 ; Suldo et al., 2014 ). The school environment and climate can therefore play a critical role in encouraging the promotion of protective factors for mental health, such as social-emotional competences and skills (Osher et al., 2012 ).

Hence, social and cognitive development is enacted through social interactions in a particular cultural and social context (Vygotsky, 1978 ; Bronfenbrenner, 1979 ). Drawing on the contributions of Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development, human interaction that takes place in the social and cultural context enhances learning and is fundamental for psychological function. These cultural processes in which people learn and developed occur through interactions with others, including symmetrical (peer) as well as expert–novice (e.g., teacher–student) relations (Rogoff, 1990 ; Cole, 1996 ). Importantly, specific instruments have been produced to capture productive forms of dialogue across educational contexts (Hennessy et al., 2016 ).

Most of the research have been devoted to understanding the central role played by the quality of dialogue and interaction between students, in small group classrooms, or in whole class setting teacher-student interaction (see review by Howe and Abedin, 2013 ). Furthermore, research conducted in community-based schools has also reported the benefit of involving families and community members in learning interactions with elementary students, especially for those belonging to vulnerable populations (Flecha and Soler, 2013 ; Valls and Kyriakides, 2013 ). Accordingly, community plays a central role as human develop through their interactions in the sociocultural activities of their communities (Rogoff, 2003 ). Similar improvements have been reported among students with disabilities as a result of engaging in caring and supportive interactions among peers and with other adults when solving academic tasks in interactive groups (García-Carrión et al., 2018 ). The relevance of productive forms of dialogue and supportive interactions among peers, teachers and other community members, have also reported positive effects in 4th grade students prosocial behavior (Villardón-Gallego et al., 2018 ). These studies evidence the potential of educational interventions that draw on the potential of fostering interactions among different agents and promote productive dialogues as a tools for academic and social improvement.

However, when searching for mental health improvement through dialogic interactions, the research is scarce. The pioneering study carried out by Seikkula and Arnkil ( 2006 ) showed the psychological and social benefits of the therapy based on open and anticipation dialogues with adults and adolescents that also involved the family along with the professionals. Rather than focusing in the individual, facilitating supportive interactions among peers, professionals and family members might be an asset underpinning mental health interventions with children and adolescents. This study showed the critical role of collective interactions, which were very different from a dialogue between two individuals (Seikkula and Arnkil, 2006 ). They identified multi-system treatments (MST) characterized by engaging in close interaction professionals with adolescents, family, and other networks. Replication of these US studies in Norway found evidence of effectiveness, particularly, in the adolescents' social skills (Ogden and Halliday-Boykins, 2004 ). However, according to Seikkula and Arnkil ( 2006 , p. 181): “what ultimately caused the observed outcome was not revealed. After all, methods do not help or cure anyone as such. Psychological methods -and other interaction-based means- exist as they user activity.”

Whereas, determining the effect of the interaction itself in the outcomes obtained might be problematic, the authors of these paper aim to examine interaction-based mental health interventions, defined as those in which collective interactions, that involve professionals, family and community members with children and adolescents, are an integral component of the intervention. This systematic review focuses on those interventions conducted in schools and communities and its outcomes on children and adolescents' mental health. According to the WHO definition of mental health provided above, primary studies selected for this review will include positive outcomes in a broader sense, comprising not only the reduction of symptoms of mental disorder but also the promotion of emotional well-being.

The study carries out a systematic review (Gough et al., 2013 ), a methodology developed by the EPPI Centre of the UCL Institute of Education. We have also taken into account the recommendations by PRISMA (Moher et al., 2009 ) and checklist by Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) (Lockwood et al., 2015 ), in order to offer transparency, validity, replicable, and updateable in this study.

Search Strategy

This systematic review has been focused and defined by the question: Do interaction-based mental health interventions in schools and communities have positive effects among children and adolescents? This question has been defined in terms of PICOS: In children and adolescents (Population) are interaction-based interventions (Intervention) effective in decreasing disruptive behaviors and affective symptoms such as depression and anxiety (in children and adolescents with mental health problems), and in increasing social skills, and improving well-being and academic engagement (in children and adolescents in general)? (Outcomes).

For the review, empirical articles published in international scientific journals in the areas of psychology, education, and mental health and focused on interventions among children and youth between 2007 and 2017 were searched and screened. To that effect, the following databases were analyzed: Web of Knowledge, SCOPUS, ERIC, and PsycINFO.

The articles were searched using the following keywords: “school-based,” “community-based,” “dialogue,” “mental health,” “well-being,” “emotional development,” “interventions,” “program,” “interaction,” and “prevention.” The exploration was completed with searches that employed synonyms or derivatives of the keywords. The keywords were also combined to refine the search. The publications containing the search criteria in the title, in the keywords and in the abstract were include.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

In order to identify and select the studies most relevant to our research, inclusion and exclusion criteria were established.

The inclusion criteria were the following:

• - Special population group: children and adolescents.
• - Target age: 6 to 18 years of age, inclusive.
• - Mental health interventions in which collective interactions, including professionals, families, and community members with children and adolescents, are an integral component.
• - Studies reporting outcomes of the intervention in decreasing symptoms and/or promoting well-being.

The exclusion criteria were the following:

• - Interventions focus on early childhood, youth, or adults.
• - Target age is not specified, or the target population is below 5 or above 18 years.
• - Mental health interventions focusing on one-to-one interactions (i.e., professional-child/professional-adolescent).
• - The intervention is not described or assessed, as in trials, theoretical research or literature reviews.

Selection Process

The first part of the search yielded a total of 384 articles from indexed journals: 183 in published in the WOS database, 12 in Scopus, 33 in ERIC and 156 in PsycINFO. All these articles were entered into the Mendeley software for its screening and review. Basic information such as the title, year, authoring, and abstracts was obtained and introduced in a spreadsheet for a first screening.

