6.2-6.3 Emotional Development
The Role of Emotions in Development
Emotions are integral to young children's dynamic systems of action, energizing development and becoming more varied and complex as children reorganize their behavior to attain new goals (Campos, Frankel, & Camras, 2004; Camras, 2011).
They play powerful roles in organizing social relationships, exploration of the environment, and the discovery of the self (Saarni et al., 2006).
1.1 Inferring Infant Emotions
Determining infants' exact emotions is challenging because they cannot describe their feelings.
Cross-cultural evidence shows people worldwide associate photographs of facial expressions with emotions similarly (Ekman & Friesen, 1972; Ekman & Matsumoto, 2011).
Researchers analyze infants' facial patterns, vocalizations, and body movements, varying with their developing capacities, goals, and contexts, to infer emotions accurately (Camras & Shuster, 2013).
Development of Basic Emotions Over the First Year (Learning Objective 6.2)
Basic emotions
—happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust—are universal in humans and other primates and promote survival.
Babies' earliest emotional life consists of two global arousal states: attraction to pleasant stimulation and withdrawal from unpleasant stimulation (Camras et al., 2003).
Emotions gradually become clear, well-organized signals as children coordinate skills into expressive systems, influenced by central nervous system development, goals, and experiences (Camras & Shutter, 2010).
Sensitive caregiver communication, where parents mirror aspects of the baby’s diffuse emotional behavior, helps infants construct adult-like emotional expressions (Gergely & Watson, 1999).
With age, face, voice, and posture form organized patterns varying meaningfully with environmental events.
2.1 Happiness
Development:
Newborns smile when full, during REM sleep, and in response to gentle touches and soft sounds.
By the end of the first month, infants smile at dynamic, eye-catching sights.
Between 6 and 10 weeks, parents' communication evokes a broad grin called the social smile (Lavelli & Fogel, 2005).
Laughter typically appears around 3 to 4 months, reflecting faster information processing, initially in response to active stimuli.
As infants understand more, they laugh at subtler elements of surprise and humor cues (Mireault et al., 2015).
From 5 to 7 months, they increasingly find absurd events funny in the presence of humor cues.
During the second half-year, babies smile and laugh more with familiar people.
By 10-12 months, infants use several smiles varying with context (Messinger & Fogel, 2007).
By the end of the first year, the smile becomes a deliberate social signal.
Adaptive Function: Contributes to development by encouraging responsive, affectionate, and stimulating caregiver interactions, binding parent and baby into a warm, supportive relationship that fosters motor, cognitive, and social competencies (Bigelow & Power, 2014).
2.2 Anger and Sadness
Development of Anger:
Newborns show generalized distress to unpleasant experiences (hunger, pain, temperature changes, over/under stimulation).
From 4 to 6 months into the second year, angry expressions increase in frequency and intensity (Braungart-Rieker, Hill-Soderlund, & Karrass, 2010).
Older infants react with anger in wider situations: when objects are removed, expected events don't occur, arms are restrained, caregivers leave, or during naps (Camras et al., 1992; Stenberg & Campos, 1990; Sullivan & Lewis, 2003).
Increased anger is due to intentional behavior, improved identification of pain sources, and parental limit setting as infants become mobile (Mascolo & Fischer, 2007; Roben et al., 2012).
Adaptive Function of Anger: Motivates infants to defend themselves, overcome obstacles, and signals caregivers to relieve distress or discourage separation.
Development of Sadness:
Less frequent than anger but occurs in response to pain, object removal, and brief separations (Alessandri, Sullivan, & Lewis, 1990).
Common and impairs development when caregiver–infant communication is seriously disrupted.
2.3 Fear
Development:
Fear rises from the second half of the first year into the second year (Braungart-Rieker, Hill-Soderlund, & Karrass, 2010; Brooker et al., 2013).
Older infants hesitate with new toys; newly crawling infants back away from heights.
The most frequent expression of fear is stranger anxiety
—wariness of unfamiliar adults.
Stranger anxiety depends on temperament, past experiences, current situation, and the stranger's interaction style (Horner, 1980).
Cross-cultural practices can modify stranger anxiety; for example, Efe infants show little stranger anxiety due to collective caregiving, while Israeli kibbutz babies show more (Tronick, Morelli, & Ivey, 1992; Saarni et al., 2006).
