Mental health articles

Normal infant emotional development Infant research has provided considerable information about the infant’s innate capacities for social and environmental interaction from birth. The newborn baby has an amazing range of communication strategies. For example, newborns turn their heads in response to a familiar parental voice or smell, show a preference for face-shaped patterns over other pictures, express a range of emotions and attempt to imitate facial expressions (Murray & Andrews, 2000). All of these strategies have one primary focus—to ensure that an adult will respond and prioritise the infant’s survival. The newborn has an inbuilt capacity to act in a way that promotes the development of a caring, loving relationship with an adult. Normal emotional development in an infant occurs within this relationship, and developmental stages and challenges are responded to within the relationship context. Several psychological and emotional processes are established in infancy. Rapid neuropsychological development occurs at the same time as physical and cognitive developmental tasks are achieved. Psychosocial development and the development of self-regulation also occur within the infant period and influence later psychological and interpersonal functioning. Developmental and psychological processes are often interlinked; for example, the development of secure base behaviour and exploration in the second year corresponds with the development of crawling and walking. The infant who is mobile becomes interested in exploring the environment more actively and can use the primary caregiver as a secure base from which to begin exploring and learning.

Tags: emotion, infant