From the 384 articles gathered in the initial search, the titles and their authors were subsequently revised in order to eliminate duplicates. This review was carried out by the members of the group independently in order to eliminate duplicate documents, specifically 83 were duplicates and were therefore discarded, resulting in a new total of 301 articles.

Abstracts of the 301 articles were reviewed according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. As a result, 17 articles initially met the inclusion criteria and were eligible for the review (see Figure 1 ). The articles were downloaded for an in-depth review.

Flow diagram to show the process of study selection.

The three researchers examined the articles independently and extracted the most relevant information that was included in a spreadsheet. The information referred to: (a) study characteristics (author, country, selection criteria, design, data acquisition period), (b) population (target population, age and sample size), (c) settings, and (d) type of study. Once the articles were examined in depth against inclusion and exclusion criteria, discrepancies were discussed to reach a consensus in the final selection of the studies. This first review and discussion of the studies of the 11 articles lead to the elimination of a further six articles that did not adequately fit the inclusion criteria. Thus, a total of 11 articles were finally selected for analysis ( Figure 1 ).

Quality Assessment

The quality of the selected studies was assessed using a checklist following the methodological guidance for systematic reviews developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) (Lockwood et al., 2015 ). The selected studies were checked against nine questions. The results of the evaluation are presented in the Table 1 .

Quality of studies.

Q1. Is there congruity between the stated philosophical perspective and the research methodology?

Q2. Is there congruity between the research methodology and the research question or objectives?

Q3. Is there congruity between the research methodology and the methods used to collect data?

Q4. Is there congruity between the research methodology and the representation and analysis of data?

Q5. Is there congruity between the research methodology and the interpretation of results?

Q6. Is the influence of the researcher on their search, and vice-versa, addressed?

Q7. Are participant, and their voices, adequately represented?

Q8. Is the research ethical according to current criteria or, for recent studies, and is there evidence of ethical approval by an appropriate body?

Q9. Do the conclusions drawn in the research report flow from the analysis or interpretation, of the data?

Data Analysis

For the analysis of the studies, the three researchers developed an analytical grid to systematize the most relevant information for the purpose of the review: study characteristics, interactions fostered during the intervention, positive effects and information for assessment of the risk of bias. Each researcher analyzed the studies independently aiming at identifying on the one hand, how the interventions promote interactions between different agents, and on the other hand, the effects of the interventions on the target population. Firstly, data was categorized following an inductive method. Secondly, researchers compared their analysis to reach a consensus to report main findings from the review.

The analysis of 11 mental health interventions targeting children and adolescents reported the benefits for both -students with mental health problems as well as healthy participants- resulting from their participation in the programs analyzed. Nine of the studies show the effects of preventive interventions aim to reduce future problems and to promote mental health among children and adolescents without mental health problems. Only two studies target children who had already contacted the school-based mental health service (Fazel, 2015 ) and adolescents who presented depressive symptoms (Connell and Dishion, 2008 ). Overall, the articles reviewed show a series of studies conducted mainly in the US context, seven out of ten, whereas the rest of the studies were carried out in the United Kingdom and Kenya. Seven of the interventions were conducted in schools and four of them were based in the community.

All the studies have shown to promote positive mental health in increasing well-being and preventing other related problems, as well as in reducing affective symptoms among those participants who were already affected. A detailed analysis of the strategies implemented across the mental health programs revealed an emphasis on fostering interactions among the children and adolescents engaging them in dialogues that involved different agents -teachers, families, community members, mental health professionals. An overview of the articles selected is provided in Table 2 .

Summary of included studies.

Supportive Interactions in Mental Health Interventions

Interactions among students, teachers, family, and community members and other professionals play an important role in the interventions analyzed. The mental health programs developed in schools and communities include specific strategies that have an emphasis on enacting peer support, partnerships and dialogic spaces for the children and adolescents to engage in supportive interactions with other relevant peers or adults.

Collaborative Interactions Among Children, Teachers and Parents in the School Context

Interactions between teachers and students underpin the strategies of the mental health interventions in different specific ways, which include tutoring, interviews, consultation meetings, peer-assisted learning strategies, interactive games, cooperative non-competitive building games, among others. (Bradshaw et al., 2009 ; Houlston et al., 2011 ; Cappella et al., 2012 ; Ohl et al., 2013 ; Atkins et al., 2015 ; Fazel, 2015 ). Overall, five of the studies implement strategies aim at developing children social skills through interaction and collaboration.

Similarly, interventions focus on “group interactions” as a preventive strategy that seek to reduce future mental health problems and to promote well-being (McWhirter and McWhirter, 2010 ). Specifically, two group-oriented prevention programs—Project Family Rejuvenation Education and Empowerment and Group-Oriented Psychological Education Prevention- are characterized by small-group discussions among students and with their mothers; in both settings participants engage in dialogue in a nonthreatening climate while encouraging cultivation of feedback and support between them (McWhirter and McWhirter, 2010 ).

Moreover, three studies promoted collaborative interactions between parents, teachers, and mental health professionals (Bradshaw et al., 2009 ; McWhirter and McWhirter, 2010 ; Atkins et al., 2015 ). Interactive features of these mental health programs include building positive peer groups and partnerships, solving problems peacefully, and fostering parent-student interactions, among others. This aligns with the need for an integration of the school ecology into program planning and the implementation of effective programs, as observed in the Link to Learning (L2L) service model instituted in classrooms and homes to support children with disruptive behavior disorders living in urban low-income communities (Atkins et al., 2015 ). In the same vein, collaboration between parents and teachers in classrooms is at the heart of the Family-School Partnership Program (Bradshaw et al., 2009 ). Discussion-based interactions include parents reading aloud to their children, with a particular emphasis in the promotion of reasoning among the students. Interaction is guided-by open-ended questions after the reading or using other materials, such as videotapes. Parents reacted to and discussed the situations and problem-solved alternative approaches. Discussions were also held on problem situations arising at home.

