Introduction

The most rapid period of incredible growth and development in human life is the Early Childhood Phase. Despite the fact that children develop at their individual paces, all kids do progress through a path of emotional, cognitive and physical growth. This growth and development may be best supported by a consistently favorable parenting style. While some adults may not be aware of this, it is indeed true that their day-to-day behaviors and interactions with the toddlers affects the growth and development of these young children. Children learn the behaviors and skills necessary to interact in the everyday lives from seeing adults’ behaviors, using the tone of adults’ voices, etc. As one American abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men,” the need to bring up all-round healthy children can never be underestimated [ CITATION Ste101 l 1033 ]. Children too have emotions, and a self-concept. Self-concept refers to the subconscious perception of self and is present in children right from birth. The development of this self-concept is influenced by the experiences of the child in the social environment. These social environments include the child’s physical surroundings and the social relationships as well as the community resources. The social relationships primarily accommodates human interactions between the infants/toddlers and adults or with their peers. Of most importance is the interaction with adults. Adults interacting with children in their early years have a great role to play in shaping the self-concept of these children.

Just to mention, the adults who spend most time with children in early childhood are primarily the parents, the caregivers or the preschool teachers. Focusing on parents, they are counted as the first teacher to their children owing to the fact that the children learn the knowledge and skills of basic survival from their parents through direct instructions. In a broader perspective, parents, preschool teachers, caregivers and all other adults who interact with the young children all have an unintentional influence through their actions since it is a general fact that children are very fond of imitating the actions of their adults. This paper provides an analysis of how positive interaction of adults affects the self-concept of these children and more specifically the self-esteem and emotional well-being of these children. The discussion will include an analysis of two primary research studies on the topic as well as a review of the current literature on the topic. The paper concludes with a summary and recommendations based on the points learnt from the entire analysis.

Main Body/Discussion

Definition of Terms

One of the aspects of importance in this study is self-esteem. By definition, self-esteem is the confidence in one’s ability or worth; it is self-respect’ it is a reflection of an individual’s evaluation of his/her worth. When any individual has a healthy self-esteem, they are psychologically stable and hence have positive social activities. Focusing on infants and toddlers, researchers suggest that a high level of self-esteem and positive moods (such as interest and joy) point to a flourishing mental health among children. Apparently, children develop a sense of self right from birth but this is a gradual process that goes into adulthood.

A child’s emotional development is another factor of concern in this discussion. By definition, emotional development refers to the experience, expression, and management of emotions and involves understanding how feelings and emotions happen, recognizing one’s feelings and emotions as well as developing effective ways of managing them. As children grow, the exposure to different situations facilitates the development of the complexity their emotions. Parents play a significant role in this process of emotional development.

Primary Case Studies

One of the relevant primary research studies is Blandon, Calkins & Keane (2010) in their research “Predicting Emotional and Social Competence during Early Childhood from Toddler Risk and Maternal Behavior.” These researchers examined the longitudinal associations between a mother’s parenting style and the toddler risk with respect to children’s social and emotional competence using a sample of 253 children in a series of hierarchical regression models. Predictors of toddler risk were taken as early externalizing behavior and poor abilities and skills of a toddler to regulate their emotions. The measures of emotional and social competence were taken as emotional regulation, toddler’s negativity, social skills and problem behavior in pre-school playgroup. The strengths of their peer relationship skills were measured using peer acceptance, aggression scores and peer social inclination. Since the researchers were engrossed in finding out the multiple pathways that may result in social and emotional competence, they evaluated the interactions of mother’s behavior and parenting style and the toddler’s risk. From the results, it was evident that although there were significant interactions between a mother’s parenting behavior and both social and emotional competence of their children, there lacks consistency across all competence outcomes. The maternal parenting behavior was not found to be directly associated with toddler’s emotional and social development. In some cases, maternal behavior was found to have differential implications on the children’s emotional and social competence depending on the toddler’s level of early risk as well as positive maternal parenting behaviors. More precisely, the researchers found that maternal control was more detrimental on the toddler’s emotional competence. Perhaps this may be explained by the fact that excessive and more controlling parenting behaviors/styles most likely contribute to children with more aggressive, negative and emotionally oppressive children. Conclusively, higher levels of toddler risk evident in more externalizing behaviors and poor regulation of emotions are related to the poor social and emotional development of toddlers. Specifically, toddlers with a higher risk have a higher probability of greater negativity and poorer emotional regulation. Blandon, Calkins & Keane (2010) also found that an increase in the early year’s maternal control score also increased negativity in conditions of high toddler risk. On the other hand, lower maternal control at lower levels of toddler risk was seen to correspond with lower negativity levels and subsequently better emotional development of the child [ CITATION Bla10 l 1033 ].