Adaptive Function: Keeps newly mobile babies' exploration in check. Infants use caregivers as a secure base, venturing out and returning for emotional support. Behavior is a balance between approach and avoidance.
The Development of Emotional Self-Regulation and Understanding Others' Emotions (Learning Objective 6.3)
3.1 Beginnings of Emotional Self-Regulation
Definition and Purpose:
Emotional self-regulation refers to the strategies we use to adjust our emotional state to a comfortable level of intensity so we can accomplish our goals (Eisenberg, 2006; Thompson & Goodvin, 2007).
Examples: Reminding oneself an anxiety-provoking event will be over soon, suppressing anger at a friend’s behavior, or deciding not to see a scary horror film.
This process requires voluntary, effortful management of emotions.
Developmental Influences:
Improves rapidly during the first few years.
Influenced by the development of the prefrontal cortex and its networks of connections to brain areas involved in emotional reactivity and control (Rothbart, Posner, & Kieras, 2006; Thompson, 2015).
Dependent on support from caregivers who help children manage intense emotion and teach them strategies.
Individual differences in emotion control are evident in infancy and are viewed as a major dimension of temperament called effortful control in early childhood.
Stranger anxiety and other fears decline during the first two years as toddlers' cognitive development improves their ability to discriminate between threatening and nonthreatening people and situations.
Fear also wanes as toddlers acquire more strategies for coping with it, indicating early development in emotional self-regulation.
Early Infant Capacity (First Few Months):
Infants have a limited capacity to regulate their emotional states and are easily overwhelmed when feelings get too intense.
They depend on soothing interventions from caregivers (e.g., being lifted, rocked, gently stroked, talked to softly) for distraction and reorienting attention.
Development Between 2 and 4 Months:
More effective functioning of the prefrontal cortex increases the baby’s tolerance for stimulation.
Caregivers build on this by initiating face-to-face play and attention to objects, adjusting the pace to prevent the infant from becoming overwhelmed and distressed (Kopp & Neufeld, 2003).
This further increases the baby’s tolerance for stimulation.
Abilities from 3 Months Onward:
The ability to shift attention helps infants control emotion.
Babies who readily turn away from unpleasant events or engage in self-soothing are less prone to distress (Ekas, Lickenbrock, & Braungart-Rieker, 2013).
Crawling and walking permit babies to approach or retreat from situations, fostering more effective self-regulation.
Role of Caregivers in Fostering Self-Regulation:
Responsive Caregiving: Infants whose parents “read” and respond contingently and sympathetically to their emotional cues tend to be less fussy and fearful, express more pleasurable emotion, show more interest in exploration, and are easier to soothe (Braungart-Rieker, Hill-Soderlund, & Karrass, 2010; Crockenberg & Leerkes, 2004).
Unresponsive Caregiving: Parents who respond impatiently or angrily, or who wait until the infant is extremely agitated, reinforce the baby’s rapid rise to intense distress.
Impact of Failure to Regulate: When caregivers fail to regulate stressful experiences for infants, brain structures that buffer stress may fail to develop properly, leading to an anxious, reactive child with a reduced capacity for managing emotional problems (Blair & Raver, 2012; Frankel et al., 2015).
Teaching Socially Approved Emotional Expression: Parents encourage infants to suppress negative emotion by imitating expressions of interest, happiness, and surprise more often than anger and sadness.
Boys typically receive more of this training than girls, partly because they have a harder time regulating negative emotion (Else-Quest et al., 2006; Malatesta et al., 1986).
This contributes to the sex difference where females are seen as emotionally expressive and males as emotionally controlled.
Cultural Variations in Emotional Expression:
Cultures that highly value social harmony emphasize socially appropriate emotional behavior and discourage the expression of individual feelings.
Compared with Western parents, Japanese and Chinese parents, and parents in many non-Western village cultures, discourage the expression of strong emotion in babies.
Example: Nso mothers of rural Cameroon spend less time imitating infant social smiling than German mothers and are quicker to anticipate and quiet infant distress through soothing and breastfeeding.
Result: Chinese, Japanese, and Nso babies typically smile, laugh, and cry less than their Western age-mates (Friedlmeier, Corapci, & Cole, 2011; Gartstein et al., 2010; Kärtner, Holodynski, & Wörmann, 2013).
Toddlerhood and Language in Emotion Regulation:
Toward the end of the second year, a vocabulary for talking about feelings (e.g., “happy,” “love,” “surprised,” “scary”) develops rapidly.
