Aslanova Margarita, Gavrilova Margarita, Iurina Elena
Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
Laboratory of Childhood Psychology and Digital Socialization, Federal Scientific Center for Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research, Moscow, Russia.
Front Psychol. 2024 Nov 27;15:1428087. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1428087. eCollection 2024.
The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of sibling family structure -including the number of children, age gaps, presence of a twin, sibling position, and gender composition - on emotion understanding and its development in children aged 5-6 years. A total of 409 preschoolers participated. Emotion understanding was assessed using The Test of Emotion Comprehension at the baseline and then again at a 1-year follow-up. In addition to the primary variables, executive functions (comprising visual and verbal working memory and cognitive flexibility) and non-verbal intelligence were controlled for in the analysis. We used the Dimensional Change Card Sort task to assess cognitive flexibility, the Sentence Repetition and Memory for Designs subtests of NEPSY-II to measure verbal and visual working memory, respectively, and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices to assess non-verbal intelligence. Sibling data were obtained from the parent surveys, while psychological assessments were administered to children by psychologists. While sibling family structure influences emotion understanding, it does not significantly affect its development over a year. A more advanced reflective emotional understanding is associated with higher cognitive flexibility and having a younger sibling, compared to other sibling positions. The results of this study offer additional knowledge for parents, educators, family therapists, and child psychologists seeking a deeper understanding of emotional development in children. These professionals can design interventions and programs that leverage sibling and peer relationships to foster emotional development, encourage collaboration through age-diverse activities, and promote caregiving roles to enhance family and group dynamics.
该研究的目的是调查兄弟姐妹家庭结构——包括孩子数量、年龄差距、双胞胎的存在、兄弟姐妹排行以及性别构成——对5至6岁儿童情绪理解及其发展的影响。共有409名学龄前儿童参与。在基线时使用《情绪理解测试》对情绪理解进行评估，然后在1年随访时再次评估。在分析中，除了主要变量外，还控制了执行功能（包括视觉和言语工作记忆以及认知灵活性）和非言语智力。我们使用维度变化卡片分类任务来评估认知灵活性，分别使用NEPSY-II的句子重复和图形记忆子测试来测量言语和视觉工作记忆，并使用瑞文彩色渐进矩阵来评估非言语智力。兄弟姐妹的数据来自家长调查，而心理评估由心理学家对儿童进行。虽然兄弟姐妹家庭结构会影响情绪理解，但它对一年中的情绪理解发展没有显著影响。与其他兄弟姐妹排行相比，更高级的反思性情绪理解与更高的认知灵活性以及有一个年幼的兄弟姐妹有关。这项研究的结果为寻求更深入了解儿童情绪发展的家长、教育工作者、家庭治疗师和儿童心理学家提供了更多知识。这些专业人员可以设计干预措施和项目，利用兄弟姐妹和同伴关系来促进情绪发展，可以通过年龄各异的活动鼓励合作，并促进照顾角色以增强家庭和群体动态。