Another relevant primary case study is Brown et al, (2009) in their research “Young Children’s Self-Concepts: Association with Child Temperament, Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting, and Triadic Family Interaction”. This study examined how children’s self-concept was related to the child’s temperament, triadic family interaction, and dyadic parenting behaviors. At the age of three, child temperaments, parenting behaviors of father and mother, and mother, father and child also known as triadic interaction observation took place in fifty homes. Children’s self-view questionnaires were used to assess the children at the age of four. In general, the research found that children’s self-concept is connected with their emotional characteristic and also the family dynamics. The study also determined that triadic family interactions, dyadic parenting and child’s temperament were relevant and important aspects for self-concept. The research found that family interactions and temperament-proneness to distress were independent and direct predictors of child self-concept. Children who were seen to be more prone to distress at age of three were confirmed to be less agreeable and timid than those children who were low on proneness to distress. Therefore, this is clear evidence that the early children’s emotional tendencies can affect one’s sense of self at the early stages of child development. Children who were prone to distress were seen to have difficulties controlling their emotion and hence low peer competence and high social withdrawals. Children experience difficulties in forming new and close interactions if in early stages had the tendency to exhibit negative emotions. The study also confirmed that families which possessed positive and harmonious interactions had their children as more bold and adventurous. On the other hand, families which were characterized by high level of discord had their children see themselves as less agreeable and more fearful and hence had a lower sense of self. In the analysis to determine child temperament in relation to dyadic parenting behavior. The study result showed that child self-concept was affected by temperament and parenting in that parenting behavior moderated relationship between temperament and self-concept. When members of the family show support and positivity to children, the children possess a bold temperament and also saw themselves as adventurous. When parents and other adults in the family were more hostile and less positive, both shy and bold children saw themselves as timid. From the results in general, temperament and boldness is more likely to be impacted by some conditions such as positive engagement from child’s parent and other members of the family as a whole (Brown et al., 2009).

Review of Current Literature

Understanding human feelings is one of the key features of accepting the probable influence on adults’ relations on children’s lives. Children have been termed as the best learning machines in the world; they start from a simple beginning to an endless form of development, maturity and growth. Development being a continuing formation of complex forms comprise cognitive processes, social processes, and biological developments which are part and parcel of the child’s development process. The most significant part of the primitive brain is the brain stem which is placed around the top section of the spinal cord and has the role of regulating basic life functions [ CITATION Sch15 l 1033 ]. From such primitive roots emerges the center of emotions. During the evolution of these emotional areas, the thinking part of the brain also undergoes some revolution. Norton (2010) reveals that this shows much concerning the correlation between thoughts and feelings. How children feel affects their cognitive capabilities, and it is critical to take note of this when relating to the children. As pointed out by Vaillant (2011), the emotional part of the brain plays neural architecture and emotion centers are tangled via numerous connecting circuits to all organs of the neocortex (Vaillant, 2011). Apparently, feelings are necessary for rational thoughts [ CITATION Oos12 l 1033 ]. This accords the emotion center great capability to affect the way all other brain part functions. Most of the time when a human being is angry, he/she struggles to think straight. Subsequently, a child’s feeling and anxiety have impacts on knowledge acquiring capabilities yet most tutors concentrate on the single area of the experience, i.e. the rational computing intelligence [ CITATION The10 l 1033 ].

Bowlby (2008) demonstrates the way probable adult-child relationship supports the improvement of a “secure emotional base”, vital to children process of growth. Bowlby urged that the foundation of human personality rests in the initial interactions that shape the growth of a child. How an adult intermingles with children has an impact on the way the child conducts him/herself in the relationships with fellow peers. Bowlby continues to advance his theory of affection where the toddler creates and experiences a model of interactions, which is thought in the unconscious memory, developing the pattern for future associations [ CITATION Bow08 l 1033 ]. Norton (2010) also studied early attachment among infants and toddlers. It is confirmed that these early attachments/relationship occurs the same period as important developments in the brain are taking place. Child-adult interactions affects not only child’s emotional advancement but may also alter the brain structure [ CITATION The10 l 1033 ]. Various studies have confirmed that this relationship has some influence on the advancement of structural right brain neurology which affects self-regulation, processing of emotions, and stress modulations [ CITATION Sch15 l 1033 ]. According to Schore (2015), this is the “core of human nervous system” of the human unconscious and asserts that an initial developing right brain enhances a nonstop comprehensible, unified sense of self, very critical to flexibility in later life [ CITATION Sch15 l 1033 ].