Toddlers are not yet proficient at using language to manage their emotions.
Temper Tantrums: Often occur because toddlers cannot control the intense anger that arises when an adult rejects their demands, especially when fatigued or hungry (Mascolo & Fischer, 2007).
Effective Parenting for Tantrums: Parents who are emotionally sympathetic but set limits (by not giving in), distract the child with acceptable alternatives, and later suggest better ways to handle refusals, foster more effective anger-regulation strategies and social skills during preschool (LeCuyer & Houck, 2006).
Patient, sensitive parents encourage toddlers to describe their internal states, empowering 2-year-olds to guide caregivers in helping them when distressed (e.g., “Mommy, scary” leads to comfort) (Cole, Armstrong, & Pemberton, 2010).
3.2 Understanding and Responding to the Emotions of Others
By the end of the first year, infants begin to look to others for cues on how to respond emotionally.
Early Emotional Communication:
In the first few months, babies match the feeling tone of caregivers in face-to-face communication.
Around 3 months, infants become sensitive to the structure and timing of face-to-face interactions, expecting responses to their gaze, smiles, or vocalizations (Bigelow & Power, 2014; Markova & Legerstee, 2006).
Infants become increasingly aware of the range of emotional expressions through these exchanges (Montague & Walker-Andrews, 2001).
This early imitative communication may lay the foundation for understanding others' thoughts and feelings, as infants begin to view others as “like me” (Meltzoff, 2013).
Discriminating Emotions:
By 4 to 5 months, infants distinguish positive from negative emotion in voices, and soon after, in facial expressions, gradually discriminating a wider range of emotions.
Responding to emotional expressions as organized wholes indicates that these signals are becoming meaningful.
Social Referencing:
As joint attention improves, infants realize an emotional expression is a meaningful reaction to a specific object or event (Thompson, 2015).
Beginning at 8 to 10 months, infants engage in social referencing
—actively seeking emotional information from a trusted person in an uncertain situation (Mumme et al., 2007).
The caregiver’s emotional expression (happy, angry, or fearful) influences a 1-year-old’s behavior, such as wariness of strangers, playing with unfamiliar toys, or crossing the visual cliff (de Rosnay et al., 2006; Stenberg, 2003; Striano & Rochat, 2000).
The adult’s voice, alone or combined with a facial expression, is more effective than a facial expression alone because it conveys both emotional and verbal information, allowing the baby to focus on the novel event (Kim, Walden, & Knieps, 2010; Vaish & Striano, 2004).
As toddlers appreciate that others’ emotional reactions may differ from their own, social referencing allows comparison of assessments of events.
For instance, 18-month-olds offered an adult food she liked (broccoli or crackers) regardless of their own preference, demonstrating the use of others' emotional cues (Repacholi & Gopnik, 1997).
Adaptive Function of Social Referencing:
Toddlers use others’ emotional messages to evaluate the safety and security of their surroundings, guide their actions, and gather information about others’ intentions and preferences.
These experiences, combined with cognitive and language development, help toddlers refine the meanings of emotions (e.g., happiness vs. surprise, anger vs. fear) during the second year (Gendler, Witherington, & Edwards, 2008).
3.3 Emergence of Self-Conscious Emotions
Definition and Types:
Beyond basic emotions, humans develop a second, higher-order set of feelings called self-conscious emotions
(guilt, shame, embarrassment, envy, and pride).
These emotions involve either injury to or enhancement of our sense of self (Lewis, 2014).
Guilt
is felt when we have harmed someone and wish to correct the wrongdoing.
Envy
arises when we desire something another possesses, prompting efforts to restore self-worth by securing that possession.
Shame
or embarrassment
are negative feelings about our behavior, leading to a desire to retreat from others' notice of our failings.
Pride
reflects delight in personal achievements, inclining us to share accomplishments and pursue further challenges (Lewis, 2014).
Developmental Onset:
Self-conscious emotions appear in the middle of the second year (18- to 24-month-olds) as children gain a firm awareness of themselves as separate, unique individuals.
Manifestation in Toddlers:
Toddlers show shame and embarrassment by lowering their eyes, hanging their head, and hiding their face with their hands.
Guilt-like reactions are also observed; for example, a 22-month-old returning a grabbed toy and patting an upset playmate after noticing unhappiness.
