Lifespan Development. Tara L. Kuther

emotions. When parents talk to their preschoolers about emotions and explain their own and their children’s emotions, the children are better able to evaluate and label others’ emotions (Camras & Halberstadt, 2017). Preschool teachers also engage in emotion coaching, helping young children to understand the emotions they feel and see in others (Silkenbeumer, Schiller, & Kärtner, 2018). Young children often discuss emotional experiences with parents and peers. They also often enact emotions in pretend sociodramatic play, providing experience and practice in understanding emotions and their influence on social interactions (Goodvin et al., 2015). Pretend play with siblings and peers gives children practice in acting out feelings, considering others’ perspectives, and implementing self-control, improving the children’s understanding of emotion (Hoffmann & Russ, 2012). In one study, preschoolers’ engagement in sociodramatic play predicted their expressiveness, knowledge, and regulation of emotion 1 year later (Lindsey & Colwell, 2013). Children’s interactions with siblings offer important opportunities to practice identifying emotions, decoding the causes of emotions, anticipating the emotional responses of others, and using their emotional understanding to influence their relationships and affect the behavior of others (Kramer, 2014).

      Emotion Regulation

      Over the course of childhood, children make great strides in regulating their emotions and become better able to manage how they experience and display emotions. Advances in emotion regulation are influenced by cognition, executive function, theory of mind, and language development. By age 4, children can explain simple strategies for reducing emotional arousal, such as limiting sensory input (covering their eyes), talking to themselves (“It’s not scary”), or changing their goals (“I want to play blocks,” after having been excluded by children who were playing another game) (R. A. Thompson & Goodvin, 2007). Emotion regulation strategies are a response to emotions, change with age, and also influence children’s emotional experience (Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Knafo-Noam, 2015).

      Parents remain important resources for emotional management in childhood. Mothers’ emotional awareness and management skills influence children’s emotional regulation skills (Crespo, Trentacosta, Aikins, & Wargo-Aikins, 2017). Parents who are responsive when children are distressed, who frame experiences for children (e.g., by acting cheery during a trip to the doctor), and who explain expectations and strategies for emotional management both model and foster emotion regulation (Sala, Pons, & Molina, 2014). In contrast, dismissive or hostile reactions to children’s emotions prevent them from learning how to manage and not be overwhelmed by their emotions (Zeman, Cassano, & Adrian, 2013). Emotion regulation skill is associated with both social competence and overall adjustment (Deneault & Ricard, 2013). Children who are able to direct their attention and distract themselves when distressed or frustrated become well-behaved students and are well liked by peers (McClelland & Cameron, 2011). Emotional regulation is also influenced by physical functioning. The Brain and Biological Influences on Development feature examines the role of sleep in emotional regulation.

      Empathy and Prosocial Behavior

      In early childhood, young children develop the cognitive and language skills that permit them to reflect on emotions, talk about emotions, and convey feelings of empathy, the ability to understand someone’s feelings (Stern & Cassidy, 2018). Empathy stems from the perspective-taking ability that emerges with theory of mind. The child must imagine another’s perspective in order to understand how that person feels (Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Knafo-Noam, 2015). A secure attachment to a caregiver helps children develop the emotional understanding and regulation skills on which empathy depends (Ştefan & Avram, 2018).

      Brain and Biological Influences on Development

      Sleep and Emotional Regulation in Young Children

      Sleep plays an important role in development throughout infancy, childhood, and adolescence and remains important in adulthood (Gómez & Edgin, 2015). We sleep most as infants, and sleep duration naturally declines about 20% from infancy into early childhood (Honaker & Meltzer, 2014). Most young children sleep 10 to 11 hours each night (Magee, Gordon, & Caputi, 2014).