Self-regulation emotions which develop over time were once being regulated by others (parents and adults) in early stages. Early arousal and impulses are confined and controlled by the external setting. Collaborative psychological regulations are greatly influenced by the non-conscious attachments dynamics. Relations can be affected by this non-conscious dynamics-on either the adult’s or the child’s part. Close interactions provide a sense of safety and also rapidly generates the development of the brain through enhancement of synaptic relations in the mind [ CITATION Fon15 l 1033 ] .

Research has also shown that depressed caregivers have an adverse effect on the children when it comes to emotional development. It is crucial for a caregiver to be emotionally ‘warm’, especially when dealing with children in their early years (infants and toddlers). For example, a study conducted to investigate the impact of a depressed mother on the emotions of a child found that depressed mothers have inadequate thoughts, behaviors, and attitude and such attributes together with being in stressful surroundings with the mother, expose the child to the risk of developing emotional problems. A depressed mother in most cases is in an indifference situation with their children which leads to them being in a less social mood. This leads to less positive stimulation towards their children which in turn renders disadvantages for the children to achieve healthy emotional development [ CITATION Mur141 l 1033 ].

Apparently, the adults in a child’s environment, more specifically the parents and caregivers of infants and toddlers provide the feeling of safety and security among children during the early years of development of children when they can still survey their surroundings. The caregiver needs to practice sensitivity particularly when assessing the child and also ensure to offer an attachment whereas, on the other hand, insensitivity, as a result of neglect or intrusive behavior can promote an enclosure which does not guarantee security to the child. The Attachment Theory acknowledges the relevance of the caregiver taking note of the children’s emotions and practicing empathy to enable a child to comprehend and control their emotions [ CITATION Mur141 l 1033 ].

The capability to regulate emotional feelings so that one is not carried away by them is known as ‘containment’. Frequent contact with empathic people enables a child to hold the articulate, unmanageable, and first feelings. The child understands how to be themselves and attain better skills of emotional containment [ CITATION The10 l 1033 ]. Where the support is not sufficient, child’s understanding of emotional experience is disorganized, and hence a problem in development may occur. Kurowski (2009) cautions that a child who developed the attitude of ‘not mind’ their mental pain and suffers passively, are at risk of converting such passive sufferings into ‘active cruelty’. Therefore, the process in which one uses in forming the potential positive relationship, in early years, can affect the child in future. This impact of adults on the young child has huge implications for the manner in which they conduct their interaction with the child. This means that for early stages of childhood development, parents and adults/caregivers should possess the skills for empathy or be able to and ready to prepare and develop them throughout their parenting journey [ CITATION Kur09 l 1033 ]. Anything short of this means that the child’s ability to form a relationship with others, a skill that will influence the whole of his life, is at stake. Theoretical insight into containment and attachment enables one to comprehend the potential effects of a parent’s responsiveness on the young child’s development and the significance and importance of such theories on practice, especially in areas of adult-child relationships.

The role of self-esteem in the emotional development of a child can never be understated. Abraham Maslow classified self-esteem as one of the primary human motivators. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model, self- esteem appears nearly at the top. At the bottom of the hierarchy, first, is the physical needs of the person which include shelter, clothing and food. Going up, the safety and security needs appear which are then followed by the individual’s social needs. Social needs point to affection and love from other people. These are trailed by an individual’s self-esteem which fosters a reflection of one’s worth and accomplishment. Self-esteem is only superseded by self-actualization [ CITATION Sau17 l 1033 ]. This highlights the importance of a person’s esteem. Based on this hierarchy, it is clear that a child’s self-esteem is a great determinant of the interaction of the child with the adults in his/her early childhood years. Importantly, as noted by Hosogi et al. (2012), the environment in which a child is raised in early childhood greatly contributes to the development of self-esteem (Hosogi, et al., 2012).