Fostering Communicative Skills and Home–School Interaction

Communication skills and family communication practice are a central component of READY—a family-based intervention program to prevent HIV infection and mental health problems (Puffer et al., 2016 ). The interaction and the communication skills training involved families, caregivers, children, and the community, as the intervention was carried out in religious congregations. By improving family communication as a protective factor against mental health disorders, READY draws on a promising approach to strengthen protective family processes that may prevent future negative outcomes for adolescents (Puffer et al., 2016 ). In conjunction with these activities, and while the program was being implemented, interaction was also fostered, using a voicemail system to cultivate parents' involvement and to provide consultation on an as-needed basis, and asking parents to fill in and return comment sheets indicating whether they had completed the weekly home activities and whether they had encountered any problems.

For their part, Atkins et al. ( 2010 ) carried out an intervention that targeted home-school communication and home routines that support learning, homework support, and daily readings. They promoted interaction between parents and teachers by means of two techniques: Daily Report Cards and Good News Notes. Daily Reports Cards, on the one hand, consist of cards in which teachers and parents join efforts to identify, monitor, and reinforce behaviors that interfere with learning. Teachers and parents agree on a rating system to track behaviors, a reward schedule, and a plan for monitoring intervals that will enhance both direct feedback to students and home-school communication. Good News Notes, on the other hand, are certificates that teachers send to families detailing desirable behaviors exhibited by children, as a means to provide positive weekly feedback to parents. The Notes identify students' strengths, scaffold behavior improvement by reinforcing small achievements, and balance infraction reports with positive feedback.

Overall, these studies report a multilevel approach, tackling schools, families, communities, and mental health providers and services. The three articles include programs that evidence the crucial role of family and parental engagement in promoting mental health among adolescents (Connell and Dishion, 2008 ; Puffer et al., 2016 ) and children (Atkins et al., 2015 ). According to Connell and Dishion ( 2008 ), providing family-centered services in the school environment facilitated family engagement in the program.

Engaging in Dialogue With Community Members

Engaging in dialogue with the very community members who might be at risk of suffering mental health problems is essential for the success of the intervention. Some strategies for their involvement include the creation of a local Community Advisory Committee (Puffer et al., 2016 ) or a Community Advisory Board (Kia-Keating et al., 2017 ). The latter engage participants in reciprocal dialogues on solutions for issues ranging from violence exposure and health disparities to the difficulties encountered by youth people seeking to thrive, as exemplified by the HEROES Project (Kia-Keating et al., 2017 ).

There have been other community-based organizations studied in California, aimed at promoting “cultures of health” by engaging people in building social networks, by fostering solidarity and collective efficacy, or by promoting a shared commitment to the collective well-being (Puffer et al., 2016 ). Overall, these programs promote dialogic spaces in which the voices of the minorities, who have often been excluded, are instead given prominence and listened to, in order to look for solutions that will address the inequalities affecting their communities.

The effects of the interventions carried out in schools and communities with an emphasis on fostering supportive interactions as discussed above have benefited children and adolescents as reported in the following dimensions:

• Internalizing symptomatology: Three studies include interventions that have had positive effects on the treatment and prevention of affective disorders such as depression and anxiety. Thus, Connell and Dishion ( 2008 ) ascertained, throughout 3 years, their potential to reduce and prevent the increase of depressive symptoms in at-risk early adolescents. Likewise, Ohl et al. ( 2013 ) confirmed the effectiveness of relationships for decreasing emotional symptoms. McWhirter and McWhirter ( 2010 ) garnered the results of the GOPEP intervention program (McWhirter et al., 1997 ), based on group sessions and on conjoint sessions, which entailed substantial collaboration between researchers and participants, and confirmed the effectiveness of the SOAR program (Student Optimistic Attitudes and Resilience Program) in reducing anxiety and depression. The FREE program, for its part, was effective in decreasing self-isolation among children and their mothers, survivors of domestic violence.
• Externalizing symptomatology: Four articles present improvements in aspects related to aggression and behavioral issues. Ohl et al. ( 2013 ) confirmed that the Pyramid project helped improve peer problems; however, they did not find positive effects on behavioral problems. McWhirter and McWhirter ( 2010 ) gathered evidence confirming the effectiveness of the FREE project in decreasing family conflict, and of the SCARE (Student-Created Aggression Replacement Education) program, one of the GOPEP intervention programs, in decreasing and managing aggression, anger, and violent behaviors. However, Cappella et al. ( 2012 ) did not find significative differences in behavioral regulation as an effect of their BRIDGE intervention, although children identified as having behavioral problems benefitted more than their peers in the area of social relations. On the other hand, Bradshaw et al. ( 2009 ) confirmed the long-term positive effects in reducing behavioral and mental-health problems resulting of the CC intervention.
• Personal well-being: Six of the studies reported positive effects on strengthening psychological-related aspects to well-being, including self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and empowerment, among others. Cappella et al. ( 2012 ) confirmed the existence of a positive effect of intervention on children's academic self-concept. Atkins et al. ( 2015 ) found a significantly greater improvement on social skills among children who had been involved in the intervention, whereas Ohl et al. ( 2013 ) ascertained its positive effect on prosocial behavior. Houlston et al. ( 2011 ) confirmed that peer support improves self-esteem in victims of bullying, as well as their perception of the support provided by friends and other students. Participants stated that peer support had a positive impact on students' relationships, improving and building peer networks with trained peer supporters and other students. More specifically, in bullying situations, students considered peer support to be helpful for a number of reasons, including being able to talk about it, having peers to interact with, or helping bullied students to tell others of their plight.
• Bloemraad and Terriquez ( 2016 ) gathered the opinions of people taking part in activities organized by CBOs (Community-Based Organizations). Results provide evidence of the impact that involvement in CBOs has on participants, namely when preparing to enroll and succeed in college, as well as on their self-reported civic capacity developing skills, which encompass skills as diverse as communicating with others, understanding the impact that government decisions have on the community, speaking in public, or planning events. Besides, the involvement in CBOs improves personal empowerment and self-efficacy, as participants learn to stand up for their beliefs, become more aware of health issues impacting their communities, and learn about their own culture or ethnic group. As for health and education outcomes, participants became more informed about college and career options, took better care of their personal health, and improved their school grades.
• McWhirter and McWhirter ( 2010 ) showed that the FREE project resulted in an increase in children's and women's emotional well-being, peer engagement and self-esteem in children, as well as women's self-efficacy.
• Context: Five of the interventions reported improvements on the classroom climate and teacher-student and peer interactions. The study carried out by Cappella et al. ( 2012 ), based on BRIDGE intervention, demonstrates how classroom interactions generate a positive climate where emotional support and teacher sensitivity are prominent. These interactions also promote a positive classroom climate, characterized by optimal behavior management, productivity, and instructional learning formats. Furthermore, they have been verified to help develop instructional support, more positive teacher expectations regarding children's behavior, and a more responsive teacher-student relationship. The study by McWhirter and McWhirter ( 2010 ), based on group interventions, highlights that interacting with other people helps build positive peer/adult relationships. These conclusions are shared by Puffer et al. ( 2016 ), whose study focused on family communication, and who conclude that intra-family communication improves well-being. In a similar vein, Bloemraad and Terriquez ( 2016 ) find that the interactions fostered by the intervention improve well-being in the community.

