A child's early emotional development has a large impact on overall health, morality and lifelong achievement, said Ross A. Thompson, professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis during the seventh annual Marjorie Pay Hinckley lecture at Brigham Young University on Feb. 10.
"We are moving to a place of new understanding of the importance of early childhood for life span, health and development," Dr. Thompson said. "We will never go back to the days in which we used to think that nothing much of importance happens in the early years that makes a difference for the rest of life."
Students, faculty members and community members filled the Hinckley Center Assembly Hall on the university's campus to hear about the research being done on the emotional aspect of a child's development.
"We are discovering … the powerful role of emotions in forging social attachments in early relationships, emergence of social understanding, the importance of emotions for creating foundations of psychological adjustment and even providing a basis for cognitive confidence and academic achievement," he said. "We are moving to a new day of understanding of how emotions are the constructive foundation for some of the really important achievements we care about in the early years, including morality, self-understanding and compassion for others."
Dr. Thompson said that with the breakthroughs researchers have had in understanding the emotional health of a child, they have also uncovered some of the negative affects of unhealthy emotional health.
"We are discovering that while emotions have the potential to contribute to the earliest psychological developments, especially when children are growing up in supportive contexts, we also know that there is the potential for emotions to undermine children's healthy development, especially when faced with chronic adversity and threat," he said. "In a sense, we are realizing there are two sides to children's emotional lives which is contributing now to our understanding of early childhood development."
Some findings include depression and psychological disorders in children as young as preschool. The good news, he said, is that as emotional disorders are identified parents of young children have opportunities for strategies to help and prevention.
Drawing from his research, Dr. Thompson categorized his studies into two groups — the emotional and the emotionate child. Much of the categorizing had to do with research in how the children reacted during certain situations.
The emotional child was categorized by the vulnerability of young children's emotional lives as they had less control of their emotions, while the emotionate child learned to recognize, understand and connect their feelings through their early emotions being a source of social understanding and human connection.
Dr. Thompson said that researchers are increasingly finding that when children do not have supportive relationships that help them with emotion management early, the children will experience long-term consequences.
According to his research, one of the major factors in good emotional health in children came from a strong relationship with their mother. From a young age, a child's emotion often mirrors the expression on their mother's face. As they get older, words are added and through their vocabulary and language they are able to categorize and express emotion.
Studies showed that as mothers recognized and identified emotions, linking them with situations they were in, their children were more able to understand their emotions and act accordingly. As children understand their emotions, they are more able to understand themselves, develop morally and have a greater social understanding.
"The emotional and emotionate character of young children depends significantly on stress and support in their environments of care, especially their experience in close relationships," Dr. Thompson said. "Emotions can be confusing and sometimes overwhelming to young children. This is why what is said and how it is said is so important."
It is through helping children understand and their feelings, validation, and helping instill an understanding for others' feelings — especially if they differ — children are more able to put feelings and desires in context. Children are able to socially adapt as they are taught to recognize their emotions and put them in the proper context of getting along with others.
The annual lecture, as part of the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Chair in Social Work and the Social Sciences at BYU, was established to help strengthen families, encourage the development of women, develop strategies relating to the challenges of parenting and to conduct research on helping children with disabilities and challenges.