When addressing the issue of self-esteem and the emotional development in early childhood, one of the important aspect to consider is the ‘difficult child.’ In his book ‘Transforming the Difficult Child’, Howard Glasser, the Executive Director of the Children’s Success Foundation proposes the ‘Nurtured Heart Approach’ to effective teaching and parenting of a challenging child. Howard is of the view that normal parenting methods are designed for the average child, and can often times make it more difficult to handle/parent the ‘difficult child.’ By definition, the difficult child refers to those children whose behavior deviates from the norm and who, subsequently, stand out from the rest of the children. These children exhibit anger, disrespect, self-control problems, they overreact, and are constantly anxious or depressed. Apparently, the Nurtured Heart Approach is a relationship-focused methodology strategically founded on three primary concepts, namely: (a) super-energizing success experiences; (b) turning down the practice of energizing or accidentally rewarding negativity and: (c) providing a perfect level of set limits and consequences of actions. Howard notes that providing negative attention to a difficult child is like consuming junk food; it has no nutritional value. Despite the fact that a parent/caregiver/teacher may not intend to promote the weaker side of their children, providing negative attention portrays this purpose and is thus not advocated. In place of this, the psychologist proposes that the teacher/caregiver/parent/therapist should create more experiences of success and recognize as well as appreciate when the set rules are not being broken. He proposes that parents, caregivers and teachers of difficult children should develop a credit system to monitor the behaviors of their children. In the credit system, the adult should highlight the rules, the bonuses to be given for positive behaviors and the responsibilities of the child. The child earns points by abiding by the rules and fulfilling their responsibilities and adopting and maintaining positive behaviors. The earned points can then be spent in, for example, ice cream, soda, access to TV, computer game time and other things that most children like [ CITATION Gla17 l 1033 ].

Angela Oswalt notes that children start to develop self-concept such as attitudes and values in the early childhood stage, especially when they are toddlers. Between 18-30 months, children develop their Categorical Self, a way of perceiving themselves in term of age, gender and physical attributes such as height and skin color. Children develop long term memory where they remember most of the events that happened in their lives and also attain the remembered self. This memory is also known as the Autobiography Memory which forms personal stories among the children. Additionally, children develops an inner self, feeling, private thought and desires which are only known to them unless they share them with someone else. Because of the better ways of upbringing where the children are encouraged by the adults, they develop a high self-esteem. Young children are also optimistic that they will learn new skills and succeed in tasks if they keep trying. This is a belief called “achievement-related attributions” or self-efficacy which is important in the emotional development of a child. Self-esteem can sometimes come from the athletic ability, friendships, school ability, relations with care givers and help from other mates as well as playing tasks. Oswalt goes on to assert that external and internal development can affect children self-concept. For example, children with simple temperaments are more willing to follow their dreams and to keep trying all the time than children with complicated temperaments. Children with simple temperament also have better skills of anger management and are willing to try things repeatedly than those with complicated temperament who also have poor anger management skills. Children with simple temperament can better cope with frustrations and therefore believes in themselves as successful, good and valuable people who can make it in life and consequently have high self-esteem. Children with complicated temperament don’t know how to deal with anger and also gives up very quickly on something and cannot complete a task without assistance. These children develop low self-esteem if they start to believe that they can’t succeed on doing anything without any help. Other external factors such as messages from other people contribute towards building self-esteem. Young children with parents who give positive feedback on their ability and attempt to succeed usually have high self-esteem. On the other hand, children who are discouraged are often frustrated, quit more frequently and their morale is killed and hence cannot complete a task without being helped. When parents and caregivers become fond of being negative and punitive, the children’s ability to success is greatly affected hence poor self-image leading to poor self-esteem [ CITATION Ang17 l 1033 ].

Parenting as the Primary Adult-Child Interaction in Early Childhood

When analyzing parenting as an adult-child interaction, it is important to understand which styles parents apply in parenting and the different parenting styles. By definition, a parenting style refers to the psychological construct that represents the standard approaches that parents use in bringing up their children. Based on her research with children, psychologist Diana Baumrind proposes three parenting styles, namely: permissive, authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles. The permissive parent behaves in a non-punitive, acceptant and affirmative manner which results in children with poor emotion regulations, antisocial behaviors, rebellious and defiant children who have little tolerance to challenges. On the other hand, the authoritarian parent tries to shape/control and evaluate their children’s behaviors based on a set absolute code of conduct which results in children’s anxiety, withdrawal and unhappiness but unlikelihood of engagement in antisocial activities. Conversely, the authoritative parent directs the activities of their children in a rational-issue-based manner where autonomous self-will and conformity to discipline at the individual level is prioritized. This results in children with lively and happy dispositions, well-developed social skills and high self- esteem. It is widely viewed as the most effective and beneficial for the normal child. Lately, researchers have added another parenting style: the neglectful parenting. The neglectful parent is completely irresponsive of the needs of his/her child, make very few or even no demands and subsequently raise children with impulsive and anti-social behaviors, delinquency, drug and alcohol addicts and those who commit suicide eventually [ CITATION Hug13 l 1033 ].

