Abstract
In this chapter, we describe the nature, development, and socialization of preschoolers’ emotional competence with regard to emotional expressiveness, emotion regulation, and emotion knowledge and review evidence of how these skills facilitate children’s social competence and school success. Within an early childhood educational system of practice, we then consider how educational standards, teacher socialization of emotion, and assessment can work synergistically to promote preschoolers’ emotional competence. Finally, we consider the current state of preschool-level emotional competence programming and assessment as adjuncts to direct teacher socialization of emotion and make some conclusions and calls for future work.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahn, H. J. (2005). Teachers’ discussions of emotion in child care centers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 32, 237–224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-004-1424-6
Ahn, H., & Stifter, C. (2006). Child care teachers’ response to children’s emotional expression. Early Education and Development, 17, 253–270. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1702_3
Alonso-Alberca, N., Vergara, A. I., Fernández-Berrocal, P., Johnson, S. R., & Izard, C. E. (2012). The adaptation and validation of the emotion matching task for preschool children in Spain. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 36, 489–494. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025412462154
Barnett, W. S., Epstein, D. J., Friedman, A. H., Sansanelli, R. A., & Hustedt, J. T. (2009). The state of preschool 2009: State preschool yearbook. New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University.
Bassett, H. H., Denham, S. A., Mohtasham, M. & Austin, N. (2016, In preparation). Teachers’ book-reading styles and development of preschoolers’ emotion knowledge: Validation of Book Readings for an Affective Classroom Education (BRACE) coding system.
Bassett, H. H., Denham, S., Mincic, M., & Graling, K. (2012). The structure of preschoolers’ emotion knowledge: Model equivalence and validity using a structural equation modeling approach. Early Education & Development, 23, 259–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2012.630825
Bellas, V. M. (2009). Emotion in the classroom: A theory-based exploration of teachers’ emotion socialization beliefs and behaviors. Clark University.
Berlin, L. J., & Cassidy, J. (2003). Mothers’ self-reported control of their preschool children’s emotional expressiveness: A longitudinal study of associations with infant–mother attachment and children’s emotion regulation. Social Development, 12, 478–495. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9507.00244
Bierman, K. L., Nix, R. L., Greenberg, M. T., Blair, C., & Domitrovich, C. E. (2008). Executive functions and school readiness intervention: Impact, moderation, and mediation in the Head Start REDI program. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 821–843. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579408000394
Blair, K. A., Denham, S. A., Kochanoff, A., & Whipple, B. (2004). Playing it cool: Temperament, emotion regulation, and social behavior in preschoolers. Journal of School Psychology, 42, 419–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2004.10.002
Brackett, M. A., & Katulak, N. A. (2006). Emotional intelligence in the classroom: Skill-based training for teachers and students. In J. Ciarrochi & J. D. Mayer (Eds.), Improving emotional intelligence: A practitioner’s guide (pp. 1–27). New York, NY: Psychology Press/ Taylor & Francis.
Brophy-Herb, H. E., Zajicek-Farber, M. L., Bocknek, E. L., McKelvey, L. M., & Stansbury, K. (2013). Longitudinal connections of maternal supportiveness and early emotion regulation to children’s school readiness in low-income families. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 4(1), 2–19. https://doi.org/10.5243/jsswr.2013.1
Brotman, L. M., Gouley, K. K., Chesir-Teran, D., Dennis, T., Klein, R. G., & Shrout, P. (2005). Prevention for preschoolers at high risk for conduct problems: Immediate outcomes on parenting practices and child social competence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34, 724–734. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp3404_14
Brown, J. R., & Dunn, J. (1992). Talk with your mother or your sibling? Developmental changes in early family conversations about feelings. Child Development, 63, 336–349. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131483
Buscemi, L., Bennett, T., Thomas, D., & Deluca, D. A. (1996). Head start: Challenges and training needs. Journal of Early Intervention, 20, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/105381519602000101
Campbell, S.B., Denham, S.A., Howarth, G.Z., Jones, S.M., Whittaker, J.V., Williford, A.P., …, Yudron, M. (2016). Commentary on the review of measures of early childhood social and emotional development: Conceptualization, critique, and recommendations. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 45:19–41 Online first version https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2016.01.008
Campos, J. J., Mumme, D. L., Kermoian, R., & Campos, R. G. (1994). A functionalist perspective on the nature of emotion. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59(2-3), 284–303. https://doi.org/10.2307/1166150
Chang, H., Shelleby, E. C., Cheong, J., & Shaw, D. S. (2012). Cumulative risk, negative emotionality, and emotion regulation as predictors of social competence in transition to school: A mediated moderation model. Social Development, 21, 780–800. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2011.00648.x
Cohen, J. S., & Mendez, J. L. (2009). Emotion regulation, language ability, and the stability of preschool children’s peer play behavior. Early Education and Development, 20, 1016–1037. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409280903305716
Cole, P. M., Martin, S. E., & Dennis, T. (2004). Emotion regulation as a scientific construct: Methodological challenges and directions for child development research. Child Development, 75, 317–333. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00673.x
Collaborative for Academic and Social-Emotional Learning. (2017). http://www.casel.org/federal-policy-and-legislation/
Contreras, J. M., Kerns, K. A., Weimer, B. L., Gentzler, A. L., & Tomich, P. L. (2000). Emotion regulation as a mediator of associations between mother-child attachment and peer relationships in middle childhood. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 111–124. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.14.1.111
Copple, C., & Bredekamp, S. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Curby, T. W., Brown, C. A., Bassett, H. H., & Denham, S. A. (2015). Associations between preschoolers’ social-emotional competence and preliteracy skills. Infant and Child Development, 24, 549–570. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.1899
DeMorat, M. G. (1998) Emotion socialization in the classroom context: a functionalist analysis. (Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara).
