MIDDLE CHILDHOOD: SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT Chapter Thirteen

Theories of Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood

What Are Some Features of Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood? Psychoanalytic Theory  Freud’s latency period  Erikson’s industry versus inferiority Social Cognitive Theory  Depend less on external rewards and punishments  Increase regulation of their behavior Cognitive-Developmental Theory  Decrease in egocentrism  Capacity to see the perspective of others

What Is the Relationship Between Social Cognition and Perspective-Taking? Social Cognition  Development of knowledge about the social world  Understanding the relationship between self and others Key to development of social cognition  Ability to assume the perspective of another  Five levels of perspective-taking skills

Development of Self-Concept in Middle Childhood Children progress from  Focus on external (appearance) to  Internal characteristics Social relationships and group memberships are significant  Females more likely to define themselves in terms of groups

Development of Self-Concept in Middle Childhood Competence and social acceptance contribute to self- esteem  As children begin self appraisal, self-esteem initially declines Gender differences in self-esteem  Girls – higher on reading, academics, and helping others  Boys – higher on math, physical ability, and physical appearance

Development of Self-Concept in Middle Childhood Influences on self-esteem  Socialization and gender stereotypes  Parenting style  Relationship to parents  Social acceptance by peers  Genetics

What Is Learned Helplessness, and How Does It Develop? Acquired belief that one cannot obtain the rewards one seeks  “Helpless child” quits following failure  Doubt ability and believe success is based on ability, less on effort Gender Differences  Girls have less confidence in math than boys  Even when they are performing at a comparable level

The Family

What Kinds of Influences Does the Family Exert During Middle Childhood? Parent – Child Relationships  Focus on school-related matters, chores, peer activities  Coregulation – transfer of control from parent to child  Spend less time with parents than during younger years  Become more critical of parents  View parents as main source of emotional support

What Are the Effects of Having Lesbian or Gay Parents? Research Focus  General adjustment  Comparable to children of heterosexual parents  Sexual orientation  Prefer toys, clothing, and friends typical for their sex and age  Generally heterosexual orientation

What Happens to Children Whose Parents Get Divorced? Divorce impacts all aspects of family life  Difficult to isolate effects of divorce Typical conflict is with child rearing  Young child may feel responsible for conflict Children of divorce  More likely to have conduct disorders, lower self-esteem, drug abuse and poor grades  Physical health may decline, at least temporarily  More impact during first year

What Are the Effects of Divorce on the Children? Decline in quality of parenting and financial status Cross-cultural research shows consistent effects Boys tend to have a harder time coping with divorce  Tend to take longer to recover Status of mother related to child’s well-being Psychological treatment is helpful for children  Many programs also involve parent

Life in Stepfamilies No conclusive effects of living in stepfamilies Unique risks in stepfamilies  Greater risk of being physically abused by stepparents  Infanticide occurs 60 times as often in stepfamilies  Higher incidence of sexual abuse by stepparents

Should Parents Remain Married ‘For the Sake of the Children’? Parental conflict  Linked to problems similar to divorce  Creates a physical stress reaction in children Adjustment problems  Present in children of divorce  May be greater in children living with parental conflict

What Are the Effects of Parental Employment on Children? Greatest concern is lack of supervision No evidence of negative effects Some indication of positive effects  Greater independence, emotional maturity, and higher achievement orientation  Employed mothers were less depressed than working-class full-time homemakers  Extra income improves financial well-being  More flexible gender roles

Peer Relationships

What Is the Influence of Peers During Middle Childhood? Socialization Influence  Increasing importance of peers  Exert pressure to conform  Broaden children Difference relating to parents versus peers  Learn appropriate emotional responses  Peers may serve as a sounding board  Peers provide “real-world” practice

What Are the Characteristics of Popular and Rejected Children? Popular Children  Tend to be attractive and mature for age  Socially skilled  Have higher self-esteem and success Rejected Children  Show behavioral and learning problems  Are aggressive and disruptive Aggressive Children  Tend to seek out other aggressive children

How Do Children’s Concepts of Friendship Develop? Early Middle Childhood  Friendships based on proximity, shared activities 8- to 11-year-olds  Friends are nice to each other and trustworthy  Pick friends similar in personality and behavior Tend to be segregated by sex  Girls develop closer friendships

How Do Children’s Concepts of Friendship Develop? Five Stages of Concepts of Friendship (Selman, 1980) Childhood friends interact differently  More verbal, attentive, expressive, responsive to each other  More cooperation  Less intense conflict and strive to maintain positive interaction Typically report more than one ‘best’ friend Boys tend to play in larger groups than girls  Gender segregated friendship groups

The School

What Are the Effects of the School on Children’s Social and Emotional Development? Schools  Set limits on behavior  Make demands for mature behavior  Have a direct influence on IQ, achievement orientation, and career aspirations  Are competitive environments

Entry Into School: Getting to Know You Upon starting school, children must  Meet academic challenges  Learn new expectations  Fit into peer group Three factors to consider in school readiness  Diversity and inequity of early life experiences  Individual differences in development and learning  Reasonable and appropriate expectations of children’s capabilities

What Are the Characteristics of a Good School? Effective schools have  Energetic leadership  Empowered teachers and students  Orderly atmosphere  Academic curriculum with frequent assessment  High expectations for students Smaller class size

The Influence of Teachers On student performance  Management of the classroom  Emotional climate of classroom Teacher expectations  Pygmalion effect  Expectations can become self-fulfilling prophecies Sexism in the classroom  Girls are treated unequally by teachers, peers, tests, and curriculum  Sexual harassment of girls by boys is often ignored by teachers

Social and Emotional Problems

What Are Conduct Disorders? Conduct disorders  Child consistently breaks rules or violates rights of others  Emerge around age 8, more prevalent in boys  Tend to endure Origins of conduct disorder  Genetic component  Inconsistent discipline, antisocial family members, deviant peers Treatment of conduct disorders  Cognitive behavioral techniques involving parent training  Teach children social, coping, and problem-solving skills

What Is Childhood Depression? Depressed children  Feel sad, down in the dumps  Show poor appetite, insomnia, difficulty concentrating  Loss of self-esteem and of interest in people and activities they enjoy  Feel hopeless and show thoughts of suicide Many children do not recognize their own depression until age 7  Cognitive development to perceive internal states Estimate 5% to 9% of children are seriously depressed in any year

What Is Childhood Depression? Origins of depression  Low levels of social and academic competence  Stressful life events and poor problem solving  Attribute failures to internal, stable, and global factors  Genetic factors Treatment of depression  Psychotherapy  Antidepressants

Childhood Anxiety Generalized anxiety disorder Phobias Separation anxiety disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder

What Is Separation Anxiety Disorder? Persistent and excessive separation anxiety  Inappropriate for developmental level  Interferes with activities Children with SAD  Cling to parents and may refuse to attend school Frequently develops after stressful life event

What Are the Connections Between Separation Anxiety Disorder, School Phobia, and School Refusal? SAD may be expressed as school phobia School phobia – fear of school or refusal to attend  May occur outside of presence of SAD School refusal  May occur for reasons other than fear or anxiety Treatments  Get the child to attend school  Cognitive-behavioral approaches  Antidepressant medication