Why is this important?
A lack of coping skills can put a child at risk for more serious psychological problems.
Healthy coping strategies can provide a buffer between stressful experiences and the development of mental health problems (5), in addition to reducing the risk of psychopathology during childhood and adolescence (9).
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Successful coping can also help children build resilience (9). Resilience is especially important during transition periods in a child’s life, such as entering school. When children reach a transition point in their life, they will be exposed to unfamiliar situations and stressors. To successfully navigate through the transition, children must cope with these new stressors and adapt their coping strategies to fit the situational demands of their new environments.
For example, when children start school, they grow more independent in their coping. It’s important for kids to learn to cope with stressors independently, as their parents are not with them at school to help them overcome challenges.
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Numerous studies show that ineffective / maladjusted coping can put a child at risk for developing mental problems (5). Unfortunately, roughly 25% of children and adolescents experience some type of major life stressor (death of a loved one, experiencing abuse, etc.) (34). An even larger percentage experience repeated hassles relating to school and interpersonal relationships (34). Exposure to both major and minor stressors is one of the strongest risk factors for psychopathology throughout childhood and adolescence (9, 34). Healthy coping strategies are essential to overcome both types of stressors and to reduce this risk of psychopathology.
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Click here to learn more about coping.
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Psychopathology: behavioral or cognitive manifestations of mental disorders (1)
Stressor:
a condition or aspect of the environment that poses a threat to one's health (9)
Emotional Regulation is an essential aspect of a child’s social-emotional development.
There is a strong, bidirectional relationship between emotional intelligence and psychosocial health and functioning (32). This relationship can be seen from a very early age. In an interesting study, researchers found that when preschoolers were tested on emotional knowledge, their scores predicted their social skills, behavioral dysregulation, and academic competence at age 5, and could even predict their academic competence at age 9 (16). This finding demonstrates how important emotional knowledge and awareness are to many parts of a child’s development.
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Because emotional regulation is so important, it can have serious effects on a child’s psychological health if it is not properly developed. Emotional dysregulation is likely a core feature in various forms of psychopathology (34). Children with poor emotion regulation are more vulnerable to externalizing problems (27).
Difficulty with emotional regulation has been linked to difficulty forming social relations and increased peer rejection (4, 27). Some suggest that children who have problems understanding their emotions may also struggle with paying attention (16). Poor emotional regulation is also likely involved in the foundation and maintenance of anxiety (22) and is linked to increased symptoms of depression (27).
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It’s important to note that negative emotions are not in themselves maladaptive (4). Rather, if negative emotions are experienced for too long and/or too severely, then they can lead to problems. This is why emotional regulation is so important: it can reduce the time spent on and the intensity of a negative emotion.
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Click here to learn more about emotional regulation.
Externalizing Problems:
characterized primarily by actions in the external world (1)
It’s important for kids to develop a repertoire of different regulatory abilities.
Whether or not a coping strategy is successful depends on the context of the stressor. There is no “one size fits all” strategy that will be successful in every situation. For example, in one study, youth who used active coping strategies in response to controllable stressors had fewer externalizing problems and showed a higher social competence than youth who used active coping strategies in response to uncontrollable stressors (8). When youth used active coping strategies in response to uncontrollable stressors, they were more likely to show lower social competence and have more behavioral problems (8).
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Another study found that problem-focused coping was associated with fewer emotional and behavioral problems, but this was dependent on the type of stressor (34). While it may seem counterintuitive to discourage a child from actively taking steps to solve a problem, this may be an appropriate response if the child is dealing with a situation that they cannot control.
When children read, they are learning a lot more than language & comprehension skills.
Scholarly literature continues to show that in addition to cognitive benefits, reading can help children develop various social and emotional skills (20). Every time a young reader is introduced to a new character, there is an opportunity for connection. Children often identify with story characters and can see parts of themselves in the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and interactions (17, 20). Seeing a character overcome a challenge or work through a negative feeling gives young readers a chance to explore different coping and regulation strategies in a safe, comfortable way (13). This can be especially helpful for kids who don't yet have the language and cognitive abilities to express and interpret their own emotions (17).
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Empathy is a particularly important social-emotional skill that children can develop through literature. Young readers can practice empathy when they relate to the challenge or feeling the character is experiencing (35). This allows them to interact with the text by connecting their own personal feelings, experiences, and perspectives with those of the characters.
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Kids deal with some very complicated stressors and feelings in their lives. Many of these experiences can feel very abstract and uncomfortable to kids because they lack the cognitive capabilities to truly understand their stressors. This poor understanding can magnify a stressor’s impact on a child (15).
This is where books can play an important role. Stories can provide a developmentally-appropriate framework for how to regulate these abstract feelings and cope with these uncomfortable stressors. When kids read about stressful events and unpleasant emotions in a non threatening and creative way, it can help them develop a more concrete understanding of the stressors and emotions they’re dealing with (12). Through the characters, young readers can explore how their thoughts, feelings, and actions can affect themselves and others in a risk-free way.
Social Development: the acquisition of behaviors and attitudes that allow one to interact with others and become a member of society (1)
Emotional Development: growth in one's ability to experience, express, and interpret a wide range of emotions (1)
Caregivers can play a key role in creating a supportive environment in which conversations about coping, emotions, and stress are encouraged and ongoing.
Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky made many important contributions to the field of psychology, one of which being the Zone of Proximal Development, or the ZPD. The ZPD is the difference between someone’s actual developmental level and their level of potential development (29). A person’s actual developmental level is determined by independent problem solving, while their level of potential development is determined by problem solving with peers or adults (29).
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This concept can be directly applied to a child’s social and emotional development. While young kids may still have a ways to go in terms of their social-emotional development, they can achieve much more when a caregiver guides them through different topics.
For example, there is a positive association between frequent and meaningful parent-child talks about emotions and the child’s ability to identify emotions, use display rules, and regulate negative emotions (32). Having conversations about emotions also provides caregivers with the opportunity to ask their child about various parts of their feelings, including their causes and consequences (16). Discussing what came before and after their feelings can help children understand their emotions and reflect on their experience with the feeling.
With so many opportunities for social-emotional learning, it is not surprising that parent-child interactions about emotions and regulatory abilities have been correlated with prosocial behavior in preschoolers and older children (12).
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When a caregiver reads a book with a child, there are numerous opportunities for these conversations that promote social-emotional learning. One study found that adults use a lot of emotion-focused talk with kids when they read together (17). This can help children deepen their understanding of emotion-related topics in the context of characters and stories that they are familiar with. Additionally, picture books provide many opportunities to talk about how characters are feeling based on visual cues like facial expressions and body language (17).
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It is also important to dive a little deeper into these conversations and look at how parents are interacting with their kids. For example, one study found that open-ended questions helped to promote prosocial behavior (12). Instead of parents labeling and explaining a character’s regulatory ability themselves, they can ask their child questions to encourage them to find these answers. Thus, there is an important difference between a parent telling their child a character is sad and a parent asking their child, “How is this character feeling? Why do you think he feels that way?” (12).