How should we understand

child development ?
What is the child like?

Emotionate

(i-m-sh(-)nt):

1. characterized by emotional apperception,

sensitivity, and/or insight (her sympathic response
showed that she was an emotionate child)
2. marked by special bearing upon, reference to,
or involvement with emotional understanding (an
emotionate side to his nature)

 emotion is an organizer of behavioral competence

Security of
Attachment
Age 4

Emotional
Competence
Age 4

Social
Competence
Age 5

Adapted from Denham, S., Blair, K., Schmidt, M., & DeMulder, E. (2002). Compromised emotional
competence: Seeds of violence sown early? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 72, 70-82.

Verbal Ability

Emotional
Knowledge

Age 5

Age 5

Academic
Competence
Age 9

Izard C.E., Fine, S., Schultz, D., Mostrow, A., Ackerman, B., & Youngstrom, E. (2001). Emotion knowledge as a predictor
of social and academic competence in children at risk. Psychological Science, 12, 18-23

 emotion is an entre into others internal experience,

as well as understanding oneself as a person.
for young children, a human connection to others
Its hard when you feel so angry.

Youre going AAAH, hes bouncing

my guy off there! Right?
How did the other kids feel when

you shut off the game?

It makes you sad thinking about it,

doesnt it?
You know, after you stopped the

game, the other guys said, You

know, Joey wasnt really doing so bad.
You thought you were losing, but you
werent.

 emotion is organized and regulated by relational

experience

0.35
0.3

Salivary Cortisol

0.25
0.2

Secure Attachment

0.15

Insecure Attachment

0.1
0.05
0
-0.05
-0.1

LOW
HIGH
Toddler Temperamental Fear

Nachnias, M., Gunnar, M., Mangelsdorf, S., Parritz, R. H., & Buss, K. (1996). Behavioral inhibition and stress reactivity: The
moderating role of attachment security. Child Development, 67, 508-522.

 emotion is the foundation for early social

representations

(social) contingency awareness

expectations arising from distress-relief sequences
differential expectations for fathers and mothers
early desire psychology (theory of mind)
social domain distinctions (moral vs. social
conventional rule violations)
early attributions of psychological motives and traits
hostile attribution bias

the emotionate child . . .

conscience development
prosocial motivation
self-awareness
social cognition

Conscience Development
Based on the development of a mutually
responsive orientation between mother and
child (also attachment security)
Enlists capacities for emotion understanding and
empathy, and moral emotions such as guilt
Temperamental individuality interacts with
maternal disciplinary approach, particularly
fearfulness and effortful control
Engages the childs moral self
This is not your preconventional child

Mother-Child Conflict: Its Relations to

Socioemotional Understanding at age 3
Sample:
63 children at 30 and 36 months"
Measures:"
at 30 months: detailed assessments of discourse in
mother-child conflict"
at 36 months: measures of conscience, emotion
understanding, representations of family relationships"

Laible, D. J., & Thompson, R. A. (2002). Mother-child conflict in the toddler years: Lessons in emotion, morality, and
relationships. Child Development, 73, 1187-1203.

Discourse measures:"
Conflict themes

(e.g., possessions, rules)"

References to emotions, needs, moral evaluatives,

"rules, & consequences by either mother or child"

Conflict resolution strategy

(e.g., use of justifications /

"aggravation, mitigating conflict)"

Resolution initiative
"

(who is responsible for resolving

"the conflict?)"

Predicting conscience development at 36 mos."

Predictor
"
"

"
"

R2

R2
F
at final"
change change
step"

1. Gender "
.12** .12**
2. Mitigation
"
"
"
Justification/"
low aggravation
"
"
Ref. to emotions
Ref. to rules "
"
"
Ref. to consequences"
"
Initiative resolve .37** .25**
*

p < .05

**

p < .01"

8.54**
"
"

.39**"
.09"

"

.35**"
.35**"
.07"
-.15"
.07"

"
"
"
"
"
"
2.45*

Prosocial Motivation

What are the predictors of individual

differences in prosocial behavior in toddlers?

Predictors of toddlers prosocial behavior . . .

Emotion language: the Internal State Language
Questionnaire (modified from Bretherton & Beeghly,
1982) assesses toddlers use of words associated with
emotion via parental report.
Anxious support seeking: scored from an independent
assessment of toddlers free play behavior in an
unfamiliar setting as the number of seconds the child
played independently without seeking mothers
attention.
Newton, E. K., Thompson, R. A., & Goodman, M. (in prep.). Individual differences in toddlers prosocial
behavior: The influence of attachment behavior and internal state language. Manuscript in preparation.