Pride and envy similarly emerge around age 2 (Barrett, 2005; Garner, 2003; Lewis, 2014).
Required Ingredients:
Self-awareness: The understanding of oneself as a distinct individual.
Adult instruction: Guidance from adults on when to experience pride, shame, or guilt (e.g., "Look how far you can throw that ball!" or "You should feel ashamed for grabbing that toy!").
Role and Cultural Variations:
Self-conscious emotions play significant roles in children’s achievement-related and moral behaviors.
In Western nations, children are often taught to feel pride in personal achievement (e.g., throwing a ball farthest, winning games, good grades).
In cultures like China and Japan, which promote an interdependent self, drawing attention to individual success may evoke embarrassment and self-effacement.
In these interdependent cultures, violating social standards by failing to show concern for others (e.g., a parent, teacher, employer) instigates intense shame (Lewis, 2014).
Parental Depression and Its Impact on Child Development
Chronic Depression:
About 8 to 10 percent of women experience chronic depression, ranging from mild to severe feelings of sadness, distress, and withdrawal that persist for months or years.
Postpartum depression
is a form of depression that emerges or strengthens after childbirth and fails to subside, even as the new mother adjusts to hormonal changes and gains confidence in infant care.
About 3 to 5 percent of fathers also report symptoms of chronic depression after a child's birth, though this is less recognized and studied (Thombs, Roseman, & Arthurs, 2010).
Parental depression can interfere with effective parenting and seriously impair children’s development.
Genetic makeup increases the risk for depressive illness, but social and cultural factors are also involved.
4.1 Maternal Depression
Impact on Infants:
Infants of depressed mothers often sleep poorly, are less attentive to their surroundings, and have elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol (Fernandes et al., 2015; Goodman et al., 2011; Natsuaki et al., 2014).
The severity of depression and the number of stressors in a mother’s life (e.g., marital discord, lack of social support, poverty) directly correlate with the degree of suffering in the parent–child relationship.
Depressed mothers may rarely smile at, comfort, or talk to their babies, leading infants to respond by turning away, crying, or showing sad/angry expressions themselves (Field, 2011; Vaever et al., 2015).
By age 6 months, babies of depressed mothers often exhibit developmental delays in motor and cognitive skills, poor emotion regulation, an irritable mood, and attachment difficulties. These issues typically persist without intervention (Ibanez et al., 2015; Lefkovics, Baji, & Rigó, 2014; Vedova, 2014).
Parenting Practices:
Depressed mothers frequently view their babies negatively, contributing to inept caregiving (Lee & Hans, 2015).
As children grow, maternal lack of warmth and involvement is often accompanied by inconsistent discipline, which can be either lax or overly forceful (Thomas et al., 2015).
Long-Term Child Outcomes:
Children exposed to maladaptive parenting practices often develop serious adjustment problems, including withdrawal into depression, impulsivity, or aggression.
A study found that children whose mothers were depressed during pregnancy were four times as likely to engage in violent antisocial behavior by age 16, even after controlling for other stressors (Hay et al., 2010).
4.2 Paternal Depression
Impact on Children:
Persistent paternal depression is a strong predictor of child behavior problems, especially overactivity, defiance, and aggression in boys (Ramchandani et al., 2008).
It is linked to frequent marital and father–child conflict as children get older (Gutierrez-Galve et al., 2015; Kane & Garber, 2004).
Children's Perception and Stress Response:
Children subjected to parental negativity often develop a pessimistic worldview, lacking self-confidence and perceiving parents and others as threatening.
These children are particularly prone to becoming overly aroused in stressful situations, easily losing control when facing cognitive and social challenges (Sturge-Apple et al., 2008).
Influencing Factors:
While children of depressed parents may inherit a tendency towards emotional and behavioral problems, the quality of parenting is a major factor in their adjustment.
4.3 Interventions
Importance: Early treatment is crucial to prevent parental depression from negatively impacting the parent–child relationship.
Treatment Approaches:
Therapy can address marital problems and help parents revise negative views of their babies.
Antidepressant medication may be prescribed in some cases.
Therapy focused on encouraging emotionally positive and responsive caregiving is vital for reducing attachment and other developmental problems (Goodman et al., 2015).
Protective Factors:
If a depressed parent is unresponsive to treatment, a warm relationship with the other parent or another caregiver can help safeguard a child’s development.