The present systematic review of studies has fulfilled the objective of identifying evidence for positive effects of interaction-based interventions in schools and communities in children's and adolescents' mental health. We have shown that mental health interventions, in which supportive interactions are fostered among different actors, have a positive effect in decreasing affective symptoms and in increasing personal wellbeing among children and adolescents.

We detected in these programs an emphasis on engaging children and adolescents in supportive interactions with other relevant adults, such as teachers, family, community members, and other professionals. Overall it showcases the benefits children and adolescents without mental health problems can reap, particularly in preventive interventions as nine of the studies focused on. Only two studies target adolescents and children with mental health problems (Connell and Dishion, 2008 ; Fazel, 2015 ). The literature analyzed sheds light on the importance of preventive interventions where different agents work together toward the common goal of promoting children's and adolescents' mental health (Atkins et al., 2015 ; Kia-Keating et al., 2017 ).

Positive effects on mental health are achieved through interventions that are culturally appropriate and culturally grounded (Bloemraad and Terriquez, 2016 ; Puffer et al., 2016 ; Kia-Keating et al., 2017 ). This is particularly important in those interventions which require the active engagement of families and community members. The role of family and community members emerges as particularly relevant and providing them with communicative skills and fostering home-school communication are assets for the mental health interventions. Schools thus become an ideal space to facilitate family and community involvement, and they consequently present a great potential for enhancing positive parent-teacher, teacher-student and student-student interactions. This is consistent with other research that has focused on the benefits of school-based mental health interventions to help them develop cognitively, socially, and emotionally (Fazel et al., 2014 ).

There is enough supporting evidence on the potential of these interventions for schools to create a positive climate based on instructional and emotional support, solidarity and friendship that improves the well-being of children and communities (McWhirter and McWhirter, 2010 ; Bloemraad and Terriquez, 2016 ; Puffer et al., 2016 ). Available evidence on the effectiveness of these studies attests to the attainment of positive gains in students' academic achievement, which will also lead to other long-term positive effects that will help prevent behavioral and mental-health problems (Bradshaw et al., 2009 ). This positive effect is particularly strong in high poverty contexts (Atkins et al., 2015 ). Particularly relevant is the reduction of anxiety and depression, especially in light of the marked increase of the latter, currently ailing 4,4% of the world population (WHO, 2017 ).

Overall, we argue that interaction-based approaches in mental health interventions, that involve diverse actors in productive forms of dialogue and supportive interactions, are consistent with the benefits reported by the sociocultural approaches to learning and development (Vygotsky, 1978 ). However, in this systematic review we have not been able to determine the effect of the interaction on the effectiveness of the intervention. This is consistent with the literature, as effective mental health interventions, which include collective interactions among different agents as a central element of the intervention, did not revealed how those interactions were linked to the positive outcomes obtained (Seikkula and Arnkil, 2006 ). Similarly, the primary studies reviewed do not established a direct link of the interaction component of the intervention with the positive mental health outcomes. This question still remains.

Limitation and Future Directions

In this systematic review we have reviewed a set of interventions for both adolescents and children, without explicitly distinguishing within the two study groups. This raises a limitation as children and adolescents can potentially show different needs in terms of mental and behavioral support. Consequently, there could be potential differences in the outcomes that have not been considered in this review. In the same vein, this study only reviewed research in English and most research was conducted in the United States, which could also limit the generalizability of the results.

On the other hand, the concept of interaction we explored it is a broad concept that presents some limitations in providing a consistent definition within the interventions. Furthermore, the primary studies reported the effects of the intervention as a whole. Therefore, their methodological designs do not allow to identify the specific effect on mental health of the interaction itself. Still there is a gap to determine the effect of the interactions on the mental health outcomes. Further research is needed to explore the particular role and potential of social interaction to promote children and adolescents' mental health.

Conclusions

This systematic review of 11 studies has focused on mental health interventions in which interaction plays an important role. Supportive interactions carried out in the framework of mental health interventions involve various contexts, agents and systems, including teachers, parents, mental-health professionals, and members of the community.

There is evidence of a positive effect on the mental health of children and adolescents, both in decreasing internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and in promoting personal well-being. Factors that foster mental health as social support or engagement also increase with interventions programs that include interaction as a main feature.

However, more research is needed into the specific impact of interaction on the mental health of children and adolescents, as well as analyzing the type of interactions that have the most beneficial effect.

