Susanne Ayers Denham

George Mason University | GMU · Department of Psychology

The chapter is about the development of emotion and emotional competence as well as on the topic of emotion socialization in family and educational contexts.

Research on preschool teachers’ emotion socialization is relatively sparse. In this study, one specific line of inquiry is studied: examining how teachers’ beliefs about emotions, in conjunction with their own emotional competence, contribute to their fostering preschool emotional competence. Ninety-five teachers participated in this correlational...

Military families face many difficulties, including a parent deploying to a warzone and the subsequent risk of returning with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Symptoms of PTSD are associated with parenting difficulties; however, little is known about how PTSD symptoms may be associated with emotion socialization (ES), a set of proc...

The purpose of this study was to explore how adjusted preschoolers were to preschool when their teachers were either racially congruent or racially incongruent and whether gender moderated these associations. In this study, 259 preschoolers (50% boys; Mage = 53.84 months; 63% White, 37% Black) in 44 classrooms at 16 federally- and privately-funded...

Research Findings: This study examined associations between observed emotion-focused teaching practices and preschool children’s emotion expression, emotion-related behaviors, and learning behaviors. Four centers located in large midwestern and mid-Atlantic metropolitan areas participated in the study. Of these, one center was a Head Start program,...

Research has shown that the first few years of a child’s life are critical for developing executive functioning and emotional regulatory skills. This study aimed to evaluate how begin to ECSEL (Emotional, Cognitive and Social Early Learning), an intervention designed to promote young children’s emotional competence, influenced children’s self-regul...

Beside research evidence on the importance of teachers’ emotion socialization behaviors and students’ social-emotional outcomes, there is less evidence on teachers’ discrete emotion socialization behaviors and students’ social and emotional outcomes. The current study investigated early childhood teachers’ self-reported expression of emotions and c...

Objectives: Preschool teachers' consistency of warm, sensitive, and responsive interactions with children may be more important than average levels and may moderate the association between children's cognitive and emotion regulation and their preschool adjustment. Methods: A sample of 312 boys and girls aged 32 to 68 months in 44 classrooms at 1...

In this study we investigated how early childhood teachers’ emotion socialization behaviors contribute to children’s social-emotional competence (SEC), as well as whether these contributions differ by culture. Participants included 117 teachers and 381 preschoolers in US or Italian classrooms. Teachers’ and children’s emotions and reactions to each...

Emotion knowledge supports early school success. Socializers' emotions, contingent reactions to emotions, emotion language, and beliefs about emotions can contribute to preschoolers' emotion knowledge, but more is known about parents' contributions than teachers'. We expected teachers' emotion socialization findings to parallel those in the parent...

In the present study, the relation between children’s emotion knowledge and preschool teachers’ book reading behaviors during shared book reading in the classroom was examined. A new coding system, the Book Readings for an Affective Classroom Education (BRACE), was developed to capture teachers’ macro-level book reading behaviors (i.e., dialogic re...

Purpose Emotional competence supports preschoolers’ social relationships and school success. Parents’ emotions and reactions to preschoolers’ emotions can help them become emotionally competent, but scant research corroborates this role for preschool teachers. Expected outcomes included: teachers’ emotion socialization behaviors functioning most o...

To facilitate preschoolers’ emotional development, it is useful to have a developmentally and culturally appropriate measure of emotion knowledge. The Affect Knowledge Test (AKT), a widely used measure of emotion knowledge, has been previously used with diverse cultural groups, including Japanese preschoolers, despite scarce reliability and validit...

Background Well-managed, emotionally positive preschool classrooms promote academic and social success (Mashburn et al. in Child Dev 79(3):732–749. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01154.x, 2008). Therefore, learning standards and practitioner guidelines emphasize the maintenance of a positive, well-managed classroom climate (Schonert-Reich...

Neuroscientific advances and child development studies show 0-6 years represents a sensitive period for the development of emotional competence—the ability to identify, understand, express and regulate emotion, all foundational to self-regulation. Research suggests optimum teaching of emotional competence and self-regulation skills from birth is th...

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,...

As part of a larger longitudinal project on the assessment of preschoolers’ social-emotional development, children's social information processing (SIP) responses to unambiguous hypothetical situations of peer provocation were assessed for 239 preschoolers from Head Start and private childcare settings. SIP measurement focused on emotions children...

Carolyn Saarni made invaluable contributions to the study of emotion. Most centrally, she conceived of ‘emotional competence’. She described emotional competence skills, and their development, through lenses of both functionalist and social constructivist views of emotions. Given these perspectives, she added not only to the description of emotiona...

