Emotional Development

Emotions are a key component of an individual’s subjective experiences. Alternately defined as affective states or feelings, emotions are a natural and fundamental part of the human experience. At birth, an individual experiences emotions without much understanding or control. As development progresses, so does an individual’s recognition and comprehension of the emotional experiences within themselves and others. This process of emotional development is influenced by biological, psychological, social, cognitive, contextual, and cultural processes over the course of the lifespan. Individual factors, such as temperament and cognitive skills, influence emotional development, as well as environmental factors and learning, such as social relationships and parental attachment. For people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, the process of emotional development may operate on a different time frame or trajectory, ...