Author Contributions

RG-C wrote the proposal of this systematic review with the input and contributions of the research team BV-C and LV-G. RG-C and LV-G planned the search in databases and defined exclusion and inclusion criteria for the selection of the articles. BV-C carried out the search, screen the materials and proposed a selection. All the authors checked and refined the selection of the studies. Each author drafted a section of this manuscript. All authors reviewed the whole manuscript, read and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Funding. The work leading to this invention has received funding from the Spanish Research Grants EDU2017-88666-R and EDU2015-66395-R (MINECO/FEDER, UE).

• Atkins M. S., Hoagwood K. E., Kutash K., Seidman. E. (2010). Toward the integration of education and mental health in schools . Admin. Pol. Mental Health Mental Health Serv. Res. 37 , 40–47. 10.1007/s10488-010-0299-7 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Atkins M. S., Shernoff E. S., Frazier S. L, Schoenwald S. K., Cappella E., Marinez-Lora A., et al.. (2015). Redesigning community mental health services for urban children: supporting schooling to promote mental health . J. Consult. Clin. Psychol . 83 , 839–52. 10.1037/a0039661 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bloemraad I., Terriquez V. (2016). Cultures of engagement: the organizational foundations of advancing health in immigrant and low-income communities of color . Soc. Sci. Med. 165 , 214–222. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.02.003 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bradshaw C. P., Zmuda J. H., Kellam S. G., Ialongo N. S. (2009). Longitudinal impact of two universal preventive interventions in first grade on educational outcomes in high school . J. Educ. Psychol . 101 , 926–37. 10.1037/a0016586 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bronfenbrenner U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development : Experiments by Nature and Design . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Cappella E., Hamre B. K., Kim H. Y., Henry D. B., Frazier S. L., Atkins M. S., et al.. (2012). Teacher consultation and coaching within mental health practice: classroom and child effects in urban elementary schools . J. Consult. Clin. Psychol . 80 , 597–610. 10.1037/a0027725 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cole M. (1996). Cultural Psychology : A Once and Future Discipline. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Connell A. M., Dishion T. J. (2008). Reducing Depression among at-risk early adolescents: three-year effects of a family-centered intervention embedded within schools . J. Fam. Psychol. 22 , 574–585. 10.1037/0893-3200.22.3.574 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• de la Barra M F. (2009). Epidemiología de trastornos psiquiátricos en niños y adolescentes: estudios de Prevalencia . Rev. Chil. Neuro Psiquiatr. 47 , 303–314. 10.4067/S0717-92272009000400007 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dowdy E., Ritchey K., Kamphaus R. W. (2010). School-based screening: a population-based approach to inform and monitor children's mental health needs . School Mental Health 2 , 166–176. 10.1007/s12310-010-9036-3 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Durlak J. A., Weissberg R. P., Dymnicki A. B., Taylor R. D., Schellinger K.B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: a meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions . Child Dev . 82 , 405–432. 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Fazel M. (2015). A moment of change: facilitating refugee children's mental health in UK schools . Int. J. Educ. Dev . 41 , 255–261. 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.12.006 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Fazel M., Hoagwood K., Stephan S., Ford T. (2014). Mental health interventions in schools in high-income countries . Lancet Psychiatry 1 , 377–87. 10.1016/S2215-0366(14)70312-8 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Flecha R., Soler M. (2013). Turning Difficulties into possibilities: engaging roma families and students in school through dialogic learning . Camb. J. Educ. 43 , 451–65. 10.1080/0305764X.2013.819068 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• García-Carrión R., Molina Roldán S., Roca Campos E. (2018). Interactive learning environments for the educational improvement of students with disabilities in special schools . Front. Psychol . 9 :1744. 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01744 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gough D., Oliver S., Thomas J., Hobbs A. (2013). Learning from research: systematic reviews for informing policy decisions a quick guide , in Principal Public Health Adviser NHS Chief Scientist Office Overseas Development Institute Cabinet Office Director of Social Research & Policy , no. December: 1–36. Available online at: www.alliance4usefulevidence.org .
• Green J. G., McLaughlin K. A., Alegría M., Costello E. J., Gruber M. J., Hoagwood K., et al.. (2013). School mental health resources and adolescent mental health service use . J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 52 , 501–510. 10.1016/j.jaac.2013.03.002 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hennessy S., Rojas-Drummond S., Higham R., Márquez A. M., Maine F., Ríos R. M., et al. (2016). Developing a coding scheme for analysing classroom dialogue across educational contexts . Learn. Culture Soc. Inter. 9 , 16–44. 10.1016/j.lcsi.2015.12.001 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Houlston C., Smith P. K., Jessel J. (2011). The relationship between use of school-based peer support initiatives and the social and emotional well-being of bullied and non-bullied students . Child. Soc. 25 , 293–305. 10.1111/j.1099-0860.2011.00376.x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Howe C., Abedin M. (2013). Classroom dialogue: a systematic review across four decades of research . Camb. J. Educ . 43 , 325–356. 10.1080/0305764X.2013.786024 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kessler R. C., Berglund P., Demler O., Jin R., Merikangas K. R., Walters E. E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication . Arch. General Psychiatry 62 , 593–602. 10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kia-Keating M., Santacrose D. E., Liu S. R., Adams J. (2017). Using community-based participatory research and human-centered design to address violence-related health disparities among Latino/a youth . Fam. Commun. Health 40 , 160–169. 10.1097/FCH.0000000000000145 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lockwood C., Munn Z., Porritt K. (2015). Qualitative research synthesis: methodological guidance for systematic reviewers utilizing meta-aggregation . Int. J. Evid. Based Healthcare 13 , 179–187. 10.1097/XEB.0000000000000062 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Manjula M. (2015). Community-based mental health interventions in adolescents , in A Practical Approach to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Adolescents , eds Mehta M., Sagar R. (New Delhi: Springer India; ), 43–53. 10.1007/978-81-322-2241-5_3 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McWhirter J. J., Herrman D. S., Jefferys K., Quinn M. M. (1997). Tools for violence prevention . Catholic School Stud. 70 , 15–19. [ Google Scholar ]
• McWhirter P. T., McWhirter J. J. (2010). Community and school violence and risk reduction: empirically supported prevention . Group Dynamics 14 , 242–256. 10.1037/a0020056 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mehta N., Croudace T., Davies D. S. C. (2015). Public mental health: evidenced-based priorities . Lancet . 385 , 1472–1475. 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61400-8 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mills C., Stephan S. H., Moore E., Weist M. D., Daly B. P., Edwards M. (2006). The President's new freedom commission: capitalizing on opportunities to advance school-based mental health services . Clin. Child Fam. Psychol. Rev . 9 , 149–161. 10.1007/s10567-006-0003-3 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Moher D., Liberati A., Tetzlaff J., Altman D. G., The PRISMA Group (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement . PLoS Med . 6 :e1000097 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Moreira P., Crusellas L., Sa I., Gomes P., Matias C. (2010). Evaluation of a manual-based programme for the promotion of social and emotional skills in elementary school children: results from a 4-year study in Portugal . Health Promotion Int. 25 , 309–317. 10.1093/heapro/daq029 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ogden T., Halliday-Boykins C. A. (2004). Multisystemic treatment of antisocial adolescents in Norway: replication of clinical outcomes outside of the US . Child Adolesc. Mental Health 9 , 77–83. 10.1111/j.1475-3588.2004.00085.x [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ohl M., Fox P., Mitchell K. (2013). Strengthening socio-emotional competencies in a school setting: data from the pyramid project . Br. J. Educ. Psychol . 83 , 452–466. 10.1111/j.2044-8279.2012.02074.x [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Osher D., Dwyer K. P., Jimerson S. R., Brown J. A. (2012). Developing safe, supportive, and effective schools: facilitating student success to reduce school violence , in Handbook of School Violence and School Safety , eds Furlong M., Jimerson S., Nickerson A. B., Mayer M. J. (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; ). Available online at: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203841372.ch3 (accessed March 10, 2018). [ Google Scholar ]
• Puffer E. S., Green E. P., Sikkema K. J., Broverman S. A., Ogwang-Odhiambo R. A., Pian J. (2016). A church-based intervention for families to promote mental health and prevent HIV among adolescents in rural Kenya: results of a randomized trial . J. Consult. Clin. Psychol . 84 , 511–525. 10.1037/ccp0000076 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rogoff B. (1990). Apprenticeship in Thinking : Cognitive Development in Social Context . New York, NY: Oxford University Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rogoff B. (2003). The Cultural Nature of Human Development . New York, NY: Oxford university press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Seikkula J., Arnkil T. E. (2006). Dialogical Meetings in Social Networks . London:Karnac. [ Google Scholar ]
• Suldo S. M., Gormley M. J., DuPaul G. J., Anderson-Butcher D. (2014). The impact of school mental health on student and school-level academic outcomes: current status of the research and future directions . School Mental Health 6 , 84–98. 10.1007/s12310-013-9116-2 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Valls R., Kyriakides L. (2013). The power of interactive groups: how diversity of adults volunteering in classroom groups can promote inclusion and success for children of vulnerable minority ethnic populations . Camb. J. Educ . 43 , 17–33. 10.1080/0305764X.2012.749213 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Villardón-Gallego L., García-Carrión R., Yáñez-Marquina L., Estévez A. (2018). Impact of the interactive learning environments in children's prosocial behavior . Sustainability 10 :2138 10.3390/su10072138 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Vygotsky L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Mental Process . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Weist M. D., Murray M. (2008). Advancing school mental health promotion globally . Adv. School Mental Health Promotion 1 , 2–12. 10.1080/1754730X.2008.9715740 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• WHO (2004). Promoting Mental Health: Concepts, Emerging Evidence, Practice: Summary Report. Geneva, World Health Organization. Retrieved . http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/en/promoting_mhh.pdf (accessed March 10, 2018).
• WHO (2016). “WHO| Child and Adolescent Mental Health.” WHO . World Health Organization. Available online at: http://www.who.int/mental_health/maternal-child/child_adolescent/en/
• WHO (2017). “WHO| “Depression: Let's Talk” Says WHO, as Depression Tops List of Causes of Ill Health.” WHO. World Health Organization. Available online at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/world-health-day/en/

