Social Emotional Development

SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT
DR. ANNALIZA ROSARIO PAULINO-DY
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN
Social development refers to the process by which a child learns to interact with others around them.
As they develop and perceive their own individuality within their community, they also gain skills to
communicate with other people and process their actions. Social development most often refers to how a
child develops friendships and other relationships, as well how a child handles conflict with peers.
A child’s social development—her ability to interact with other children and adults—is a critical piece
of the development puzzle.
WHY IS SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SO
IMPORTANT?
Social development can actually impact many of the other forms of development a child experiences.
A child’s ability to interact in a healthy way with the people around her can impact everything from
learning new words as a toddler, to being able to resist peer pressure as a high school student, to
successfully navigating the challenges of adulthood. Healthy social development can help your child:
Develop language skills.
An ability to interact with other children allows for more opportunities to practice and learn speech
and language skills. This is a positive cycle, because as communication skills improve, a child is better able
to relate to and react to the people around him.
Build self esteem.
Other children provide a child with some of her most exciting and fun experiences. When a young
child is unable to make friends it can be frustrating or even painful. A healthy circle of friends reinforces a
child’s comfort level with her own individuality.
WHY IS SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SO
IMPORTANT?
Strengthen learning skills.
In addition to the impact social development can have on general communication skills, many
researchers believe that having healthy relationships with peers (from preschool on up) allows for
adjustment to different school settings and challenges. Studies show that children who have a hard time
getting along with classmates as early as preschool are more likely to experience later academic difficulties.
Resolve conflicts.
Stronger self esteem and better language skills can ultimately lead to a better ability to resolve
differences with peers.
Establish positive attitude.
A positive attitude ultimately leads to better relationships with others and higher levels of self
confidence.
HOW CAN PARENTS MAKE A DIFFERENCE WHEN IT COMES TO
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT?
Studies show that everyday experiences with parents are fundamental to a child’s
developing social skill-set. Parents provide a child with their very first opportunities to develop
a relationship, communicate and interact. As a parent, you also model for your child every day
how to interact with the people around you.
Because social development is not talked about as much as some other developmental
measures, it can be hard for parents to understand the process AND to evaluate how their child
is developing in this area. There are some basic developmental milestones at every age, as well
as some helpful tips a parent can use to support their child.
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
DOMAIN
Social-emotional development includes the child’s experience, expression, and management of
emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others (Cohen and others
2005). It encompasses both intra- and interpersonal processes.
The core features of emotional development include the ability to identify and understand one’s own
feelings, to accurately read and comprehend emotional states in others, to manage strong emotions and
their expression in a constructive manner, to regulate one’s own behavior, to develop empathy for others,
and to establish and maintain relationships. (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child 2004).
Healthy social-emotional development for infants and toddlers unfolds in an interpersonal context,
namely that of positive ongoing relationships with familiar, nurturing adults. Young children are particularly
attuned to social and emotional stimulation.
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
DOMAIN
Responsive caregiving supports infants in beginning to regulate their emotions and to develop a sense
of predictability, safety, and responsiveness in their social environments. Early relationships are so
important to developing infants that research experts have broadly concluded that, in the early years,
“nurturing, stable and consistent relationships are the key to healthy growth, development and learning”
(National Research Council and Institute of Medicine 2000).
Experiences with family members and teachers provide an opportunity for young children to learn
about social relationships and emotions through exploration and predictable interactions.
Emotion and cognition work together, jointly informing the child’s impressions of situations and
influencing behavior. Most learning in the early years occurs in the context of emotional supports (National
Research Council and Institute of Medicine 2000).
Emotions and social behaviors affect the young child’s ability to persist in goal-oriented activity, to
seek help when it is needed, and to participate in and benefit from relationships.
INTERACTIONS WITH ADULTS
Children develop the ability to both respond to adults and engage with them first through
predictable interactions in close relationships with parents or other caring adults at home and
outside the home. Children use and build upon the skills learned through close relationships to
interact with less familiar adults in their lives.
Quality in early childhood programs is, in large part, a function of the interactions that take
place between the adults and children in those programs. These interactions form the basis for
the relationships that are established between teachers and children in the classroom or home
and are related to children’s developmental status. How teachers interact with children is at the
very heart of early childhood education (Kontos and Wilcox-Herzog 1997, 11).
INTERACTIONS WITH PEERS
Through interactions with peers, infants explore their interest in others and learn about social
behavior/social interaction. Interactions with peers provide the context for social learning and problem
solving, including the experience of social exchanges, cooperation, turn-taking, and the demonstration of
the beginning of empathy.
Howes’ (1983) research suggests that there are distinctive patterns of friendship for the infant,
toddler, and preschooler age groups. The three groups vary in the number of friendships, the stability of
friendships, and the nature of interaction between friends (for example, the extent to which they involve
object exchange or verbal communication).
IDENTITY OF SELF IN RELATION TO OTHERS
Infants’ social-emotional development includes an emerging awareness of

self and others. Infants demonstrate this foundation in a number of ways. For
example, they can respond to their names, point to their body parts when
asked, or name members of their families. Through an emerging understanding
of other people in their social environment, children gain an understanding of
their roles within their families and communities. They also become aware of
their own preferences and characteristics and those of others.
RECOGNITION OF ABILITY
Infants’ developing sense of self-efficacy includes an emerging

understanding that they can make things happen and that they have particular
abilities. Self-efficacy is related to a sense of competency, which has been
identified as a basic human need (Connell 1990). The development of children’s
sense of self-efficacy may be seen in play or exploratory behaviors when they
act on an object to produce a result. For example, they pat a musical toy to
make sounds come out. Older infants may demonstrate recognition of ability
through “I” statements, such as “I did it” or “I’m good at drawing.”
EXPRESSION OF EMOTION
Even early in infancy, children express their emotions through facial expressions, vocalizations, and
body language. The later ability to use words to express emotions gives young children a valuable tool in
gaining the assistance or social support of others (Saarni and others 2006). Temperament may play a role in
children’s expression of emotion.
Both the understanding and expression of emotion are influenced by culture. Cultural factors affect
children’s growing understanding of the meaning of emotions, the developing knowledge of which
situations lead to which emotional outcomes, and their learning about which emotions are appropriate to
display in which situations (Thompson and Goodvin 2005).
Young children’s expression of positive and negative emotions may play a significant role in their
development of social relationships. Positive emotions appeal to social partners and seem to enable
relationships to form, while problematic management or expression of negative emotions leads to difficulty
in social relationships (Denham and Weissberg 2004).

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Infants’ social-emotional development includes an emerging awareness of

Infants’ developing sense of self-efficacy includes an emerging

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