Deneault, J., & Ricard, M. (2013). Are emotion and mind understanding differently linked to young children’s social adjustment? Relationships between behavioral consequences of emotions, false belief, and SCBE. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 174, 88–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2011.642028
Denham, S. A. (1986). Social cognition, social behavior, and emotion in preschoolers: Contextual validation. Child Development, 57, 194–201. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130651
Denham, S. A. (1998). Emotional development in young children. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Denham, S. A. (2006). Social-emotional competence as support for school readiness: What is it and how do we assess it? Early Education and Development, 17, 57–89. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1701_4
Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., Brown, C. A., Way, E., & Steed, J. (2015). “I know how you feel”: Preschoolers’ emotion knowledge contributes to early school success. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 13, 252–262. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X13497354
Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., Mincic, M. M., Kalb, S. C., Way, E., Wyatt, T., & Segal, Y. (2012). Social-emotional learning profiles of preschoolers’ early school success: A person-centered approach. Learning and Individual Differences, 22, 178–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.05.001
Denham, S. A., & Bassett, H. H., Silva, R., Mortari, L., Plourde, S., Herndon, K., & Zinsser, K. (2016). Preschool teachers’ emotion socialization and child social-emotional behavior in two countries. Poster presentation at the 24th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., Sirotkin, Y., & Zinsser, K. (2013). Head Start preschoolers’ emotional positivity and emotion regulation predict their social-emotion behavior, classroom adjustment, and early school success. National Head Start Association Dialog, 16(2), 8–33 Online only.
Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., Thayer, S. K., Mincic, M., Sirotkin, Y.S, & Zinsser, K. (2012). Observing preschoolers’ social-emotional behavior: Structure, foundations, and prediction of early school success. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 173, 246–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2011.597457E
Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., Way, E., Mincic, M., Zinsser, K., & Graling, K. (2012). Preschoolers’ emotion knowledge: Self-regulatory foundations, and predictions of early school success. Cognition and Emotion, 26, 667–679. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2011.602049
Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., & Wyatt, T. (2014). The socialization of emotional competence. In J. E. Grusec & P. D. Hastings (Eds.), Handbook of socialization: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 590–613). New York, NY: Guilford Publications.
Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., & Zinsser, K. (2012). Early childhood teachers as socializers of young children’s emotional competence. Early Childhood Education Journal, 40, 137–143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-012-0504-2
Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., Zinsser, K., & Wyatt, T. M. (2014). How preschoolers’ social–emotional learning predicts their early school success: Developing theory-promoting, competency-based assessments. Infant and Child Development, 23, 426–454. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.1840
Denham, S. A., Blair, K. A., DeMulder, E., Levitas, J., Sawyer, K. S., Auerbach-Major, S. T., & Queenan, P. (2003). Preschoolers’ emotional competence: Pathway to social competence? Child Development, 74, 238–256. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00533
Denham, S. A., Blair, K., Schmidt, M., & DeMulder, E. (2002). Compromised emotional competence: Seeds of violence sown early? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 72, 70–82. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.72.1.70
Denham, S. A., Brown, C. A., & Domitrovich, C. E. (2010). “Plays nice with others”: Social-emotional learning and academic success. Early Education and Development, 21, 652–680. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2010.497450
Denham, S. A., Caverly, S., Schmidt, M., Blair, K., DeMulder, E., Caal, S., …, Mason, T. (2002). Preschool understanding of emotions: Contributions to classroom anger and aggression. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43, 901–916. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-7610.00139
Denham, S. A., Cook, M., & Zoller, D. (1992). ‘Baby looks very sad’: Implications of conversations about feelings between mother and preschooler. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 10, 301–315. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-835X.1992.tb00579.x
Denham, S. A., & Couchoud, E. A. (1990). Young preschoolers’ understanding of emotions. Child Study Journal, 20, 171–192.