Teachers are important socializers and provide students with experiences to further promote their social-emotional competences or shift their pathways towards emotional and behavioral difficulties. These experiences may vary depending on teachers’ perceptions of their own emotional intelligence (EI) and beliefs about social and emotional learning (...

Background Early childhood teachers represent important socializers of children’s emotions providing professional practices, such as communication about children’s emotions, influencing children’s development. According to an ecological framework, early childhood teachers’ emotional practices are guided by both their personal and professional emoti...

Between three and five years of age, both emotional competence (EC) and cognitive self-regulation (CSR) have been documented as undergoing remarkable growth and as being strong predictors of concurrent and future positive outcomes. EC encompasses three interrelated and progressively developing skills: emotion knowledge, emotion regulation, and emot...

Background Preschoolers’ emotional competence is of prime importance in their concurrent and later social and academic success. Parents are primary socializers of these abilities, but more and more early childhood educators are also important in their development. However, their means of socializing emotional competence are understudied, and could...

Early childhood centres are vibrant social communities where child and adult emotions are integral to learning. Previous research has focused on teaching practices that support children’s social-emotional learning; fewer studies have attended to relevant centre-level factors, such as the emotional leadership practices of the centre director. The pr...

Attention problems are likely to hinder children in acquiring knowledge of their own and others' emotions. Children with little knowledge of emotions tend to have difficulties with representing emotions, interpreting them, and sharing them, so that they are likely to spend more time in making sense of them and may thus appear to be inattentive. In...

Based on the emotion socialization and bioecological models, the present study examined the contributions of teacher emotion socialization (i.e., teacher reactions to child emotions) on children’s social–emotional behaviors, and the moderating effect of child temperamental surgency on these relations in the preschool context. A total of 337 childre...

This compilation of five papers provides commentary from researchers devoted to the study of a variety of components that contribute to the broader domain of social and emotional development in early childhood. These components include social competence, emotional competence, behavior problems, self-regulation, and executive function. Each section...

Recent years have witnessed a surge in evidence on preschoolers’ emotional development as crucial for both concurrent and later well-being and mental health, and for learning and academic success. Given the importance of building such strengths, assessing emotional competence skills is important to aid early childhood educators in focusing programm...

Preschool teachers, like parents, support children in ways that promote the regulation capacities that drive school adjustment, especially for children struggling to succeed in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore the emotionally and organizationally supportive classroom processes that contribute to the development of children's...

Identifying and understanding the predictors of preliteracy skills can set the stage for success in a child's academic career. Recent literature has implicated social–emotional competence as a potential component in helping children learn preliteracy skills. To further understand the role of social–emotional competence in preliteracy, the associati...

This study's main goals were to examine whether the Affect Knowledge Test's (AKT) factor structure would be represented by a two-factor model (i.e., emotion recognition and situation knowledge) or by a one-factor model in Italian preschoolers (N = 164; M = 4.24 year-olds, SD = 1.09). The concurrent validity of the AKT was further examined using mea...

The goals of this study were to evaluate (1) how specific aspects of executive control, briefly assessed, predict social competence and classroom adjustment during preschool and (2) differences between two aspects of executive control, according to child’s age, socioeconomic risk status, and gender. The facets of executive control were defined as c...

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between the rapidly growing abilities of preschool children to selfregulate by means of executive functions (EF) and emotion knowledge, on one hand, and changes in attention problems, on the other hand. For this, 261 3- to 6-year-olds were tested on these constructs and their preschool and kind...

Research Findings: The connections between parents’ emotional competence (emotion expression, regulation, and knowledge) and children’s social-emotional learning (SEL) have been well studied; however, the associations among teachers’ emotional competencies and children’s SEL remain widely understudied. In the present study, private preschool and He...

Research Findings: In order to examine the explanatory power of behavioral self-regulation in the domain of emotion knowledge, especially in a non-U.S. culture, 365 German 4- and 5-year-olds were individually tested on these constructs. Path analyses revealed that children’s behavioral self-regulation explained their emotion knowledge in the contex...

The connections between parents’ socialization practices and beliefs about emotions, and children’s emotional development have been well studied; however, teachers’ impacts on children’s social– emotional learning (SEL) remain widely understudied. In the present study, private preschool and Head Start teachers (N=32) were observed using the Classro...

Starting on positive trajectories at school entry is important for children’s later academic success. Using partial least squares,we sought to specify interrelations among all theory-based components of social–emotional learning (SEL), and their ability to predict later classroom adjustment and academic readiness in a modelling context. Consequentl...

Along with anger, the social emotions of empathy and guilt influence children's social behaviours in important ways, and are also implicated in broader aspects of behaviour such as self-regulation (ego control). Despite their importance, few studies have assessed these emotions simultaneously or across sources. We obtained measures from 99 children...

