Psychosocial Development in Middle childhood – Flashcards

normal day: 2/3 of time is spent doing essential activities (eating, sleeping, brushing teeth), 1/3 of time is spent playing or watching TV (play decreases and TV increases as child gets older in mid childhood) 2.5-4 hrs of TV a day

-generally like to be with same sex -fitting in is important

-identify parent as most important relationship and grandparents as second most important - teacher relationship is least satisfying

-help children develop social skills -help children regain sense of belonging -give greater sense of emotional security

-can potentially create predjudice against outsiders -may pressure children to conform and engage in unhealthy activities

progression throughout middle childhood: 1. Mostly egocentric: johnny has a trampoline so I will be friends with him 2. More reciprocal: give and take 3. More intimate, deeper

- on a continuim, form very unpopular to very popular -effects self esteem, levels of happiness and provides basic developmental experience -popularity is a predictor of later adjustment

-children like children that are nice, kind and considerate - healthy and active children are more popular - good sense of humor makes a child more popular -being physically attractive

-problems at home -anxiety, withdrawn - trouble relating to others - immature, excessivley silly - overly aggresive - expectation that no one will like them

teach child social skills, change their classroom, modify their expectation that people will not like them

-becomes more corregular in middle childhod eg mom makes jr eat breakfast but he gets to pick the cereal

80% of moms work -helps mom feel more independent which increases likliehood that mom will be a good parent - kids can spend more time with dad - more money is coming in

- mom has less time -mom is more stressed

-easier to grow up in -mom and dad are married w/ biological or early adopted kids

Most common reason: unwed mothers 25-30% of families are single parent families biggest problem: low income

50% of children born over the last few decades will experience their parent's divorce - boys have more problems adjusting to divorced family than girls in relating to their mother - angry at dad for leaving and at mom for letting dad leave - children are shocked, scared feel guilty - adjust best if parents us authoritative style and dad stays in the picture -more social, academic and behavioral problems

in adulthood, many adjust well. slightly more likely to be depressed and have poorer health

75% of divorced women remarry and the figure is even higher for men -2nd marriges are more likely to fail than 1st - 15% of children today live in a stepfamily - most typical: mom and her bio children and stepdad - girls who live in stepfamilies have more behavioral and adjustment problems than girls living in intact families -boys are more likely than girls to accept stepfather as a parent

children raised by gay parents have few if any differences than heterosexual families no difference in their own sexuality or confusion about gender roles

2 types: agency and independent adoptions agency: facilitated by and agency and information is kept confidential independent: made by direct agreement b/t birth mother and adoptive parents...often open so that both parties are involved with child -few significant differences between adopted and non adopted children, as long as they are adopted early in life