Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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ers or through providing nurturance
to the infant. Quann and Wien (2006,
28) suggest that one way to support
the development of empathy in young
children is to create a culture of caring
in the early childhood environment:
“Helping children understand the feelings
of others is an integral aspect of
the curriculum of living together. The
relationships among teachers, between
children and teachers, and among
children are fostered with warm and
caring interactions.”
Emotion Regulation
The developing ability to regulate
emotions has received increasing
attention in the research literature
(Eisenberg, Champion, and Ma 2004).
Researchers have generated various
definitions of emotion regulation, and
debate continues as to the most useful
and appropriate way to define this concept
(Eisenberg and Spinrad 2004). As
a construct, emotion regulation reflects
the interrelationship of emotions,
cognitions, and behaviors (Bell and
Wolfe 2004). Young children’s increasing
understanding and skill in the use
of language is of vital importance in
their emotional development, opening
new avenues for communicating about
and regulating emotions (Campos,
Frankel, and Camras 2004) and helping
children to negotiate acceptable
outcomes to emotionally charged situations
in more effective ways. Emotion
regulation is influenced by culture and
the historical era in which a person
lives: cultural variability in regulation
processes is significant (Mesquita
and Frijda 1992). “Cultures vary in
terms of what one is expected to feel,
and when, where, and with whom one
may express different feelings” (Cheah
and Rubin 2003, 3). Adults can provide
positive role models of emotion
regulation through their behavior and
through the verbal and emotional
support they offer children in managing
their emotions. Responsiveness
to infants’ signals contributes to the
development of emotion regulation.
Adults support infants’ development
of emotion regulation by minimizing
exposure to excessive stress, chaotic
environments, or over- or understimulation.
Emotion regulation skills are important
in part because they play a role
in how well children are liked by peers
and teachers and how socially competent
they are perceived to be (National
Scientific Council on the Developing
Child 2004). Children’s ability to
regulate their emotions appropriately
can contribute to perceptions of their
overall social skills as well as to the
extent to which they are liked by peers
(Eisenberg and others 1993). Poor
emotion regulation can impair children’s
thinking, thereby compromising
their judgment and decision making
(National Scientific Council on the
Developing Child 2004). At kindergarten
entry, children demonstrate broad
variability in their ability to self-regulate
(National Research Council and
Institute of Medicine 2000).
Impulse Control
Children’s developing capacity to
control impulses helps them adapt to
social situations and follow rules. As
infants grow, they become increasingly
able to exercise voluntary control over
behavior such as waiting for needs to
be met, inhibiting potentially hurtful
behavior, and acting according to
social expectations, including safety