Denham, S. A., & Couchoud, E. A. (1991). Social-emotional predictors of preschoolers’ responses to adult negative emotion. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 595–608.
Denham, S. A., Grant, S., & Hamada, H. (2002, June). I have two first teachers about emotions: Contributions of mothers and teachers in promoting preschoolers’ self-regulation and social competence. Washington, DC: National head start research conference.
Denham, S. A., & Grout, L. (1992). Mothers’ emotional expressiveness and coping: Topography and relations with preschoolers’ social-emotional competence. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 118, 75–101.
Denham, S. A., & Grout, L. (1993). Socialization of emotion: Pathway to preschoolers’ affect regulation. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 17, 205–227. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00986120
Denham, S. A., Ji, P. & Hamre, B. (2010). Compendium of social-emotional learning and associated assessment measures. Chicago, IL: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.
Denham, S. A., & Kochanoff, A. T. (2002). Parental contributions to preschoolers’ understanding of emotion. Marriage & Family Review, 34, 311–343. https://doi.org/10.1300/J002v34n03_06
Denham, S. A., McKinley, M., Couchoud, E. A., & Holt, R. (1990). Emotional and behavioral predictors of peer status in young preschoolers. Child Development, 61, 1145–1152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02848.x
Denham, S. A., Mitchell-Copeland, J., Strandberg, K., Auerbach, S., & Blair, K. (1997). Parental contributions to preschoolers’ emotional competence: direct and indirect effects. Motivation and Emotion, 21, 65–86. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1024426431247
Denham, S. A., Renwick, S., & Holt, R. (1991). Working and playing together: Prediction of preschool social-emotional competence from mother- child interaction. Child Development, 62, 242–249. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131000
Denham, S. A., Renwick-DeBardi, S., & Hewes, S. (1994). Affective communication between mothers and preschoolers: Relations with social-emotional competence. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 40, 488–508.
Denham, S. A., Wyatt, T. M., Bassett, H. H., Echeverria, D., & Knox, S. S. (2009). Assessing social-emotional development in children from a longitudinal perspective. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 63, i37–i52. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2007.070797
Denham, S. A., Zoller, D., & Couchoud, E. A. (1994). Socialization of preschoolers’ emotion understanding. Developmental Psychology, 30, 928–936. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.30.6.928
Domitrovich, C. E., Cortes, R. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (2007). Improving young children’s social and emotional competence: A randomized trial of the preschool “PATHS” curriculum. Journal of Primary Prevention, 28(2), 67–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-007-0081-0
Duncombe, M., Havighurst, S. S., Holland, K. A., & Frankling, E. J. (2013). Relations of emotional competence and effortful control to child disruptive behavior problems. Early Education & Development, 24, 599–615. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2012.701536
Dunn, J. (1994). Understanding others and the social world: Current issues in developmental research and their relation to preschool experiences and practice. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15, 571–583. https://doi.org/10.1016/0193-3973(94)90023-X
Dunn, J., Brown, J. R., Slomkowski, C., Tesla, C., & Youngblade, L. (1991). Young children’s understanding of other people’s feelings and beliefs: Individual differences and their antecedents. Child Development, 62, 1352–1366. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130811
Dunn, J., Slomkowski, C., Donelan, N., & Herrera, C. (1995). Conflict, understanding and relationships: Developments and differences in the preschool years. Early Education & Development, 6, 303–316. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed0604_2
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82, 405–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x
Dusenbury, L., Newman, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Goren, P., Domitrovich, C. E., Mart, A. K., & Cascarino, J. (2015). Developing a blueprint for preschool through high school education in social and emotional learning: The case for state learning standards. In J. A. Durlak, C. E. Domitrovich, R. P. Weissberg, & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice (pp. 532–548). New York, NY: Guilford.
Dusenbury, L., Zadrazil, J., Mart, A., & Weissberg, R. (2011). State learning standards to advance social and emotional learning. Chicago, IL: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.
Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., & Spinrad, T. L. (1998). Parental socialization of emotion. Psychological Inquiry, 9, 241–273. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0904_1
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Guthrie, I. K., Murphy, B. C., Maszk, P., Holmgren, R., & Suh, K. (1996). The relations of regulation and emotionality to problem behavior in elementary school children. Development & Psychopathology, 8, 141–162. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457940000701X
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Murphy, B., Karbon, M., Smith, M., & Maszk, P. (1996). The relations of children’s dispositional empathy-related responding to their emotionality, regulation, and social functioning. Developmental Psychology, 32, 195–209. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.32.2.195
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Murphy, B., Maszk, P., Smith, M., & Karbon, M. (1995). The role of emotionality and regulation in children’s social functioning: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 66, 1360–1384. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131652
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Shepard, S. A., Murphy, B. C., Guthrie, I. K., Jones, S., …, Maszk, P. (1997). Contemporaneous and longitudinal prediction of children’s social functioning from regulation and emotionality. Child Development, 68, 642-664. https://doi.org/10.2307/1132116
Eisenberg, N., Sadovsky, A., & Spinrad, T. L. (2005). Associations of emotion-related regulation with language skills, emotion knowledge, and academic outcomes. New Directions for Child & Adolescent Development, 109, 103–118. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.143
Elliott, S. N., & Gresham, F. M. (1993). Social skills interventions for children. Behavior modification, 17, 287–313. https://doi.org/10.1177/01454455930173004
Emde, R. N. (2009). Facilitating reflective supervision in an early child development center. Infant Mental Health Journal, 30, 664–672. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.20235
Ersay, E. (2007). Preschool teachers’ emotional experience traits, awareness of their own emotions and their emotional socialization practices. The Pennsylvania State University.
Ersay, E. (2015). Preschool teachers’ emotional awareness levels and their responses to children’s negative emotions. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 191, 1833–1837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.220
Fabes, R. A., Eisenberg, N., McCormick, S. E., & Wilson, M. S. (1988). Preschoolers’ attributions of the situational determinants of others’ naturally occurring emotions. Developmental Psychology, 24, 376–385. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.24.3.376
Fabes, R. A., Eisenberg, N., Nyman, M., & Michealieu, Q. (1991). Young children’s appraisal of others spontaneous emotional reactions. Developmental Psychology, 27, 858–866. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.27.5.858
Fabes, R. A., Leonard, S. A., Kupanoff, K., & Martin, C. L. (2001). Parental coping with children’s negative emotions: Relations with children’s emotional and social responding. Child Development, 72, 907–920. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00323
Fabes, R. A., Poulin, R. E., Eisenberg, N., & Madden-Derdich, D. A. (2002). The Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES): Psychometric properties and relations with children’s emotional competence. Marriage and Family Review, 34, 285–310. https://doi.org/10.1300/J002v34n03_05
Fettig, N., Howarth, G., Watanabe, N., Denham, S. A., & Bassett, H. H. (n.d.). The emotion elicitation and regulation assessment (EERA). Fairfax, VA: George Mason University.
Garner, P. W. (2006). Prediction of prosocial and emotional competence from maternal behavior in African American preschoolers. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 12(2), 179. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.12.2.179
Garner, P. W. (2010). Emotional competence and its influences on teaching and learning. Educational Psychology Review, 22, 297–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9129-4
Garner, P. W., Dunsmore, J. C., & Southam-Gerrow, M. (2008). Mother–child conversations about emotions: Linkages to child aggression and prosocial behavior. Social Development, 17, 259–277. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00424.x
Garner, P. W., & Estep, K. M. (2001). Emotional competence, emotion socialization, and young children’s peer-related social competence. Early Education and Development, 12, 29–48. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1201_3
Garner, P. W., Jones, D. C., Gaddy, G., & Rennie, K. (1997). Low income mothers’ conversations about emotions and their children’s emotional competence. Social Development, 6, 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.1997.tb00093.x
Garner, P. W., Jones, D. C., & Miner, J. L. (1994). Social competence among low-income preschoolers: Emotion socialization practices and social cognitive correlates. Child Development, 65, 622–637. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131405
Garner, P. W., Mahatmya, D., Brown, E. L., & Vesely, C. K. (2014). Promoting desirable outcomes among culturally and ethnically diverse children in social emotional learning programs: A multilevel heuristic model. Educational Psychology Review, 26, 165–189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-014-9253-7
Garner, P. W., & Waajid, B. (2008). The associations of emotion knowledge and teacher-child relationships to preschool children’s school-related developmental competence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 89–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2007.12.001
Garner, P. W., & Waajid, B. (2012). Emotion knowledge and self-regulation as predictors of preschoolers’ cognitive ability, classroom behavior, and social competence. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 30, 330–343. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282912449441
Gilkerson, L. (2004). Reflective supervision in infant–family programs: Adding clinical process to nonclinical settings. Infant Mental Health Journal, 25, 424–439. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.20017
Greenberg, M. T., Mihalic, S. F., & Kusché, C. A. (1998). Promoting alternative thinking strategies (PATHS). Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder.
Graziano, P. A., Reavis, R. D., Keane, S. P., & Calkins, S. D. (2007). The role of emotion regulation in children’s early academic success. Journal of School Psychology, 45, 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2006.09.002
Gust, N., Koglin, U., & Petermann, F. (2014). An understanding of emotion regulation strategies in preschool age. Zeitschrift Fur Entwicklungspsychologie Und Padagogische Psychologie, 46, 191–200. https://doi.org/10.1026/0049-8637/a000117
Hernández, M. M., Eisenberg, N., Valiente, C., VanSchyndel, S. K., Spinrad, T. L., Silva, K. M., … Southworth, J. (2016). Emotional expression in school context, social relationships, and academic adjustment in kindergarten. Emotion, 16, 553–566. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000147
Herndon, K. J., Bailey, C. S., Shewark, E. A., Denham, S. A., & Bassett, H. H. (2013). Preschoolers’ emotion expression and regulation: Relations with school adjustment. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 174, 642–663. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2012.759525
Howes, C. (1987). Social competency with peers: contributions from child care. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2, 155–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/0885-2006(87)90041-X
Hsueh, J., Lowenstein, A. E., Morris, P., Mattera, S. K., & Bangser, M. (2014). Impacts of social-emotional curricula on three-year-olds: Exploratory findings from the head start cares demonstration. OPRE Report, 78.
Humphrey, N. (2013). Social and emotional learning: A critical appraisal. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446288603
Humphrey, N., Kalambouka, A., Wigelsworth, M., Lendrum, A., Deighton, J., & Wolpert, M. (2011). Measures of social and emotional skills for children and young people: A systematic review. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 71, 617–637. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164410382896
Hyson, M. C. (1994). The emotional development of young children: Building an emotion-centered curriculum. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Hyson, M. (2002). Emotional development and school readiness. Professional development. Young Children, 57(6), 76–78.
Isley, S. L., O’Neil, R., Clatfelter, D., & Parke, R. D. (1999). Parent and child expressed affect and children’s social competence: Modeling direct and indirect pathways. Developmental Psychology, 35, 547–560. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.35.2.547
Izard, C. E. (2002). Translating emotion theory and research into preventive interventions. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 796–824. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.128.5.796
Izard, C. E., Fine, S., Schultz, D., Mostow, A., Ackerman, B., & Youngstrom, E. (2001). Emotions knowledge as a predictor of social behavior and academic competence in children at risk. Psychological Science, 12, 18–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00304
Izard, C. E., King, K. A., Trentacosta, C. J., Laurenceau, J. P., Morgan, J. K., Krauthamer-Ewing, E. S., & Finlon, K. J. (2008). Accelerating the development of emotion competence in Head Start children. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 369–397. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579408000175
Izard, C. E., Trentacosta, C. J., King, K. A., & Mostow, A. J. (2004). An emotion-based prevention program for Head Start children. Early Education & Development, 15, 407–422. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1504_4
Jennings, J. L., & DiPrete, T. A. (2010). Teacher effects on social and behavioral skills in early elementary school. Sociology of Education, 83, 135–159. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040710368011
Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79, 491–525. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325693
Karalus, S. P., Herndon, K., Bassett, H. H., & Denham, S. A. (2016, under review). Childcare teachers’ socialization practices and beliefs on children’s social emotional competence and the moderating contribution of classroom age.
Kemeny, M. E., Foltz, C., Cavanagh, J. F., Cullen, M., Giese-Davis, J., Jennings, P., … Ekman, P. (2012). Contemplative/emotion training reduces negative emotional behavior and promotes prosocial responses. Emotion, 12, 338–350. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026118
Kendziora, K., Weissberg, R. P., Ji, P., & Dusenbury, L. A. (2011). Strategies for social and emotional learning: Preschool and elementary grade student learning standards and assessment. Newton, MA: National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention, Education Development Center, Inc.
Kolmodin, K. E. (2007). Exploring links between children’s understanding of emotion, parent-child reminiscing about emotional events, and the kindergarten classroom affective environment. ProQuest.
Ladd, G. W., Birch, S. H., & Buhs, E. S. (1999). Children’s social and scholastic lives in kindergarten: Related spheres of influence? Child Development, 70, 1373–1400. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00101
LaFreniere, P. J., & Dumas, J. E. (1996). Social competence and behavior evaluation in children ages 3 to 6 years: The short form (SCBE-30). Psychological Assessment, 8, 369–377. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.8.4.369
Leerkes, E. M., Paradise, M. J., O’Brien, M., Calkins, S. D., & Lange, G. (2008). Emotion and cognition processes in preschool children. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54, 102–124. https://doi.org/10.1353/mpq.2008.0009
Lemerise, E. A., & Dodge, K. A. (2008). The development of anger and hostile interactions. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 730–741). New York, NY: Guilford.
