1. Chapter 13 Middle Childhood: Social and Emotional Development

2. Middle Childhood: Social and Emotional Development Truth or Fiction?
Children’s self-esteem tends to rise in middle childhood.
Parents who are in conflict should stay together “for the sake of the children.”

3. Middle Childhood: Social and Emotional Development Truth or Fiction?
The daughters of employed women are more achievement-oriented and set themselves higher career goals than the daughters of unemployed women.
In middle childhood, popular children tend to be attractive and relatively mature for their age.

4. Middle Childhood: Social and Emotional Development Truth or Fiction?
Teachers who have higher expectations of students may elicit greater achievements from them.
Teachers are more likely to accept calling out in class from boys than girls.

5. Middle Childhood: Social and Emotional Development Truth or Fiction?
Some children—like some adults—blame themselves for all the problems in their lives whether they deserve the blame or not.
It is better for children with school phobia to remain at home until the origins of the problem are uncovered and resolved.

6. Theories of Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood

7. 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

8. What Is the Relationship Between Social Cognition and Perspective Taking?
Development of knowledge about the world
Understanding relationship between self and others
Children progress through five levels of perspective taking

9. How Does Self-Concept Develop in Middle Childhood?
Focus on external (appearance) to internal characteristics
Social relationships and group memberships are significant

10. Lessons in Observation: The Self-Concept

11. Lessons in Observation: The Self-Concept
When asked to describe themselves by telling three things about themselves, the responses of Todd and Christopher are very different from the response of Rachel, Stephanie, and Ricardo. How do each of these children describe themselves?
Based on these self-descriptions, how old would you estimate the children to be? Why?

12. Lessons in Observation: The Self-Concept
What evidence of social comparison is present in the response of the children in the video?
How are social comparisons related to a child’s self-esteem?

13. Lessons in Observation: The Self-Concept
When do children begin to incorporate psychological traits into their self-descriptions?
How does this relate to cognitive development?
Do the children in the video show age-related differences in their descriptions of themselves?
In what ways does self-concept typically change over the course of middle childhood?

14. How Does Self-Esteem Develop 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 and academics
Boys—higher on math, physical ability and physical appearance
Influences on self-esteem
Parenting style
Relationship to parents
Social acceptance by peers

15. What Is Learned Helplessness, and How Does It Develop?
Acquired belief one cannot obtain rewards
“Helpless child” quits following failure
Doubt ability and believe success is based on ability
Sex and Learned Helplessness
Girls feel more helpless in math and science than business

16. The Family

17. What Kinds of Influences Are Exerted by the Family During Middle Childhood?
Parent-Child Relationships
Focus on school-related matters, chores, peer activities
Coregulation—transfer of control from parent to child
View parents as main source of emotional support

18. What Kinds of Influences Are Exerted by the Family During Middle Childhood?

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

20. What Are the Effects of Divorce on Children?
Divorce impacts all aspects of family life
Difficult to isolate effects of divorce
Children of divorce
Experience multiple sources of anxiety
Experience greatest impact during first year
Boys seem to have more difficulty adjusting
Decline in quality of parenting and financial status
Role of status of mother related to child’s well-being

21. Life in Stepfamilies No conclusive effects of living in stepfamilies
Unique risks in stepfamilies
Infanticide occurs 60 times more often in stepfamilies
Slightly higher incidence of sexual abuse

22. Should Parents Who Bicker Remain Together for the Children?
Parental conflict
Linked to problems similar to divorce
Adjustment problems
Present in children of divorce
May be greater in children living with parental conflict

23. What Are the Effects of Maternal Employment on Children?
Greatest concern is lack of supervision
No evidence of negative effects
Some indication of positive effects
Greater independence, responsibility and competence
More flexible gender roles

24. Peer Relationships

25. What Is the Impact of Peers During Middle Childhood?
Socialization Influence
Increasing importance of peers
Exert pressure to conform
Broaden children
Difference relating to parents versus peers
Some indication of positive effects
Peers provide “real-world” practice

26. 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

27. 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
Tends to be segregated by sex
Girls develop closer friendships

28. The School

29. What Are the Effects of School on Children’s Social and Emotional Development?
Entry into school
School experience makes multiple demands on children
School readiness is determined by
Child’s early life experiences
Child’s development and learning
Reasonable expectations for students
Poor health care and lack of support put students at risk

30. 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
Similar class size

31. Bullying—An Epidemic of Misbehavior and Fear
A Closer Look
Bullying—An Epidemic of Misbehavior and Fear

32. The Influence of Teachers
On student performance
Teacher’s behavior
Emotional climate of classroom
Teacher expectations
Expectations can become self-fulfilling prophesies
Sexism in the classroom
Girls are treated unequally by teachers, peers, tests, and curriculum

33. Social and Emotional Problems

34. What Are 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

35. What Is Depression? Depressed children Origins of depression
Show poor appetite, insomnia, difficulty concentrating
Loss of self-esteem and interest in people and activities they enjoy
Feel hopeless and show thoughts of suicide
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
Treatment of depression
Psychotherapy
Antidepressants

36. 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

37. 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

38. Developing in a World of Diversity
Problems? No Problem.
(For Some Children.)