Regression predicting toddlers prosocial behavior in

sad and neutral conditions
"

"

"

"Sad

"

"

Variable

"

"B

SE B

!B

SE B

Emotion language

.31

.11

.41**

.08

.12

.12

Anxious support
seeking
"

.01

.01

.01

.01

.24

R2

.24

"

"

.06

4.99*

"

"

.99

F for change in R2
"
"
* p < .05

** p < .01!

"

-.34*

Neutral

Self-Awareness

These puppets are writing a story about children your age. They will
tell you about themselves, and then you can tell them about yourself.
I like to play by myself.

I like to play with friends.

How about you?

Dimensions of Self-Awareness
in Young Children
4- and 5-year-olds1

Timidity
Agreeableness
Negative affect
Positive self-concept

4 - to 7 -year-olds2

Depression anxiety
Aggression hostility
Social competence
Peer acceptance
Academic / Achievement

5 -year-olds3

Self-control
Self-acceptance via
achievement / affiliation

4- and 5-year-olds4

Self-concept in domains

1: Brown et al., 2008; Goodvin et al., 2008; 2: Measelle et al., 1998; 3: Eder, 1990; 4: Marsh et al., 2002

Sample:
33 children (mean age 4 years at time 1 and 5 years
at time 2) and their mothers"
Measures:"
At each age:"
Childrens Self-View Questionnaire"
Attachment Q-sort (home observation)"
Maternal emotional risks (self-reported depressive
symptoms and parenting stress via maternal
questionnaire)"
Goodvin, R., Meyer, S., Thompson, R. A., & Hayes, R. (2008). Self-understanding in early childhood:
Associations with attachment security, maternal perceptions of the child, and maternal emotional risk.
Attachment & Human Development, 10(4), 433-450.

Predicting positive self concept at age 5"

Predictor

R2

R2change

at final step

Step 1

Attachment (age 5)
Attachment (age 4)

.14
.36**

.36**

.53**

Step 2

Maternal Emo Risks .46**

F (3,29)=8.37, p<.01

.11*

* p<.05 **p<.01

-.33*

Social Cognition
. . . mental representations (are) a bridge between childrens
early experiences and their later (social) expectations and
behavior.
Dweck & London, 2004

Early
Social
Experience

Social
Representations

Social
Behavior

Sample drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth
Development:
1,016 children and families from 10 sites nationwide, recruited
immediately after birth and followed to age 15.
Raikes, H. A., & Thompson, R. A. (2008). Attachment security and parenting quality predict children's problemsolving, attributions, and loneliness with peers. Attachment & Human Development, 10(3), 1-26.

Social cognitive measures in early childhood:

Negative attribution bias (54 months): Childrens descriptions
of intent by the story character in response to 4 cartoon
stories describing ambiguous social situations
Social problem solving skills (54 months): Childrens responses
to 5 stories describing social problems; scoring for socially
competent solutions
Negative attribution bias (1st grade): Childrens responses to 8
stories with aggression and rejection themes; asked to explain
peer intent and what they would do next
Aggressive solutions (1st grade): Childrens aggressive
responses to the ambiguous social situations in the 8 stories
described above
Loneliness (1st grade): Childrens responses to a short
interview with 16 questions describing feelings of loneliness

Early relational predictors of social cognition:

Security of attachment assesssed at 3 ages:
15 months (Strange Situation)
24 months (Attachment Q-sort)
36 months (modified Strange Situation)
Maternal sensitivity ratings based on 15-minute mother-child play
sessions at home (15 and 24 months) or in the lab (36 and 54
months)
Maternal depressive symptomatology measured using Centers for
Epidemiological Studies Depression subscale at 15, 24, 36, 54
months, and first grade.

Negative
Attributions
54 mos

Socially
Competent
Solutions

Loneliness
1st grade

Aggressive
Solutions

Negative
Attributions

1st grade

1st grade

54 mos.
Early

Maternal
Depression
Early

Maternal
Sensitivi t y

Later

Maternal
Depression
Later

Maternal
Sensitivi t y
15 month
Attachment
24 month
Attachment
36 month
Attachment

Avoidant
>
Secure

Avoidant
<
Secure

Resistant
>
Secure

Note: All associations reported in this chart were significant at or lesser than the p<.05 level.