Emotions play a crucial role in appraisal of experiences and environments and in guiding thoughts and actions. Moreover, executive function (EF) and emotion regulation (ER) have received much attention, not only for positive associations with children’s social–emotional functioning, but also for potential central roles in cognitive functioning. In...

Young children's social information processing (SIP) encompasses a series of steps by which they make sense of encounters with other persons; both cognitive and emotional aspects of SIP often predict adjustment in school settings. More attention is needed, however, to the development of preschoolers' SIP and its potential foundations. To this end,...

Differences in emotion knowledge by children’s age, gender, and socioeconomic risk status, as well as associations of emotion knowledge with executive control, social competence, and early classroom adjustment, were investigated. On emotion knowledge, 4- and 5-year-olds scored higher than 3-year-olds, with girls showing this effect more strongly. S...

Children's expression and regulation of emotions are building blocks of their experiences in classrooms. Thus, the authors' primary goal was to investigate whether preschoolers' expression or ability to regulate emotions were associated with teachers' ratings of school adjustment. A secondary goal was to investigate how boys and girls differed acro...

Utilizing a three-part model of emotion socialization that includes Modeling, Contingent Responding, and Teaching, this study examined the associations between 44 teachers' self-reported and observed emotion socialization practices and 326 preschoolers' emotion knowledge and observed emotional behavior. Multi-level analyses revealed that the majori...

As part of a larger longitudinal project on the assessment of preschoolers' social-emotional development, children's social information processing (SIP) responses to unambiguous hypothetical situations of peer provocation were assessed for 298 four-year-olds from Head Start and private childcare settings. Measurement focused on emotions children wo...

To better connect emotional development and social cognition literatures, the intersection of preschoolers' emotion and behaviour response choices to hypothetical peer conflicts was examined among 305 4 ½-year-olds in private childcare and Head Start. Latent class analyses identified five subgroups of children with connections between their emotion...

The following study expands Denham and Auerbach's (1995. Mother-child dialogue about emotions and preschoolers’ emotional competence. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 121, 313–337) findings, demonstrating a link between mothers’ talk about emotions and preschoolers’ knowledge of emotions. We investigate the maternal language and...

The present study builds on an expanding body of research on the benefits of emotionally supportive interactions, including the extent to which teachers vary in their emotional supportive interactions over time, on preschoolers' social-emotional development. Using data collected in both private and Head Start preschool classrooms, we examined assoc...

In the following article, we summarize research investigating the benefits of teachers providing emotionally supportive interactions for preschoolers' social-emotional development and how teachers' perceptions and experiences of stress may influence these interactions. Using data collected in both private and Head Start preschool classrooms, we exa...

Young children’s emotional competence plays a significant role in their ability to thrive in school. Specifically, the ability to regulate their emotions according to situational demands, while remaining emotionally positive towards others, are very important contributors to children’s social success (Denham, Brown, & Domitrovich, 2010; Halberstadt...

Preschoolers (N=322 in preschool, 100 in kindergarten) were assessed longitudinally to examine the self-regulatory roots of emotion knowledge (labelling and situation) and the contributions of emotion knowledge to early school adjustment (i.e., including social, motivational, and behavioural indices), as well as moderation by age, gender, and risk....

To aid in understanding preschoolers' self-regulation and refinement of measurement, we examined properties of a field-based assessment battery of preschooler's self-regulation, the Preschool Self-regulation Assessment (PSRA). The PSRA, which includes seven age-appropriate tasks that tap children's executive control, was administered to 313 prescho...

The transition into formal schooling is a crucial foundation that can set children on a cycle of success or failure in both academic and social domains. A child’s abilities to express healthy emotions, understand emotions of self and others, regulate emotion, attention, and behavior, make good decisions regarding social problems, and engage in a ra...

Social-emotional behavior of 352 3- and 4-year-olds attending private child-care and Head Start programs was observed using the Minnesota Preschool Affect Checklist, Revised (MPAC-R). Goals of the investigation included (a) using MPAC-R data to extract a shortened version, MPAC-R/S, comparing structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability...

Young children's emotional competence-regulation of emotional expressiveness and experience when necessary, and knowledge of their own and other's emotions-is crucial for social and academic (i. e., school) success. Thus, it is important to understand the mechanisms of how young children develop emotional competence. Both parents and teachers are c...

Research Findings: A theory-based 2-factor structure of preschoolers’ emotion knowledge (i.e., recognition of emotional expression and understanding of emotion-eliciting situations) was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Compared to 1- and 3-factor models, the 2-factor model showed a better fit to the data. The model was found to be equival...