The Lifespan Development Perspective Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

The lifespan perspective of development, conclusions, reference list.

Lifespan development is a progressive process of development in a human being involving an increase in age, which begins at conception and ends with death (Sugarman, 2000, p. 56). In addition, lifespan development can be divided into four levels depicting advanced functionality and character changes as an individual moves from one level to another.

These levels include childhood and adolescence; early adulthood; middle adulthood; and late adulthood (Sugarman, 2000, p. 56). This paper presents discussions on the lifespan perspective of development and two major theories of lifespan development. In addition, the impact of the interaction between genes and the environment on the process of human development is also discussed.

The lifespan perspective examines the changes that take place at each level of human development relative to the environmental (Society and culture) factors that influence these changes (Sigelman & Rider, 2008, p. 84). Moreover, the lifespan perspective can be defined in many ways.

For instance, the lifespan perspective can be a progressive and lifelong process of development that is not limited to any single level in human development. On the other hand, there are three major aspects of the lifespan perspective of development, which include the cognitive, social, physical dimensions of change (Sugarman, 2000, p. 59).

Furthermore, other studies claim that the perspective is plastic in nature because some domains of lifespan development increase while others decrease. This plasticity of the lifespan perspective occurs in response to various environmental factors that influence human development.

In addition, the perspective is embedded in the lifelong events that occur in the life of an individual. Thus, this perspective is studied by scientists, anthropologists, and psychologists, which brings out its multidisciplinary nature (Sugarman, 2000, p. 63). On the other hand, the perspective has different contextual implications. Therefore, human development is determined by biological, cultural, social, and physical environmental factors.

