Correlation Between Social Emotional Development and Parental Level of Education

Abstract

Social emotional development includes a child’s experiences, expression, and management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others (Cohen et al, 2005). The core features of emotional development include the ability to identify and understands one’s own feelings, to accurately read and comprehend emotional states in others, to manage strong emotions and their expression in a constructive manner, to regulates one’s own behavior, to develop empathy for others and to establish and maintain relationships with others (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2004). This study looked at the social emotional scores of children evaluated using the DAYC2 and were found eligible for a local Birth to Three program. For a child to be eligible for Birth to 3 services they must demonstrate a 25% delay in any area of development or a standard score of 81 or less. I then looked at the scores of each child, in the area of social emotional development, to see if there is any correlation with their parent’s level of education.