LATE CHILDHOOD

CONTENT
TYPICAL MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
THE DEVELOPING SELF
Self-Concept Development: THE CHILD in the PEER GROUP
Representational Systems Positive and Negative Effects
Industry vs. Inferiority of Peer
Relations
Emotional Growth and Behavior Popularity
Friendship
THE CHILD in the FAMILY
Aggression and Bullying
Family Atmosphere
Family Structure MENTAL HEALTH
Sibling Relationships Stress and Resilience
TYPICAL MAJOR
DEVELOPMENTS
AGE PERIOD PHYSICAL COGNITIVE PSYCHOSOCIAL
DEVELOPMENTS DEVELOPMENTS DEVELOPMENTS
Growth slows. Egocentrism diminishes. Self-concept becomes
Children begin to think more complex, affecting
Middle – Late Strength and logically but concretely. self-esteem.
Childhood athletic skills
(ages 6 to 11) improve. Memory and language skills Coregulation reflects
increase. gradual shift in control
Respiratory illnesses from parents to child.
are common, but Cognitive gains permit
health is generally children to benefit from Peers assume central
better than at any formal schooling. performance.
other time in the
life span. Some children show special
educational needs and
THE DEVELOPING SELF
SELF-CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT:
REPRESENTATIONAL SYSTEMS
Representational Systems
During middle to late childhood, the
self-concept becomes more conscious,
realistic, balanced, and comprehensive; a
stage wherein according to neo-Piagetian
model, children form representational system.

Representational systems are broad,

inclusive self-concepts that integrate various
concepts of the self (Harter, 1993, 1996,
1998).
Representational Systems
Changes in child’s self-description as follows:
• Can now focus on more than one dimension of herself
• Has outgrown his/her earlier all-or-nothing, black-or-
white self-description
• Recognizes that he/she can be "smart" in certain
subjects and "dumb" in other
• Can verbalize self-concept better and can weigh
different aspects of it
• Can compare real self (who am I) with ideal self
(who I want to be)
• Can judge how well he/she measures up to social
standards in comparison with others and contribute
to global self-worth (I still like myself as a person).
THE DEVELOPING SELF
INDUSTRY VS. INFERIORITY
Industry vs. Inferiority
According to Erikson (1982), the
chief source of self-esteem is
children's view of their productive
competence, which develops in his
fourth stage of psychosocial
development, industry vs. inferiority--
there is an opportunity for growth
represented by a sense of industry and
a complementary risk represented by
feelings of inferiority.
Industry vs. Inferiority
If this stage is successfully
resolved, children develop a view of
themselves as being able to master
skills and complete tasks. But, if
children become too industrious, they
may neglect social relationships and
turn into workaholics.
THE DEVELOPING SELF
EMOTIONAL GROWTH AND
PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Emotional Growth and Prosocial Behavior
School-age children are
typically aware of feeling shame and
pride and can better regulate and
understand negative emotions.
Children tend to become more
emphatic and inclined to prosocial
behavior in middle childhood.
Emotional growth is affected
by parents’ reactions to displays of
negative emotions.
THE CHILD IN THE FAMILY
FAMILY ATMOSPHERE
Family Atmosphere
School-age children spend less
time with parents and are less close to
them than before, but relationships with
parents continue to be important. Culture
influences family relationships and roles.

The family environment has two

major components: family atmosphere
and family structure.
Family Atmosphere
Family atmosphere is a key influence on development. One key
factor is whether or not conflict is present in the home.
Children exposed to family conflict show a variety of responses
that can include internalizing and externalizing behaviors.

Internalizing behaviors include anxiety, fearfulness, and

depression—anger turned inward.
Externalizing behaviors include aggression, fighting,
disobedience, and hostility—anger turned outward.
Family Atmosphere
Parenting Issues: From Control to Coregulation
As children grow and become more autonomous, there is a
shift in power. Children begin to request certain types of
experiences, demand particular food, negotiate for desired objects,
and communicate their shifting needs to parents.
In middle childhood, social power becomes more equal between
parent and child. Parent and child engage in coregulation, a stage in
the control of behavior in which parents exercise moment-to-
moment self-regulation (Maccoby, 1984, 1992).
Family Atmosphere
Parenting Issues: From Control to Coregulation

The shift to coregulation affects the way

parents handle discipline. Parents of school-age
children are more likely to use inductive
techniques and also modify their use of physical
discipline (such as spanking) as children age.
Generally, the use of corporal punishment is
associated with negative outcomes for children.
Family Atmosphere
Effect of Parents’ Work

The impact of mother’s

employment depends on many factors
concerning the child, the mother’s work
and her feelings about it whether she
has a supportive partner, the family’s
socioeconomic status, and the type of
care and degree of monitoring the child
receives.
Family Atmosphere
Poverty and Parenting

Poverty can harm children’s

development indirectly through its
effects on parents’ well-being and
parenting practices.
Family Atmosphere

Putting it all together…

The emotional tone of the home, the way parents
handle disciplinary issues and conflict, the effects of
parents’ work, and the adequacy of financial resources all
contribute to family atmosphere.
THE CHILD IN THE FAMILY
FAMILY STRUCTURE
 Family Structure
 When Parents Divorce
 Living in a One-Parent Family
 Living in a Cohabiting Family
 Living in a Stepfamily
 Living with Gay or Lesbian Parents
 Adoptive Families
Family Structure
• In earlier generations, the vast majority of children grew up in families
with two married parents.
• In the United States, although about 2 out of 3 children under 18 live
with two married biological, adoptive or stepparents, that proportion
represents a dramatic decline -- from 77% in 1980 to 64% in 2012 (Child
Trends Data Bank, 2013a).
•About 10% of two-parent families are step families resulting from
divorce and remarriage, and nearly 4% are cohabiting families. (Kreider
& Fields, 2005)
• Other increasingly common family types are gay and lesbian families and
grandparent-headed families.
Family Structure
 WHEN PARENTS DIVORCE
Adjusting to Divorce
◦ Divorce is stressful for children.
Usually starts with the:
a) Stress of marital conflict;
b) Parental separation with the departure of one parent, usually
the father
◦ Children may not fully understand what is happening.
◦ Stressful for parents as well, and may negatively affect their
parenting.
Family Structure
• The family’s standard of living is likely to drop; and if a parent
moves away, the child’s relationship with the noncustodial parent
may suffer (Kelly & Emery, 2003).
• A parent’s remarriage or second divorce after remarriage can
increase the stress on children, renewing feelings of loss (Ahrons &
Tanner, 2003; Amato, 2003).
• Children’s emotional or behavioural problems also may reflect the
level of parental conflict before the divorce (Amato, 2005).
Family Structure
• A child’s adjustment to divorce depends in part on the child’s age,
maturity, gender, temperament, and psychosocial adjustment before
the divorce.
• Younger children tend to suffer from more behavioural problems.
• Older children are at higher risk with respect to academic and
social outcomes (Lansford,2009).
Family Structure
• Although previous research suggested boys were at higher risk than
girls (e.g., Amato, 2005), current data suggest the relationship
between gender and negative outcomes is less clear, with no clear
disadvantage identified for boys.
• What is clear, however, is that children who showed poor adjustment
prior to their parent’s divorce generally fare worse in the long run
(Lansford,2009).
• Although children whose parents divorce are at higher risk for
negative outcomes, most do eventually show good adjustment.
Family Structure
Custody, Visitation and Co-parenting
CUSTODY
• Maternal Custody
• Paternal Custody - a growing trend
• Joint Custody - shared by both parents
Joint Legal Custody - they share the right and responsibility to make
decisions regarding the child’s welfare.
Joint Physical Custody - less common
- the child lives part time with each parent.
Family Structure
• When one parent has custody, children do better after divorce if the
custodial parent is warm, supportive and authoritative; monitors the
child’s activities; and holds age-appropriate expectations.
• In addition, conflict between the divorced parents needs to be minimal,
and the nonresident parent should remain closely involved (Amato &
Gilbreth, 1999, Kelly & Emery, 2003).
• Many children of divorce say that losing contact with a father is one of
the most painful results of divorce (Fabricius, 2003).
• Joint custody can be advantageous for the child if the parents can
cooperate.
 Family Structure
Long-Term Effects
• Most children of divorce adjust reasonably well.
• However, the anxiety connected with parental divorce may surface as
children enter adulthood and try to form intimate relationships of their own
(Amato, 2003; Wallerstein, Lewis, & Blakeslee, 2000).
• Their marriages tend to be less satisfying and are more likely to end in
divorce (Amato, 2005).
• However, much depends on how young people resolve and interpret the
experience of parental divorce. Some who saw a high degree of conflict
between their parents are able to learn from that negative example and to
form highly intimate relationships themselves (Shulman, Scharf, Lumer &
Maurer, 2001).
Family Structure
 LIVING IN A ONE-PARENT FAMILY
◦ One-parent families result from divorce or separation, unwed
parenthood, or death.
◦ With rising rates of divorce and of parenthood outside of marriage,
the percentage of single-parent families in the United States has
more than doubled since 1970 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008a), reaching a
peak in the 1990’s.
◦ Although children are far more likely to live with a single mother than
with a single father, the number of father-only families has more than
quadrupled since 1970, apparently due largely to the increase in
paternal custody after divorce (Fields, 2004).
 Family Structure
• Children living with married parents progress more steadily in
school; participate more on extracurricular activities than
children living with single parent (Lugaila, 2003).
• Children in single-parent families do fairly well overall but tend
to lag socially and educationally behind peers in two-parent
families (Amato, 2009).
• The child’s age and level of development, the family’s financial
circumstances, whether there are frequent moves, and a non-
resident father’s involvement make a difference (Amato, 2005;
Seltzer, 2000).
Family Structure
 LIVING IN A COHABITING FAMILY

• Cohabiting families are similar in many ways to married families, but the
parents tend to be more disadvantaged. (Mather, 2010)

• They traditionally have less income and education, report poorer

relationships and have more mental health problems.

◦ Cohabiting families are more likely to break up than married

families.However, some data suggest that the dissolution of a cohabiting
couple does not result in the same risk for negative outcomes as does
divorce (Wu, Hou, & Schimmele, 2008).
Family Structure
 LIVING IN A STEPFAMILY
- Most divorced parents eventually remarry and many unwed mothers
marry men who were not the father of their children, forming step-, or
blended families.
- Adjusting to a new stepparent may be stressful.
- A child’s loyalty to an absent or dead parent may interfere with forming
ties to a stepparent (Amato, 2005).

• boys - benefit from a stepfather

• girls - may find the new man in the house a threat to her independence
and to her close relationship with her mother (Bray & Hetherington,
1993; Hetherington, Bridges, & Insalbella, 1998; Hines, 1997).
 Family Structure
 LIVING WITH GAY OR LESBIAN PARENTS
- An estimated 6 million U.S. children and adolescents have at least
one gay or lesbian parent, (Gates, 2013)
- Some gays and lesbians are raising children born of previous
heterosexual relationships.
- Others conceive by artificial means, use surrogate mothers, or adopt
children (Pawelski, et al., 2006; Perrin and AAP Committee on
Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, 2002).
Family Structure
- Gay or lesbian parents usually have positive relationships with their
children, and the children are no more likely than children raised by
heterosexual parents to have emotional, social, academic, or
psychological problems.

- Research has shown that children living with homosexual parents

are no more likely than other children to have social or psychological
problems or to turn out to be homosexual themselves.
Family Structure
 ADOPTIVE FAMILIES
• Agency adoptions - intended to be confidential; with no contact
between the birth mother and the adoptive parents.
• Independent adoptions - made by direct agreement between birth
parents and adoptive parents; have become more common (Brodzinsky,
1997; Goodman et al., 1998). Often these are open adoptions, in which
both parties share information or have direct contact with the child.
Family Structure
• Challenges encountered by adoptive parents:
◦ Integrating the adoptive child into the family
◦ Explaining the adoption to the child
◦ Helping the child develop a healthy sense of self
◦ Perhaps eventually helping the child find and contact the biological
parents
- Any problems that do occur may surface during middle childhood,
when children become more aware of differences in the way
families are formed (Freeark et al., 2005).
- Trans-racial Adoptions
THE CHILD IN THE FAMILY

SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS
Sibling Relationships
• In remote rural areas of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Central and
South America, it is common to see older girls caring for 3 or 4
younger siblings.
• Parents train children early to teach younger sisters and brothers
household chores.
• Younger siblings respect elders and place the welfare of the group
above that individual.
• In countries such as United States, this might be seen as neglectful,
but in many cultures, it is an important culturally defined role for
siblings.
Sibling Relationships
• The number of siblings in a family and
their spacing, birth order, and gender
often determine roles and relationships.
• Sibling relations can be a laboratory for
conflict resolution.
• Siblings are motivated to make up after
quarrels, as they know they will see each
other everyday.
Sibling Relationships
• Siblings influence each other, not only
directly, through their interaction with
each other, but also indirectly, through
their impact on each other’s relationship
with their parents (Brody, 2004).
THE CHILD IN THE PEER
GROUP
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE
EFFECTS OF PEER RELATIONS
Positive and Negative Effects of
Peer Relations
• The peer group becomes more important in
middle childhood. Peer groups generally consist
of children who are similar in age, sex, ethnicity,
and socioeconomic status and who lives near one
another or go to school together
Positive and Negative Effects of
Peer Relations
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
 Develop skills needed for sociability and  Reinforce prejudice
intimacy Prejudice - unfavorable attitudes toward
 Gain sense of belongingness outsiders, especially members of certain racial
 Motivated to achieve and attain a sense of or ethnic groups.
identity  Biased towards children like themselves
 They learn leadership and communication skills,  Prejudice and discrimination can do real
cooperation, roles and rules.
damage
 Comparing themselves with children on the
 Can foster antisocial tendencies
same age gauge their abilities more realistically;
clearer sense of self-efficacy.
 Helps children learn how to get along with
society. - offers emotional security
 Same-sex peer groups may help children learn
gender-appropriate behaviors and incorporate
gender-roles into their self-concept.
THE CHILD IN THE PEER
GROUP
POPULARITY
POPULARITY
• As children age, peer relationship become increasingly important
because children most often interact with each other within the
context of school and in groups, researchers have developed means
by which to assess their standing in social group.

◦ Positive Nomination - children can easily say who they like to play with,
who they like the most, or who they think other kids like the most.
◦ Negative Nomination - children can also easily describe which children
they don't like to play with, like the least, or think other kids don't like.

• The tally may be composed of positive nominations, negative nominations,

or no nominations. This measure is known as 'Sociometric Popularity‘.
POPULARITY
• Sociometrically 'popular' children receive many positive nominations
and few negative nominations.
- have good cognitive abilities
- high achievers
- good at solving social problems
- kind and able to help other children
- assertive without being disruptive or aggressive
POPULARITY
• Children can be 'unpopular' in one of two ways:
a) Some children are rejected, and they receive a large number of
negative nominations;
b) Other children are neglected and receive few nominations of any
kind.
- aggressive - withdrawn
- hyperactive - act silly and immature
- inattentive - anxious and uncertain
- insensitive to other children's feelings
- do not adapt well to new situations
POPULARITY
• Other children can be 'average' in their ratings and do not receive an
unusual number of either positive or negative nominations.
• 'controversial' children receive many positive and negative
nominations; indicating that some children like them a great deal and
some dislike them a great deal.
• Less is known about outcomes related to average and controversial
sociometric categories.
• Popularity is important in middle childhood.
• School children whose peers like them are likely to be well adjusted
as adolescents.
POPULARITY
• Those who have trouble getting along with peers are more likely to develop:
- psychological problems
- drop out of school
- delinquent
- lower levels of classroom participation (peer rejection)
• It is often in the family that children acquire behaviors that affect
popularity.
• Authoritarian parents
• Culture can affect criteria for popularity.
THE CHILD IN THE PEER GROUP
FRIENDSHIP
FRIENDSHIP
• Children look for friends who are like them in age, sex, and interests.
• The strongest friendships involve equal commitment and mutual give-and-take.
• With their friends, children learn to communicate and cooperate.
• The inevitable quarrels help children learn to resolve conflicts.
• Friendship seems to help children feel good about themselves.
• Peer rejection and friendlessness has long-term negative effects.
• "Children cannot be or have true friends until they achieve the cognitive maturity
to consider other people's views and needs as well as their own." (Dodge, Coie, &
Lynam, 2006; Hartup and Stevens, 1999)
SELMAN’S STAGES OF FRIENDSHIP
STAGES DESCRIPTION
Stage 0: Momentary Playmateship (3-7 years) Undifferentiated level; children tend to think only about what
they want from a relationship. They define their friends in
terms of physical closeness and value them for material or
physical attributes.

Stage 1: One-way assistance (4-9 years) Unilateral level; a “good friend” does what the child wants the
friend to do

Stage 2: Two-way fair-weather cooperation (6-12 years) Reciprocal level; involves give-and-take but still serves many
separate self-interests, rather than the common interests of
the two friends

Stage 3: Intimate, mutually shared relationships (9-15 years) Mutual level; children views a friendship as an ongoing,
systematic, committed relationship; friends become
possessive and demand exclusivity

Stage 4: Autonomous interdependence (beginning at age 12) Independent stage; children respect friends’ needs for
dependency and autonomy
THE CHILD IN THE PEER GROUP

AGGRESSION AND BULLYING

AGGRESSION AND BULLYING
• During middle childhood, aggression typically declines.
Instrumental or proactive aggression - aggression aimed at
achieving an objective; aggressors view force and coercion as effective ways
to get what they want
Hostile or reactive aggression – aggression intended to hurt another
person; assuming worst of others in a situation
Hostile attributional bias – if hostile reactive aggression
became a habit; quickly to conclude that others were acting
with ill intent
AGGRESSION AND BULLYING
Does electronic media violence stimulate aggression ?
◦ Electronic media such as television, movies, video games, cellphone,
and computer take on larger role in influencing children’s behaviors
because children spend more time on entertainment media than on
any other activities except school and sleeping
◦ Television programs portray violence and usually glamorized,
glorified, or trivialized.
◦ Music videos disproportionately feature violence against women and
picture, music, and video games industries aggressively market
violent, adult-rated products to children
AGGRESSION AND BULLYING
Bullies and Victims
◦ Aggression becomes bullying when it is deliberately,
persistent directed against a particular target: a victim
◦ Bullying can be physical (hitting, punching, kicking, or
damaging or taking of personal belongings), verbal (name-
calling or threatening) or relational or emotional (isolating
and gossiping behind the victim’s back)
◦ Bullying can be proactive—done to show dominance, bolster
power, or win admiration—or reactive, responding to a real or
imagined attack.
◦ Cyberbullying – posting negative comments or derogatory
photos of the victim on a website.
MENTAL HEALTH
COMMON EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS
COMMON EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS
Mental Health
• The term mental health is a misnomer
because it is usually referring to emotional
health. Almost children are fairly well
adjusted, at least 1 in 10 children and
adolescents has diagnosed mental
disturbance severe enough to cause some
impairment.
COMMON EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS
Children with emotional, behavioral tend to be an underserved group. They have
chronic conditions.
◦ Disruptive Conduct Disorders - temper tantrums and defiant, argumentative,
hostile, or deliberately annoying behavior, common among 4 and 5 years old
typically are outgrown by middle childhood as children get better at controlling
these behaviors.
◦ Opposite Defiant Disorder (ODD) – when such pattern of behavior persist until
age of 8, children usually boys may be diagnosed by this disorder.
◦ Conduct Disorder (CD) - children with ODD may later be diagnosed. It is a
persistent, repetitive pattern, beginning at an early age of aggressive, antisocial
acts, such as truancy, setting fires, habitual lying, fighting, bullying, theft,
vandalism, assaults, and drug and alcohol use.
COMMON EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS
School Phobia and other Anxiety Disorders
Some of children have realistic reasons to fear of going to school such as
sarcastic teacher, overly demanding work, or a bully to void.
School Phobia – it is an unrealistic fear of going to school.
Separation anxiety disorder – a condition involving excessive anxiety for at
least 4 weeks concerning separation from home or from people to whom the
child is attached. It is normal for early age but when it persists in older
children and young adolescents, it causes for concern.
Social Phobia (Social anxiety) – extreme fear and avoidance of social
situations such as speaking in class or meeting an acquaintance on the
street.
COMMON EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS
Generalized Anxiety Disorder – not focused on
specific part of their lives. They worry about
everything such as school grades, storms,
earthquakes, and hurting themselves in the
playground.
Obsessive – Compulsive Disorder (OCD) – children
with this disorder may be obsessed repetitive,
intrusive thoughts, images, or impulses (often
irrational fears).
COMMON EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS
Childhood Depression
◦ a disorder of mood that goes beyond normal, temporary sadness.
Symptoms includes inability to have fun or concentrate, fatigue,
apathy, crying, sleep problems, weight change, physical complaints,
feelings of worthlessness, a prolonged sense of friendlessness or
frequent thoughts about death or suicide.
MENTAL HEALTH