The three aspects of the lifespan perspective are also implicated in different developmental changes. The physical aspect of development involves changes in weight, height, shape, and the changes in individual experiences with the external environment (Sigelman & Rider, 2008, p. 86).

On the other hand, the social aspect of development involves changes in different phases of human development, which are directly influenced by the social environment such as social skills and relationships. Lastly, the cognitive domain of human development entails change in an individual’s thinking capacity, memory, and decision-making (Sugarman, 2000, p. 64).

The changes characterizing the lifespan perspective of development can also be divided into eight stages of human development. The first stage also known as the Trust vs. Mistrust stage occurs during the period between birth and one year.

Here, development of trust depends on the relationship between the toddler and the care-giver (Sugarman, 2000, p. 66). The second stage also known as Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt period occurs during the early childhood stage. During this stage, the child is capable of making choices relative to the individualized willingness.

The Initiative vs. Guilt is the third stage in development, which occurs during the middle childhood stage. During this stage, children develop a sense of purpose through engaging in goal-oriented activities (Sigelman & Rider, 2008, p. 88). The fourth stage also called the Industry vs. Inferiority period occurs at the late childhood period. Here, children develop competence through learning social norms, basic education, and culture.

Additionally, the adolescence stage signifies the Identity vs. Role Confusion period. Here, individual values and choices develop because individuals are able to account for their actions. The Intimacy vs. Isolation period occurs during early adulthood and it is characterized by development of intimate relationships, marriage, and families (Sigelman & Rider, 2008, p. 90).

The Generativity vs. Stagnation period occurs during the middle adulthood stage. Here, individuals are committed with providing for their families and developing their careers. Lastly, the Integrity vs. Despair stage occurs during the late adulthood stage. The elderly individuals are self-contented and they are full of life experiences and advice.

Theories of Lifespan Development

There are many theories that attempt to explain the process of human development from different perspectives such as Freud’s theory of psychosexual development and Erikson’s theory on psychosocial development. Erikson’s theory posits that an individual encounters several conflicts during the development process, which depend on the type of relationship existing between this individual and the society.

Therefore, as an individual moves through the eight stages of development discussed above, he/she must solve the conflicts involved in one stage before moving to another. This ensures that one develops a sound personality; otherwise one may encounter difficulties in addressing conflicts in subsequent stages if the previous ones were not sufficiently resolved (Sugarman, 2000).

On the other hand, Freud’s theory states that the process of personality development occurs at the early childhood stage. Subsequently, the behavioral changes observed in developing individuals are influenced by the childhood events. Here, personality development occurs through several stages during the early childhood stage.

During this stage, the pleasure-oriented capabilities of an individual become focused on specific areas in one’s body. These capabilities also known as sexual libido or psychosexual energy play a major role in the subsequent behavioral changes in an individual (Sigelman & Rider, 2008).

Thus, if all the issues involved in the psychosexual stages of development are adequately resolved, then an individual develops a sound personality. However, if the psychosexual issues remain unresolved, the person involved is trapped in a particular stage until all the issues are resolved.

The Interaction of Genes and the Environment in Lifespan Development

A child inherits the genetic information of both parents through the information carriers known as genes. The genes are made up of DNA, which is found on chromosomes. On the other hand, the environment in the context of lifespan development refers to the total social and cultural factors surrounding a developing human being (Sigelman & Rider, 2008, p. 86). Therefore, lifespan development in children depends on two major factors; the genetic make-up of a child and the environmental factors.

However, the two factors can play a mutual role in influencing the development of different individuals in the society. Here, the epigenetic framework of development posits that the genetic make-up can be turned on and off relative to the internal and external environmental feedback (Sigelman & Rider, 2008, p. 89).

This gives the process of lifespan development the flexibility and plasticity described in the discussions above. For instance, the learning process in children follows a specific pattern of adaptability, which depends on the internal and external factors.

Therefore, during the early childhood stage, individuals use the environmental experiences in reasoning and acting. However, as the environmental factors and experiences change along the period of lifespan development, so does the emotional, reasoning, and social attributes in an individual (Sigelman & Rider, 2008, p. 91).

The paper presents discussions on the lifespan perspective of development, the theories of lifespan development and the interaction of heredity and environment to produce individual differences in development.

From the discussions above, the lifespan perspective of development examines the changes that occur in different individuals, which occur due to the interaction of the genetic make-up and the total circumstances surrounding an individual. On the other hand, this perspective is also reinforced by Freud’s theory of psychosexual development and Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, which are summarized in the discussions above.

Sigelman, C. K. & Rider, E. A. (2008). Lifespan human development. New York: Cengage Learning Publishers, Inc.

Sugarman, L. (2000). Lifespan development: Frameworks, accounts and strategies (2 nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

• The role of genetics in development
• Effect of Humanistic Theory on Individual Personalities
• Freud's Psychosexual Stage Conception
• Lifespan Development and Its Theories
• Behaviour across the Lifespan
• Erik Erikson's Life and Contributions to Psychoanalysis
• Developmental Theories in Psychology
• Levels of Play Development
• Social Theories and Concepts in Forrest Gump
• Lifespan development and the human servises
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, February 7). The Lifespan Development Perspective. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-lifespan-perspective-of-development/

"The Lifespan Development Perspective." IvyPanda , 7 Feb. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/the-lifespan-perspective-of-development/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'The Lifespan Development Perspective'. 7 February.

IvyPanda . 2019. "The Lifespan Development Perspective." February 7, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-lifespan-perspective-of-development/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Lifespan Development Perspective." February 7, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-lifespan-perspective-of-development/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Lifespan Development Perspective." February 7, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-lifespan-perspective-of-development/.

