5 PARENTING GUIDELINES FOR CORRECT SOCIO-AFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The main parenting guidelines for a correct socio - affective development of your children are at your fingertips and will represent a huge benefit for them in terms of their evolution as human beings. Socio-affective or socio-emotional development refers to the child's ability to experience, express and manage their emotions.

This concept also refers to the child's ability to establish positive relationships with others, and to actively explore and learn. Therefore, socio-affective development includes an intrapersonal part related to one's own emotions and feelings.

Children express their emotions from a very young age

In addition, this type of development involves an interpersonal part linked to the identification of emotions and feelings of others, and the regulation of behavior with respect to others. This socio-affective development develops little by little in the child's relationship with others, although biological variables also influence.

Thus, despite the fact that it is not possible to ensure that there is a “correct” way to raise children or that everything falls solely on parenting, there is scientific literature that supports certain early parenting patterns over others.

In general, parenting patterns that are responsive and responsive to children's needs, that are involved, proactive, and that provide structure, are linked to better socio-affective development. In contrast, negligent patterns that resort only to punishment, which are reactive, intrusive, and severe, are associated with poorer socio-affective development.

Parenting Guidelines for Parents

Knows the normal social-emotional development of children

To know how is the most recommended way to proceed in terms of the social-emotional development of children, the most important thing is to know what it consists of.

If you are clear about what to expect at a certain age, it will be easier to handle situations, because you will know what to expect and how to distinguish normal development.

Some socio-emotional characteristics of young children are that they have mood swings and experience different emotions, sometimes even due to events that would not be of the least importance to an adult.

Another characteristic is that although they seek their autonomy little by little, the attachment figures are a constant reference to provide security, affection and to meet their needs.

For first-time parents without close experiences with other children, it is very important to look for reliable information in books, magazines, and the Internet about the appropriate development of children.

For more experienced parents, this point may not be so important, although the truth is that every child is different.

Help him with his emotions

Children express their emotions from a very young age through vocalizations, facial expressions, and body language. However, that they can express them does not mean that they understand them.

This is where parents come in, who function as emotional coaches or trainers, who help the child with this task as the language develops.

For this, parents:

-They are attentive and aware of children's emotions.

-They see emotional expression as an opportunity to teach and bond with the child, and not as something uncomfortable to avoid or ignore.

-They help the child to label and name their emotions verbally.

-Valid what the child is feeling, do not ignore it or downplay it.

-They have a problem-solving approach, rather than trying to avoid them.

Take advantage of everyday opportunities

For the socio-affective development in children without special difficulties, it is not necessary to go to a specific place or follow specialized techniques. In the day to day there will always be experiences in which it can be put into practice.

It is important that each significant opportunity to shape their socio-emotional development can be appreciated. This is especially relevant because children spend most of their time with their parents or primary caregivers.

For example, during daily routines, many opportunities will be presented because children experience many emotions, face new situations, among other situations.

This pattern is not only relevant for socio-affective development, but also for the development of other areas, whether cognitive, motor or other.

Be a model

The most important mechanisms through which children learn to manage their emotions are related to the observation of their parents' emotional displays. Therefore, it is important to note that if you want to teach something, you must first put it into practice.

One approach to this is that parents serve as a role model for children to learn what kinds of emotional expressions are acceptable in the family and how they should be handled.

It is important to bear in mind that in a new situation, children will always take their parents as a reference to know how they should act, think or feel about what is happening.

In this way, a clear example of how children begin to learn about how to regulate their emotions is the way in which parents react to the emotional expressions of their children.

For example, if the parent reacts in a punitive or avoidant way to an expression of emotion from the child (crying, screaming), they are most likely teaching denial and avoidance as ways of handling unpleasant emotions such as anger or sadness..

Know the difficulties and when to seek help

Children do not come into the world with instructions on how to promote better social and effective development. This would be something very difficult because each situation, society, characteristics of the child and the parents come together to generate a very different context.

Therefore, it is necessary to bear in mind that, due to some of these variables or others (abuse, trauma, losses), children may present imbalances in their socio-affective development.

Children can have problems from a very young age such as inconsolable crying, eating and sleeping problems. Aggressive, defiant, and irritable behaviors may occur in older children.

It is important to note that when some of these problems occur, it may be necessary to seek professional help.

Adaptable guidelines

From these general guidelines, ideas can be extracted to put into practice daily the type of attitudes and behaviors that lead to adequate socio-affective development.

Each parent will be able to adapt them to their specific reality to promote in the children the development of their self-confidence, curiosity, intentionality, self-control, affinity, communication skills and other abilities that will allow them to adjust in their future.

References

1. Cantón Duarte, J., Cortes Arboleda, M. and Cortes Cantón, D. (2011). Socio-affective and Personality Development. Editorial Alliance
2. Cohen, J., Onunaku, N., Clothier, S. and Poppe, J. (2005) Helping Young Children Succeed: Strategies to Promote Early Childhood Social and Emotional. Washington, DC: National Conference of State Legislatures and Zero to Three.
3. Shaw, D. (2012). Parenting Programs and Their Impact on the Social and Emotional Development of Young Children. Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Development.
4. Sheffield Morris, A., Silk, JS, Steinberg, L., Myers, SS and Robinson, LR (2007). The role of the family context in the development of emotional regulation. Social Development, 16 (2), pp. 361-388.
5. Sroufe, A. (2005). Attachment and development: A prospective, longitudinal study from birth to adulthood. Attachment & Human Development, 7 (4), pp. 349-367.