Lewis, M., Stanger, C., & Sullivan, M. (1989). Deception in three-year-olds. Developmental Psychology, 25, 439–443. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.25.3.439
Lewis, M., Sullivan, M., & Vasen, A. (1987). Making faces: Age and emotion differences in the posing of emotional expressions. Developmental Psychology, 23, 690–697. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.23.5.690
Lin, H. L., Lawrence, F. R., & Gorrell, J. (2003). Kindergarten teachers’ views of children’s readiness for school. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 18, 225–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2006(03)00028-0
Locke, R. L., Davidson, R. J., Kalin, N. H., & Goldsmith, H. H. (2009). Children’s context inappropriate anger and salivary cortisol. Developmental Psychology, 45, 1284–1297. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015975
Luebbe, A. M., Kiel, E. J., & Buss, K. A. (2011). Toddlers’ context-varying emotions, maternal responses to emotions, and internalizing behaviors. Emotion, 11, 697–703. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022994
Marlow, L., & Inman, D. (2002, November). Pro-social literacy? Are educators being prepared to teach social and emotional competence? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English, Atlanta, GA.
Miller, A. L., Gouley, K. K., Seifer, R., Dickstein, S., & Shields, A. (2004). Emotions and behaviors in the head start classroom: Associations among observed dysregulation, social competence, and preschool adjustment. Early Education and Development, 15, 147–165. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1502_2
Miller, A. L., Seifer, R., Stroud, L., Sheinkopf, S. J., & Dickstein, S. (2006). Biobehavioral indices of emotion regulation relate to school attitudes, motivation, and behavior problems in a low-income preschool sample. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1094(1), 325–329. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1376.043
Morgan, J. K., Izard, C. E., & Hyde, C. (2014). Emotional reactivity and regulation in Head Start children: Links to ecologically valid behaviors and internalizing problems. Social Development, 23, 250–266. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12049
Murphy, B. C., Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Shepard, S., & Guthrie, I. K. (1999). Consistency and change in children’s emotionality and regulation: A longitudinal study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 45, 413–444.
Newland, R. P., & Crnic, K. A. (2011). Mother–child affect and emotion socialization processes across the late preschool period: Predictions of emerging behaviour problems. Infant and Child Development, 20, 371–388. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.729
Nix, R. L., Bierman, K. L., Domitrovich, C. E., & Gill, S. (2013). Promoting children’s social-emotional skills in preschool can enhance academic and behavioral functioning in kindergarten: Findings from Head Start REDI. Early Education & Development, 24, 1000–1019. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2013.825565
Nixon, C. L., & Watson, A. C. (2001). Family experiences and early emotion understanding. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 47(2), 300–322. https://doi.org/10.1353/mpq.2001.0011
Park, K. A., Lay, K., & Ramsay, L. (1993). Individual differences and developmental changes in preschoolers’ friendships. Developmental Psychology, 29, 264–270. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.29.2.264
Parker, J.G., & Gottman, J.M. (1989). Social and emotional development in a relational context: friendship interaction from early childhood to adolescence. In T. J. Berndt & G. W. Ladd (Eds.), Peer relationships in child development (pp. 95-131). New York, NY: Wiley.
Payton, J. W., Wardlaw, D. M., Graczyk, P. A., Bloodworth, M. R., Tompsett, C. J., & Weissberg, R. P. (2000). Social and emotional learning: A framework for promoting mental health and reducing risk behaviors in children and youth. Journal of School Health, 70(5), 179–185. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2000.tb06468.x
Penela, E. C., Walker, O. L., Degnan, K. A., Fox, N. A., & Henderson, H. A. (2015). Early behavioral inhibition and emotion regulation: Pathways toward social competence in middle childhood. Child Development, 86, 1227–1240. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12384
Piotrkowski, C. S., Botsko, M., & Matthews, E. (2000). Parents’ and teachers’ beliefs about children’s school readiness in a high-need community. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 15, 537–558. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2006(01)00072-2
Pons, F., Harris, P. L., & de Rosnay, M. (2004). Emotion comprehension between 3 and 11 years: Developmental periods and hierarchical organization. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1, 127–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405620344000022
Poulou, M. (2005). The prevention of emotional and behavioural difficulties in schools: Teachers’ suggestions. Educational Psychology in Practice, 21, 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/02667360500035181
Putnam, S. P., Gartstein, M. A., & Rothbart, M. K. (2006). Measurement of fine-grained aspects of toddler temperament: The early childhood behavior questionnaire. Infant Behavior and Development, 29, 386–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2006.01.004
Raver, C. C. (2004). Placing emotional self-regulation in sociocultural and socioeconomic contexts. Child Development, 75, 346–353. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00676.x
Raver, C. C., Blackburn, E. K., Bancroft, M., & Torp, N. (1999). Relations between effective emotional self-regulation, attentional control, and low-income preschoolers’ social competence with peers. Early Education and Development, 10, 333–350. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1003_6
Raver, C. C., & Knitzer, J. (2002). Ready to enter: What research tells policymakers about strategies to promote social and emotional school readiness among three- and four-year-olds. New York, NY: National Center for Children in Poverty.
