How does emotional development occur in childhood?

Knowing how the emotional facet of young people evolves is fundamental at home and at school.

In the last decade, the boom in the study of emotions and their influence on the psychological well-being of human beings has revolutionized the conception of emotions, giving them a role as fundamental as cognitive processes had at the end of the last century.

But... How does the maturation of this capacity take place in the human being during the first years of life?

What is meant by emotional development?

Since emotional development is a phenomenon that consists of many components, when describing and conceptualizing it, the following axes should be considered the following axes should be taken into account: 

• How emotions arise.
• What emotional reactivity consists of and how it is produced in relation to one's own temperament.
• The evolution of emotional expression according to the stages of development.
• How the development of emotional self- and hetero-awareness occurs.
• What mechanisms are set in motion in emotional self-regulation.

Since the human being is a social being, emotional and social development are linked in his nature; through the first one, the second one is achieved.The first leads to the second, since through the identification, experimentation and communication of emotions (expression and understanding) and through empathy and training in social skills (both key elements of emotional development), the establishment of social relationships between the individual and the rest of the beings around him/her can take place.

As discussed above, the ultimate purpose of emotions refers to issues related to communication between individuals. between individuals. It could be said, therefore, that it presents an adaptive function to the environment and motivates the individual's behavior to achieve certain objectives.

In the process of emotional development, so complex and multifactorial, in the first months of life the infant initiates incipient associations between the external situations that occur and the resulting emotional reactions observed in the caregiving figures. At six months of age, an infant can respond to displays of affection with positive emotions, as well as to potentially dangerous situations with less pleasant emotions.

Even so, their understanding of the relationship between behavior and emotional state is very limited: their emotional reactivity maintains a very close relationship with the child's temperament, so that the level of internal emotional self-control is very low during this stage, being the caregivers the ones who make it possible.

Symbolic play and emotional bonding

The most relevant milestone that will mark a before and after in the child's emotional development will be the attainment of the capacity for symbolic play, usually around the age of two. At this time they begin to represent their own and other's emotional states through language, which is the previous step to thewhich implies the previous step to the development of empathy.

In spite of the fact that the beginning of the adolescence indicates the consolidation of the emotional development of the individualwhere the understanding of one's own and others' emotional states takes place in a more satisfactory and deeper way, its application is not complete since the processes involved in this vital stage hinder the manifestations of the first one.

During adolescence, children carry out cognitive reasoning through hypothetical-deductive logic, from which they compare and base their understanding and emotional expression on previous personal experiences that provide them with sufficient information to correctly interpret the new situation they are facing.

On the other hand, although they they sharpen their empathic capacityThey are also characterized by a psychological egocentrism whereby they are very focused on the image of themselves that is transmitted to others and the type of evaluations that others can make of their personal characteristics. Therefore, one of the main goals is to work on and maintain a positive self-concept to offer to themselves and to others.

In addition, because at the neuroanatomical level the adolescent brain is not yet fully complete (especially in terms of prefrontal structures and synapses, which are responsible for decision making and for ensuring the expression of mature or adult behavior), in adolescence there is great variability in the quality and intensity of emotional expression. there is a great variability in the quality and intensity of emotional expressionThis is the reason for the frequent transition to opposite moods in very short periods of time, the so-called emotional lability.

The role of the school environment

Parallel to the family context, the school also becomes a very important socializing agent for the child and plays a very relevant role in the child's emotional development.

Thus, today's school is not only understood as a transmitter of instrumental and technical knowledge, but also as an agent for the socialization of children.It is also among its main functions to educate the student in the acquisition of values and ethical and moral principles, in promoting the achievement of critical reasoning, in the assumption of appropriate modes of behavior and attitudes to live in society (achieving their understanding), in learning a series of social skills and abilities that allow them to establish satisfactory interpersonal ties and even in the resolution of vital problems.

To consolidate all these aspects, it is essential to achieve an adequate emotional development, since all psychological processes involve both cognitive and emotional aspects.

On the other hand, achieving an adequate emotional development also makes it possible for the child to adopt an optimistic attitude towards life. in the achievement of academic objectives and a more adaptive self-perception of school competence, which leads to the promotion of a more manifest achievement motivation that facilitates the maintenance of this state of motivation and will to improve their learning capacity. All this makes them more resistant and less vulnerable to criticism and social comparisons which, although unconsciously made, are established in relation to the results obtained by the child and by peers.

Attributional style

Another very relevant aspect in which the school has a considerable responsibility is in the establishment of the attributional style of the students. The attributional style is defined as the process by which the individual assigns the cause to the situations he/she faces.

In recent times there has been a paradigm shift in terms of the importance of fostering emotional intelligence. Empirical evidence is beginning to emerge that emotional intelligence has a very strong emotional intelligence has a very strong influence on everyday decision making.The development of this competency is a complex one, and its development is gradual and slow, spanning approximately the first two decades of life.

Being such a complex competence, its development takes place gradually and slowly, covering approximately the first two decades of life. Therefore, the achievement of an adequate establishment during childhood and adolescence are going to be determinant in the emotional (psychological) functioning in adult life.

Bibliographical references:

• Bach, E., and Darder, P. (2002). Sedúcete para seducir: vivir y educar las emociones. Barcelona: Paidós.

• Berk, L. (1999). Desarrollo del niño y del adolescente. Madrid: Prentice Hall Iberia.

• López, F., Etxebarría, I., Fuentes, M.J., Ortiz, M. J. (Cood.) (1999) Desarrollo afectivo y social. Madrid: Pirámide.

• Trianes, M.V., and Gallardo, J.A. (coord.) (2000). Psicología de la Educación y del Desarrollo. Pirámide.