When it comes to parenting, many people have the picture of changing diapers, messy houses, chasing toddlers up and down, bathing a tiny human creature, and running after a screaming toddler throwing tantrums in a supermarket/mall among other things, but, in the real sense, parenting involves much more. As much as parenting involves all these, it goes over and above the responsibility to meet the basic needs of the child and into influencing the development of one’s children in an extremely significant way. Parents greatly influence what their children turn out to be, the personalities they acquire, their emotional development and behaviors among other factors. Parenting involves going an extra mile to meeting not only the basic needs but also providing emotional support to the children [ CITATION Mur141 l 1033 ]. As a parent, being physically present and absent emotionally is not enough for the child. The parents who are not emotionally connected with their children bring up distressed and less engaged children. Some studies investigating the connection between adults and children have suggested that emotional involvement from the parent matters a lot and has an enormous impact on the child’s control/management of emotions. Therefore, every parent should put this in mind when considering the amount and quality of time they spend with their children. If adults and more specifically parents don’t invest enough time to pour emotional guidance on their children, the children will struggle to regulate their emotion and also interacting with others appropriately [ CITATION Hug13 l 1033 ].

Previous research in self-esteem and early childhood development points to the fact that the specific qualities of a parent can be responsible for higher levels of self-esteem in children. One important quality is supportiveness. In a study conducted by Antonopoulou, Alexopoulos & Maridaki-Kassotaki (2012), the researchers found that the more supportive a parent is, the higher the level of implicit self-esteem for the child. This can be interpreted to mean that children of neglectful parents have a high probability of having a lower self-esteem. The researchers also found that authoritative and permissive parents (they are viewed as more nurturing) have a positive effect on the self-esteem of their children. On the other hand, authoritarian (overprotective) have a negative effect on the self-esteem of their children from early childhood [ CITATION Ant12 l 1033 ]. According to Lightfoot, Cole & Cole (2009), inconsistency in parenting has also been found to have rebellious and aggressive effects among children, irrespective of age, whether adolescents or toddlers. More studies have pointed to the fact that a parent’s bonding, responsiveness and sensitivity abilities play a significant role in a successful emotional development of the child and subsequent high self-esteem [ CITATION Lig09 l 1033 ].

A study on the outcomes of the Ainsworth’s Strange Situation experiments carried out by one ‘Sroufe’ revealed that initial relational attachment between the parent and the child is a predictor of the emotional development of the child in the future. From the study “Strange Situation experiment”, emotional development are not genetically related. This is a clear indication that emotional relationship skills are not born with the child but rather are ‘driven’ into the child by the parent depending on the relationship between the two. Other studies show that toddlers and children with anxious attachment have had a disturbed emotional connection in the past. Such children have low self-esteem and are quick to get angry and can turn the situation into a violent action. Therefore, if the emotional attachment is a long-term affair, then parents need to invest enough time to work on their children emotional drive to achieve stable emotional conduct in future [ CITATION Mur141 l 1033 ].

A critical element in emotional development for children is to learn how to control their emotions. Adults being around the children are not only expected to guide the children on their feelings but also be on the look-out on how they are conducting themselves as parents or adults especially when interacting with other people in front of the children. This is because children are quick to imitate what they see adults do to regulate emotions. The nature of children can influence how emotional problems impact them. For example, children who are prone to anger situations and negative emotions from their parents are more affected by neglectful parenting which even leads to more behavioral problems. Children who have a complicated character or temperaments can turn to be a challenge even to the parents which results in more negative behaviors to the children. Therefore, parents should not only focus on the parenting style and the emotion part of the situation, but they should also assess how children’s tempers are affecting them because if one is not cautious, this could lead to a spiral of ineffective and poor parenting which in turn contributes to negative behavior from the children and an overall poor emotional management and development of their child [ CITATION Mur141 l 1033 ].

Parents should also focus on guiding children to be able to express their own emotions and even in the society, children should be able to read the emotions of other people surrounding them. Every parent should teach their child to comfort someone who may be crying and smiling back when somebody smiles at them. But parent behavior has to impact how a child learns how to understand the emotions of other children or people around. Studies have shown that parents’ interactions contribute a lot to children’s emotional and social development. The marital conflict is a factor that leads to even more problems regarding such development. If a child experiences a marital strife such a fight between both parents, the child emotional development is significantly affected and this has been a leading factor causing unhealthy emotional development of children in the current society [ CITATION Mur141 l 1033 ]. Marital fight and quarrels may not be directly directed to the child, but such issues have a negative impact on emotional security and regulation. Research has confirmed that children who come from divorced families experience emotional problems [ CITATION Car11 l 1033 ]. