While most parents understand some important ways to promote development, their understanding social and emotional development is less consistent.

• While research shows that most children are capable of feeling good or bad about themselves between ages one and two, only 43% of parents think a child is capable of such feelings by age two. A majority of parents (53%) do not think a child can experience these feelings until they are older.
• Although research shows that babies as young as 6 months can experience feelings of sadness and fear, a large majority of respondents (69%) think this developmental milestone occurs later in a young child’s life.
• Only 34% of parents think a young child can begin to sense whether their parents are angry or sad and can be affected by their parents’ moods by the time they reach six months. Therefore, two-thirds of parents do not fully understand that babies can be affected in this critical way at such a young age.
• Between the ages of three and five most children develop the capacity to control their emotions (i.e. asking for help when frustrated rather than having a tantrum or biting). While slightly more than one in three parents hold this expectation, a significant proportion of parents expect a young child to be capable of exerting this kind of self control at a much younger age. 43% of parents believe that children can control their emotions by age three, and 20% expect this by age two.

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