Raver, C., & Spagnola, M. (2002). “When my mommy was angry, I was speechless”: Children’s perceptions of maternal emotional expressiveness within the context of economic hardship. Marriage & Family Review, 34(1–2), 63–88. https://doi.org/10.1300/J002v34n01_04
Raver, C. C., & Zigler, E. F. (2004). Another step back? Assessing readiness in Head Start. Young Children, 59(1), 58–63.
Reimer, K. J. (1997). Emotion socialization and children’s emotional expressiveness in the preschool context.
Rhoades, B. L., Warren, H. K., Domitrovich, C. E., & Greenberg, M. T. (2011). Examining the link between preschool social–emotional competence and first grade academic achievement: The role of attention skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26, 182–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.07.003
Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., Pianta, R. C., & Cox, M. J. (2000). Teachers’ judgments of problems in the transition to kindergarten. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 15, 147–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2006(00)00049-1
Romano, E., Babchishin, L., Pagani, L. S., & Kohen, D. (2010). School readiness and later achievement: Replication and extension using a nationwide Canadian survey. Developmental Psychology, 46, 995–1007. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018880
Rose-Krasnor, L. (1997). The nature of social competence: A theoretical review. Social Development, 6, 111–135. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.1997.tb00097.x
Rothbart, M. K., Ahadi, S. A., Hershey, K. L., & Fisher, P. (2001). Investigations of temperament at 3–7 years: The children’s behavior questionnaire. Child Development, 72, 1394–1408. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00355
Rubin, K. D., & Clark, M. L. (1983). Preschool teachers’ ratings of behavioral problems: Observational, sociometric, and social-cognitive correlates. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 11, 273–286. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00912091
Rubin, K. D., & Daniels-Byrness, T. (1983). Concurrent and predictive correlates of sociometric status in kindergarten and grade 1 children. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 29, 337–352.
Saarni, C. (1999). Children’s emotional competence. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Sala, M. N., Pons, F., & Molina, P. (2014). Emotion regulation strategies in preschool children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 32, 440–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12055
Sawada, T. (1997). Development of children’s understanding of emotional dissemblance in another person. Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology, 45, 50–59. https://doi.org/10.5926/jjep1953.45.4_416
Schultz, D., Izard, C. E., & Ackerman, B. P. (2000). Children’s anger attribution bias: Relations to family environment and social adjustment. Social Development, 9, 284–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9507.00126
Schultz, D., Izard, C. E., Ackerman, B. P., & Youngstrom, E. A. (2001). Emotion knowledge in economically disadvantaged children: Self-regulatory antecedents and relations to social difficulties and withdrawal. Development & Psychopathology, 13, 53–67. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579401001043
Scott-Little, C., Kagan, S. L., & Frelow, V. S. (2006). Conceptualization of readiness and the content of early learning standards: The intersection of policy and research? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21, 153–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2006.04.003
Sette, S., Bassett, H. H., Baumgardner, E., & Denham, S. A. (2015). Structure and validity of affect knowledge test in a sample of Italian preschoolers. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 176, 330–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2015.1075466
Shields, A., & Cicchetti, D. (1997). Emotion regulation among school-age children: The development and validation of a new criterion Q-sort scale. Developmental Psychology, 33, 906–916. https://doi.org/10.1037//0012-1649.33.6.906
Shields, A., Dickstein, S., Seifer, R., Guisti, L., Magee, K. D., & Spritz, B. (2001). Emotional competence and early school adjustment: A study of preschoolers at risk. Early Education and Development, 12, 73–96. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1201_5
Shin, N., Vaughn, B. E., Akers, V., Kim, M., Stevens, S., Krzysik, L., … Korth, B. (2011). Are happy children socially successful? Testing a central premise of positive psychology in a sample of preschool children. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 355–367 https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2011.584549
Shure, M. B. (1993). I can problem solve (kindergarten and primary grades): An interpersonal cognitive problem-solving program for children. Champaign, IL: Research Press.