Examined how aspects of social-emotional learning (SEL)-specifically, emotion knowledge, emotional and social behaviors, social problem-solving, and self-regulation-clustered to typify groups of children who differ in terms of their motivation to learn, participation in the classroom, and other indices of early school adjustment and academic succes...

Young children’s emotional competence— regulation of emotional expressiveness and experience when necessary, and knowledge of their own and other’s emotions—is crucial for social and academic (i.e., school) success. Thus, it is important to understand the mechanisms of how young children develop emotional competence. Both parents and teachers are c...

The transition into formal schooling is a crucial foundation that can set children on a cycle of success or failure in both academic and social domains. A child’s abilities to express healthy emotions, understand emotions of self and others, regulate emotion, attention, and behavior, make good decisions regarding social problems, and engage in a ra...

The main goal of the study was to test the Affect Knowledge Test (Denham, 1986) in a group of Portuguese preschool children. 160 children, ages between 3 and 5 years participated. The instrument includes four basic emotions related tasks and aims to assess: 1) children's abilities to label emotions through emotional facial expressions, 2) to recogn...

The importance of early self-regulatory skill has seen increased focus in the applied research literature given the implications of these skills for early school success. A three-factor latent structure of self-regulation consisting of compliance, cool executive control, and hot executive control was tested against alternative models and retained a...

Preschoolers (N=322 in preschool, 100 in kindergarten) were assessed longitudinally to examine the self-regulatory roots of emotion knowledge (labelling and situation) and the contributions of emotion knowledge to early school adjustment (i.e., including social, motivational, and behavioural indices), as well as moderation by age, gender, and risk....

Developmental Tasks of Social CompetenceElements of Emotional CompetenceRelationship-Specific Interconnectedness of Emotional and Social CompetenceWhere Do We Go From Here?References

Research Findings: Social–emotional learning (SEL) is increasingly becoming an area of focus for determining children's school readiness and predicting their academic success. Practice or Policy: The current article outlines a model of SEL, identifies specific SEL skills, and discusses how such skills contribute and relate to academic success. Give...

Emotional competence is a contributor to young children's social success. This study focused on these contributions from a relational perspective. The emotional expressions, and reactions to others' emotional expressions, of 145 predominately Caucasian/middle income 3- and 4-year-olds were observed in their classrooms during unstructured play. Part...

Described preschoolers' conceptions of the consequences of their own emotions within the family demonstrated the linkage between this aspect of social cognition and emotional competence with peers, and examined contributions of parental emotion to both child variables. A total of 77 4- and 5-year-olds enacted dollhouse vignettes depicting consequen...

Copyright - © SAGE Publications and The International Society for Research on Emotion 2010, Date revised - 20100802, Number of references - 13, Last updated - 2012-09-10, DOI - PSIN-2010-14581-023; 2010-14581-023; 1754-0739; 1754-0747, SubjectsTermNotLitGenreText - Emotional Development, Carstensen, Laura L., Charles, Susan Turk 1998 Emotion in the...

Preschoolers' socialization of emotion and its contribution to emotional competence is likely to be highly gendered. In their work, the authors have found that mothers often take on the role of emotional gatekeeper in the family, and fathers act as loving playmates, but that parents' styles of socialization of emotion do not usually differ for sons...

Given the omnipresent role of gender in children's and adolescents' development, it seems necessary to better understand how gender affects the process of emotion socialization. In this introductory chapter, the authors discuss the overarching themes and key concepts discussed in this volume, as well as outline the distinct contribution of each ind...

This paper provides an overview of methodological challenges related to the epidemiological assessment of social-emotional development in children. Because population-based studies involve large cohorts and are usually multicentre in structure, they have cost, participant burden and other specific issues that affect the feasibility of the types of...

It was predicted that social cognitive, behavioral, and affective aspects of young children's social development would predict stable peer ratings of their likability. Measures of likability, emotion knowledge, prosocial and aggressive behavior, peer competence, and expressed emotions (happy and angry) were obtained for 65 subjects (mean age = 44 m...

This review details the developmental progression of emotional competence from preschool age through middle childhood, and provides extant evidence for its relation to social competence, mental health, and academic success. Intra- and interpersonal contributors to emotional competence are then detailed. Within interpersonal contributors, the relati...

Emotions are ubiquitous in all our lives. The information that they afford to each of us--about ourselves and others--is invaluable. The overarching goal of this chapter is to elucidate and comment on the state of current knowledge of the ways in which children, from preschool age through adolescence, learn from others about aspects of emotions--ho...

The overall issue of assessment during early childhood, and its relation to school readiness and other decisions, is currently widely debated. Expanding early childhood education and child care enrollments, better scientific knowledge about early childhood development, and decisions about public spending, necessitate careful consideration of which...