Socio-emotional development: From infancy to young adulthood

Abstract

Bohlin, G. & Hagekull, B. (2009). Socio-emotional development: From infancy to young adulthood. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 50, 592-601. Results from the Uppsala Longitudinal Study (ULS), which started in 1985, are reported in two sections. The first section gives a summary of longitudinal data from infancy to middle childhood (age 9 years; n = 96) concerning predictions of social functioning aspects from the theoretical perspectives of temperament, attachment, and health psychology (social factors). The second section presents the first results emanating from a follow-up when participants were 21 years old (n = 85). The developmental roots of social anxiety symptoms were studied from the same perspectives as above, although with a special focus on the predictive power of the temperament trait of shyness/inhibition. Results for middle childhood outcomes showed that temperament characteristics were relevant for most outcomes, whereas the contribution of attachment was most convincingly shown in relation to social competence and personality. Social factors were found to have moderating functions, but direct effects were also shown, the most interesting perhaps being positive effects of non-parental day care. Results from the 21-year data confirmed the expected predictive relation from shyness/inhibition to symptoms of social anxiety and further showed this relation to be specific; the relation to symptoms of depression did not survive control for social anxiety, although the opposite was true. The broad analysis of predictor associations with social anxiety, showing the relevance of other temperament factors as well as interactive effects, again attested to the need for multi-faceted models to analyze developmental trajectories. © 2009 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.