Emotional Development in Young Children

by Denham, Susanne A.

• ISBN13: 9781572303522
• ISBN10: 1572303522
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-07-24
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

The ability to express, understand, and regulate emotions is a crucial element in individual functioning and interpersonal interaction. This important volume presents a fresh look at early child development by exploring the very beginnings of emotional competence in young children. What do toddlers and preschoolers understand about their own and other people's feelings? What are the connections between emotions, socialization, and healthy relationships? How do changes in other areas of development, like cognition, fuel emotional competencies? What problems ensue when emotional development is delayed, and how can they be ameliorated? Including numerous case studies, original findings, and an extensive review of the literature, the book sheds light on the emotional experience of the very young and points toward exciting directions for future research.

Author Biography

Susanne Denham, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at George Mason University. She received her doctorate in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Maryland at Baltimore County in 1985. Previously, she worked as a school psychologist with preschoolers and infants for 11 years.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction	1	(18)
The Nature of Emotion	4	(5)
Developmental Change in Toddlers' and Preschoolers' Emotional Competence	9	(1)
Individual Differences in Emotional Competence	10	(3)
The Complex Linkage between Emotional and Social Competence	13	(1)
Disturbances in the Development of Emotional Competence	14	(2)
Studying the Young Child's Emotional Life: This Volume and Beyond	16	(3)
Chapter 2. Emotional Expressiveness	19	(39)
Expression and Experience of Emotions across the Lifespan	21	(2)
Information Imparted by Emotional Experience and Expression	23	(3)
Basic Emotions: Change across Time	26	(2)
Individual Differences in Basic Emotions: Stability across Time	28	(2)
The Developing Experience and Expression of Self-Conscious and Social Emotions	30	(2)
A Social Emotion: Empathy	32	(7)
Self-Conscious Emotions: Guilt, Shame, Pride, and Embarrassment	39	(9)
A Caution Regarding Self-Conscious and Social Emotions	48	(1)
Voluntary Management of Emotional Expression	49	(7)
Chapter Summary	56	(1)
Notes	57	(1)
Chapter 3. Understanding of Emotions	58	(45)
Labeling Emotional Expressions	60	(1)
Identifying Emotion-Eliciting Situations	61	(2)
Comprehending Causes and Consequences of Emotions	63	(13)
Using Emotion Language	76	(3)
More Sophisticated Understanding of Others' Emotional Experience	79	(7)
Becoming Aware of Emotion Regulation Strategies	86	(4)
Developing a Knowledge of Emotion Display Rules	90	(5)
Developing a Knowledge of Simultaneous Emotions and Ambivalence	95	(4)
Developing a Knowledge of Complex Emotions	99	(1)
Chapter Summary	100	(2)
Note	102	(1)
Chapter 4. Socialization of Emotional Expressiveness and Understanding	103	(44)
Mechanisms of Socialization: Modeling, Coaching, and Contingency	105	(2)
Socialization of Emotional Expressiveness	107	(24)
Socialization of Understanding of Emotions	131	(14)
Chapter Summary and Call for Continued Progress	145	(1)
Notes	146	(1)
Chapter 5. Emotion Regulation	147	(23)
Defining Emotion Regulation	149	(1)
The Components of Emotion Regulation	150	(7)
Developmental Trajectory and Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation	157	(11)
Chapter Summary	168	(1)
Notes	169	(1)
Chapter 6. Contributions of Emotional Expressiveness, Understanding, and Coping to Social Competence	170	(20)
Contributions of Expressiveness to Social Competence	172	(6)
Contributions of Understanding of Emotions to Social Competence	178	(5)
Contributions of Emotion Regulation to Social Competence	183	(2)
Direct Contributions of Parents' Emotion-Related Socialization to Social Competence	185	(3)
Chapter Summary	188	(1)
Notes	189	(1)
Chapter 7. Disruptions in the Development of Emotional Competence and Interventions to Ameliorate Them	190	(36)
Biological Contributions to Disruptions in Emotional Competence	191	(4)
Environmental Contributions to Disruptions in Emotional Competence	195	(6)
Mixed Contributions	201	(4)
Means of Assessing Young Children's Emotional Competence	205	(8)
Interventions to Ameliorate Deficits in Young Children's Emotional Competence	213	(7)
Advice for Parents and Early Childhood Educators	220	(5)
Notes	225	(1)
References	226	(27)
Index	253