Resistant
>
Secure

Interim summary . . .
Early experiences of emotion particularly in close
relationships contribute to the development of
dynamic representations of self, other people, and
social interactions that are affectively colored,
relationally guided, and integrative.

Internal working models

Consistent with attachment theory, these early
representations become emotionally and conceptually
elaborated with the influence of language in the
context of parent-child conversation.

Child: "
"

"Eat my Weetabix. Eat my Weetabix."

"Crying."

Mother:
"
"

"Crying, werent you? We had quite a "

"battle. One more mouthful, Michael."
"And what did you do? You spat it out!"

Child: "

"(pretends to cry)"
(from Dunn & Brown, 1991)"

Emotion Understanding and the Family Emotional Climate

Sample:
42 children: mean age 2 years at time 1
3 years at time 2
Measures:
at 2 years:

-- Attachment Q-sort
-- CESD (maternal depression)
-- Maternal report of emotional risks in the family
(e.g., substance abuse; domestic violence)
-- CESD
-- Denham affective perspective-taking task
-- PPVT
-- parent-child conversations
(shared recall of past emotional events)
* frequency of maternal references to emotion
* childrens emotion labeling
* childrens use of negative emotion words

at 3 years:

"

and their mothers

"

""

Preliminary findings . . .
Childrens spontaneous use of emotion labels and use of
negative emotion words were significantly correlated, so
they were combined to create an index of emotion
language.
Maternal depression scores were significantly correlated
over time, but only depression scores from the first
assessment (at age 2 ) were associated with childrens
emotion understanding.
The security of attachment was positively associated
with performance on the Denham task. Secure children
were stronger in emotion understanding.
Raikes, H. A., & Thompson, R. A. (2006). Family emotional climate, attachment security, and young children's
emotion understanding in a high-risk sample. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24(1), 89-104.
Raikes, H. A., & Thompson, R. A. (2008). Conversations about emotion in high-risk dyads. Attachment & Human
Development, 10(4), 359-377.

linking
events

causes

outcomes

requests for
information

total emotion
references

definitions

All discourse categories were significantly

and positively related to elaborative ratings
p < .05

p < .01

p < .005

p < .001

Ontai, L. L., & Thompson, R. A. (2002). Patterns of attachment and maternal discourse effects on children's
emotion understanding from 3- to 5-years of age. Social Development, 11(4), 433-450.

Elaborative discourse

Autonomy
support

Validation

Constructive emotion
regulation coaching

p < .05
p < .01

Security of attachment is significantly associated with the composite of these

measures of conversation quality
Waters, S., Virmani, E., Thompson, R. A., Meyer, S., Raikes, A., & Jochem, R. (2010). Emotion regulation and attachment:
Unpacking two constructs and their association. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32, 37-47.

Interim conclusions . . . !
A secure attachment is a relational context for young children
to comprehend their (negative) emotions and learn about their
regulation in the context of a psychological secure base.
Both the content (knowledge about emotion causes and
outcomes) and the quality (conveying constructive support) are
important; the latter is associated with attachment security.
A caregivers capacity to provide this secure base is based, in
part, on supports and stresses in her own life, including
emotional demands and representations of her own emotions.
Early conversations about emotion have broader significance
for psychological growth. Conscience development, for
example, is not predicted by mothers references to rules but
instead by references to others feelings.

The emotionate child

-- Emotion is an organizer of behavioral competence
-- Emotion is an entre into others internal experience, as well as
understanding oneself as a person
-- Emotion is organized and regulated by relational experience
-- Emotion is the foundation for early social representations

Important for its relevance to . . .

the significance of skills in emotion understanding,
resonance, and regulation to social relationships and
school readiness
the importance of attending to early socioemotional health
and to risks to early childhood mental health
the centrality of emotion to representations of self and others
developmental relational science

Thanks!
rathompson@ucdavis.edu

Study 3"

How do children learn

about emotion regulation?

Parent Expressivity

and Reactions to
Childrens Emotions

Childrens
Emotion
Regulation

Parent Emotion
Representations

Parent Discourse
about Emotions &
Emotional Events

Parent Expressivity

and Reactions to
Childrens Emotions

Parent Emotion
Representations

Childrens
Emotion
Regulation

Preschool Emotional Development Study

72 children (mean age 4; 30 girls) and their mothers
During a laboratory visit, children and their mothers
participated in an emotion regulation probe (denied
request task). Later in the session, mothers and children
were independently shown a videotape of the task and
were interviewed about how the child felt during the
probe, and why.
Later, well-trained research assistants coded childrens
behavioral, facial, and verbal expressions of emotion
during the denied request task.