IvyPanda uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, enabling functionalities such as:

• Basic site functions
• Ensuring secure, safe transactions
• Secure account login
• Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
• Remembering privacy and security settings
• Analyzing site traffic and usage
• Personalized search, content, and recommendations
• Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

• Remembering general and regional preferences
• Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy .

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy .

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center
• Introduction

Toddlerhood and early childhood

Middle and late childhood.

• Adolescence

emotional development

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

• National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The Brain’s Emotional Development
• Rasmussen University - Understanding the Stages of Emotional Development in Children
• 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 .

Sibirskiye Bliny

SIBIRSKIYE BLINY, Tomsk - Lenina Ave. 53 St1 - Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor

• Western Siberia /
• Tomsk Oblast /

This page provides a complete overview of Tomsk, Tomsk Oblast, Western Siberia, Russia region maps.

Choose from a wide range of region map graphics. From simple outline maps to stunning panoramic views of Tomsk.

Get free map for your website. Discover the beauty hidden in the maps. Maphill is more than just a map gallery.

Graphic maps of Tomsk

Maphill enables you look at the region of Tomsk, Tomsk Oblast, Western Siberia, Russia from many different perspectives. Each angle of view and every map style has its own advantage. Start by choosing the map type. You will be able to select the style of the map in the very next step.

Select the map type

No 2D maps available for this location.

No 3D maps available for this location.

No panoramic maps available for this location.

Combination of a map and a globe to show the location.

Colored outline maps. Many color schemes to choose from.

Detailed maps of Tomsk

Do you need a more detailed and accurate region map than map graphics can offer? Choose from the following map types.

The default map view shows local businesses and driving directions.

Terrain Map

Terrain map shows physical features of the landscape. Contours let you determine the height of mountains and depth of the ocean bottom.

Hybrid map combines high-resolution satellite images with detailed street map overlay.

Satellite Map

High-resolution aerial and satellite imagery. No text labels.

Find a location in Tomsk

Enter the name and choose a location from the list. Search for cities, towns, hotels, airports or other locations within Tomsk. Search results will show graphic and detailed maps matching the search criteria.

Places in Tomsk

Browse the below list of cities, towns and villages in Tomsk, Tomsk Oblast, Western Siberia, Russia. Many different map types are available for all these locations.

• Chernil'shchikova – Seversk
• Chernil'shchikova

It's not Maphill. It's you.

Maphill is definitely the most comprehensive map gallery on the web. But the gallery isn't much of a gallery without visitors. If you like any of Tomsk maps, please don't keep it to yourself.

Share this page.

Use the share buttons for Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Give your friends a chance to see how the world transformed into images looks like. The maps of Tomsk are just few of the many available.

Get Tomsk maps for free.

You can easily download, print or embed Tomsk, Tomsk Oblast, Western Siberia, Russia maps into your website, blog, or presentation. Maps in the form of a static image display the same in all browsers.

Free images are available under Free map link located above the map on all map pages.

Be inspired.

It has been said that Maphill maps are worth a thousand words. That's certainly true. But it's still very little compared to what you can experience when you visit Tomsk, Tomsk Oblast, Western Siberia, Russia.

Visit Tomsk, Tomsk Oblast, Western Siberia, Russia.

Tomsk has a lot to offer. It is not possible to capture all the beauty in the maps.

Hotel bookings in Tomsk.

If any of Maphill's maps inspire you to come to Tomsk, we would like to offer you access to wide selection of nearby hotels at low prices and with great customer service. Book hotels online and save money. Best price is guaranteed.

Thanks to our partnership with Booking.com you can take advantage of large discounts for hotel bookings in Tomsk and withtin the area of Tomsk Oblast.

Tomsk hotels

See the full list of destinations in Tomsk , browse destinations in Tomsk Oblast , Western Siberia , Russia , Asia or choose from the below listed cities.

• Hotels in Tomsk »
• Hotels in Tomsk Oblast »
• Hotels in Western Siberia »
• Hotels in Russia »
• Hotels in Asia »

Hotels in popular destinations in Tomsk

• Seversk hotels »
• Chernil'shchikova hotels »

Popular searches

A list of the most popular locations in Russia as searched by our visitors.

• Martynovsky District
• Lake Baikal
• Kursk Oblast
• Yenisei River
• Krasnoyarsk
• Ural Mountains
• Kabardino-Balkarian Republic

Recent searches

List of the locations in Russia that our users recently searched for.

• Bol'shaya Martynovka
• Tomsk Oblast

The Maphill difference

No map type or map style is the best. The best is that Maphill enables you to look at Tomsk from many different angles and perspectives.

We automated the entire process of turning geographic data into map graphics. Thanks to that, we are able to create maps in higher quality, faster and cheaper than was possible before.

Different perspectives

The map of Tomsk in presented in a wide variety of map types and styles. Maphill lets you look at the same area from many different perspectives.

Fast anywhere

Maps are served from a large number of servers spread all over the world. Globally distributed delivery network ensures low latency and fast loading times, no matter where on Earth you are.

Easy to use

All maps of Tomsk are available as static images. You can print, download or embed maps very easily. No JavaScript, no API, no platform dependencies.

Vector quality

We create each map individually with regard to the characteristics of the map area and the relevant graphic style. Maps are assembled and kept in a high resolution vector format throughout the entire process of their creation.

Real Earth data

We only use data collected by the satellites or based on bathymetric surveys. All maps are constructed from real data. This is how the world looks like.

Experience of discovering

Maphill maps will never be as detailed as Google maps or as precise as designed by professional cartographers. Our goal is different. We want to redefine the experience of discovering the world through the maps.

Always free

Maphill was created with the goal of making the web a more beautiful place. Without you having to pay for that. All our map images are, and will always be, available for free.

Spread the beauty

Embed map of Tomsk into your website. Enrich your blog with quality map graphics. Help us to make the web a more beautiful place.

Maphill is the web's largest map gallery.

Get a free map for your website. Explore the world. Discover the beauty hidden in the maps.

Map graphics revolution.™