Smith, M. (2001). Social and emotional competencies: Contributions to young African-American children’s peer acceptance. Early Education and Development, 12, 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1201_4
Spinrad, T. L., Stifter, C. A., Donelan-McCall, N., & Turner, L. (2004). Mothers’ regulation strategies in response to toddlers’ affect: Links to later emotion self-regulation. Social Development, 13, 40–55. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.5.1170
Spritz, B. L., Sandberg, E. H., Maher, E., & Zajdel, R. T. (2010). Models of emotion skills and social competence in the Head Start classroom. Early Education and Development, 21, 495–516. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409280902895097
Sroufe, L. A., Schork, E., Motti, F., Lawroski, N., & LaFreniere, P. (1984). The role of affect in social competence. In C. E. Izard, J. Kagan, & R. B. Zajonc (Eds.), Emotions, cognition, & behavior (pp. 289–319). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Strayer, J. (1980). A naturalistic study of empathic behaviors and their relation to affective states and perspective-taking skills in preschool children. Child Development, 51, 815–822. https://doi.org/10.2307/1129469
Taylor, Z. E., Eisenberg, N., VanSchyndel, S. K., Eggum-Wilkens, N. D., & Spinrad, T. L. (2014). Children’s negative emotions and ego-resiliency: Longitudinal relations with social competence. Emotion, 14, 397–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035079
Thompson, R. A. (1994). Emotion regulation: A theme in search of definition. In N. A. Fox (Ed.), The development of emotion regulation: Biological and behavioral considerations (Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, Serial No. 240, Vol. 259, pp 242–243), 225–252.
Torrente, C., Alimchandani, A., & Aber, J. L. (2015). International Perspectives on SEL. In J. Durlak, C. Domitrovich, R. W. Weissberg, & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice (pp. 566–588). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Torres, M. M., Domitrovich, C. E., & Bierman, K. L. (2015). Preschool interpersonal relationships predict kindergarten achievement: Mediated by gains in emotion knowledge. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 39, 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2015.04.008
Trentacosta, C. J., & Izard, C. E. (2007). Kindergarten children’s emotion competence as a predictor of their academic competence in first grade. Emotion, 7, 77–88. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.1.77
Valiente, C., Lemery-Chalfant, K., & Swanson, J. (2010). Prediction of kindergartners’ academic achievement from their effortful control and emotionality: Evidence for direct and moderated relations. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 550–560. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018992
von Salisch, M., & Janke, B. (2010). Development of emotional competence in the preschool age. Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie, 59(7), 509.
Waajid, B., Garner, P. W., & Owen, J. E. (2013). Infusing social emotional learning into the teacher education curriculum. The International Journal of Emotional Education, 5, 31–48.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063
Webster-Stratton, C., Reid, M. J., & Hammond, M. (2004). Treating children with early-onset conduct problems: Intervention outcomes for parent, child, and teacher training. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33(1), 105–124. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15374424JCCP3301_11
Webster-Stratton, C., Reid, J. M., & Stoolmiller, M. (2008). Preventing conduct problems and improving school readiness: Evaluation of the incredible years teacher and child training programs in high-risk schools. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 471–488. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01861.x
Wesley, P. W., & Buysse, V. (2003). Making meaning of school readiness in schools and communities. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 18, 351–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2006(03)00044-9
Zembylas, M. (2007). Emotional ecology: The intersection of emotional knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 355–367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.12.002
Zins, J. E., Bloodworth, M. R., Weissberg, R. P., & Walberg, H. J. (2007). The scientific base linking social and emotional learning to school success. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 17, 191–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/10474410701413145
Zinsser, K. M., Denham, S. A., & Curby, T. W. (in press). Being a social-emotional teacher. Young Children.
Zinsser, K. M., Denham, S. A., Curby, T. W., & Shewark, E. A. (2015). “Practice What You Preach”: Teachers’ perceptions of emotional competence and emotionally supportive classroom practices. Early Education and Development, 26, 899–919. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2015.1009320
Zinsser, K. M., Shewark, E. A., Denham, S. A., & Curby, T. W. (2014). A mixed-method examination of preschool teacher beliefs about social–emotional learning and relations to observed emotional support. Infant and Child Development, 23, 471–493. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.1843
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Denham, S.A., Bassett, H.H. (2018). Implications of Preschoolers’ Emotional Competence in the Classroom. In: Keefer, K., Parker, J., Saklofske, D. (eds) Emotional Intelligence in Education. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90633-1_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90633-1_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90631-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90633-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)