Child Emotion Attribution Concordance

with Mothers and Observers

Predicting individual differences in mother-child

concordance
Maternal emotion representations. Mothers completed the
Trait Meta-Mood Scale (Salovey et al, 1995) to assess
mothers attention to and acceptance of their own emotions.
Subscales for clarity and attention were used.
Maternal depressive symptomatology. The CES-D (Radloff,
1977) was used to assess mothers report of recent
depressive symptomatology.
Security of attachment. The AQS (Waters & Deane, 1985)
was used to assess attachment security.

Logistic Regression Analysis Predicting Mother-Child

Concordance in Emotion Attributions
___________________________________________________________________
Variable
Odds ratios
95% CI
___________________________________________________________________
TMMS Attention

3.57 *

0.97 - 13.04

TMMS Clarity

1.17

0.35 - 3.88

CES-D Depression

1.04

0.96 - 1.14

Security of Attachment
87.20 *
2.70 - 2817.54
___________________________________________________________________
for model, 2 (4) = 12.50 *
* p < .05

Childrens
Emotion
Regulation

Parent Emotion
Representations

Parent Discourse
about Emotions &
Emotional Events

Emotion regulation strategies:

Problem focused: Addresses the circumstances provoking emotion
Emotion focused: Manages the feelings aroused by the situation
Attention shifting: Efforts to distract from the emotion or situation
Cognitive reappraisal: Refocusing on positive or constructive
aspects of the situation
Avoidance: Leaving the situation or stopping emotion provocations
Venting: Behavioral or verbal expression of emotion
Suppression: Efforts not to feel or to display emotion
Apology: Making amends
In addition, we identified statements of effectiveness: when the
speaker explicitly indicated that this strategy alleviated the
situation or made it better

Emotion regulation strategies identified by mothers

and preschoolers in emotional reminiscing

Effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies reported

by mothers and children in emotion reminiscing

Digitized recordings of mother-child emotion conversations

were coded for behavioral and verbal indicators of child
avoidance, including:
-- behavioral evasions
-- verbally explicit evasions or refusals
-- changing the topic

Transcriptions of mother-child conversations were assigned a

summary score for maternal validation (5-point scale with 5
high), based on mothers conversational contributions
indicating:
-- acceptance of childs perspective (even if it contradicts
mothers own view)
-- expressions of empathy for childs feelings
-- focus on childs (not mothers) viewpoint

Predicting Child Avoidance in Mother-Child Conversations about Negative Emotion

______________________________________________________________________________________
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
______________________________________________________________________________________
Variable
B SE B
B SE B
B SE B
______________________________________________________________________________________
Emotion understanding
(negative emotions)

-.03 .01 -.41**

-.03 .01 -.37**

-.03 .01 -.37**

Security of attachment

-.21 .11 -.21*

-.18 .11 -.17

Maternal validation

-.04 .01 -.23*

-.04 .02 -.23*

Attachment x Validation
R2
F for change in R2

.21 .10 .21*

.17**

.29**

.33**

14.57**

5.60**

4.40*

_______________________________________________________________________________________
* p < .05

** p < .01

Interaction of Attachment and Maternal Validation in Predicting Child Avoidance

* Slope significant at p < .05

Summary thoughts . . .
There are multiple ways that secure attachment contributes to
the growth of emotion regulation in children:
-- maternal sensitivity in secure relationships to childrens
feelings and efforts to manage challenging emotions,
-- secure childrens capacities for emotion understanding,
particularly of negative emotions that require regulation,
-- the conversational context of secure dyads that facilitates
emotional communication and emotion understanding
Relational contributions to the growth of emotion regulation
are overlapping and sometimes compensatory
-- maternal conversational style may be especially important
for children in insecure relationships

Final thoughts
The content and quality of adult conversation is
influential in the growth of emotion understanding,
particularly during the period when young childrens
representations of emotion are developing most
significantly.
Emotion understanding is multifaceted, and may also
be associated with early conscience development,
self-regulation, and perhaps aspects of selfunderstanding. Understanding of negative emotions is
particularly important.
The content and quality of conversational discourse is
one means by which relational security is created and
maintained in early childhood.