TREATMENT TECHNIQUES
TREATMENT TECHNIQUES
Individual Psychotherapy – a therapy sees
child one - on – one to help child gain
insights into his or her own personality and
relationships and to interpret feelings and
behavior.
TREATMENT TECHNIQUES
Family therapy – the therapist sees the family
together, observes how members interact, and
points out both growth-producing and growth-
inhibiting or destructive patterns of family
functioning.
TREATMENT TECHNIQUES
Behavior Therapy (also called behavior modification) – form of
psychotherapist that uses principles of learning theory to eliminate
undesirable behaviors or to develop desirable ones.
Cognitive behavioral therapy - seeks to change negative
thoughts through gradual exposure, modeling, rewards, or talking to
oneself, has proven the most effective treatment for anxiety
disorders among children and adolescents (Harvard Medical School,
2004a).
TREATMENT TECHNIQUES
When children limited verbal and conceptual skills or
have suffered emotional trauma:
Art Therapy- therapeutic approach that allows a
person to express troubled feelings without
words, using a variety of art materials and media
TREATMENT TECHNIQUES
Play Therapy- therapeutic approach that
uses play to help a child cope with emotional
distress

Drug Therapy- administration of drugs to

treat emotional disorders
MENTAL HEALTH

STRESS AND RESILIENCE

STRESS AND RESILIENCE
Stressful events are part of childhood, and most of children
learn to cope. However, it can lead to psychological problems.

The Stresses of Modern Life

• As a result of the pressures of modern life, many children
experience stress. Children tend to worry about school, health, and
personal safety and may be traumatized by exposure to terrorism or
war.
• The child psychologist David Elkind (1981,1986,1997,1998) has called
today’s child the “hurried child”.
Children’s Age-Related Reactions
to Trauma
Age Typical Reactions
5 years or less Fear of separation from parents; crying,
whimpering, screaming, trembling;
recessive behaviors ( thumbsucking, bed-
wetting, fear of dark)
6-11 years old Extreme withdrawal; disruptive behavior,
inability to pay attention; regressive
behavior (nightmares, sleep problems,
irrational fears)
12- 17 years old Flashbacks, school avoidance, academic
decline, sleep disturbances, depression,
suicidal thoughts
STRESS AND RESILIENCE
Coping with Stress: The Resilient Child
They are the children who weather circumstances that might
blight others, who maintain their composure and competence under
challenge or threat or who bounce back or fights back from
traumatic events.
The two most important protective factors that help children
andadolescents overcome stress and contribute resilience are good
family relationships and cognitive functioning (Masten and
Coatsworth, 1998).
Characteristics of Resilient
Children and Adolescents
Source Characteristics
Individual Good intellectual functioning
Appealing, sociable, easygoing disposition
Self-efficacy, self-confidence, high self-esteem
Talents
faith
Family Close relationship to caring parent figure
Authoritative parenting warmth, structure, high
expectations
Socioeconomic advantages
Connections to extended supportive family networks
Extrafamilial context Bonds to prosocial adults outside the family
Connections to prosocial organizations
Attending effective schools
STRESS AND RESILIENCE
Other frequently cited protective factors include the following:
◦ The child’s temperament or personality: Resilient children are
adaptable, friendly, well-liked, independent, and sensitive to others. They
are competent and have high self-esteem. When under stress, they can
regulate their emotions by shifting attention to something else.
◦ Compensating experiences: A supportive school environment or
successful experiences in studies, sports, or music or with other children
or adults can help make up for a destructive home life.
◦ Reduced risk: Children who been exposed to only one of a number
of factors for psychiatric disorder are often better able to
overcome stress than children who have been exposed to more than
one risk factor.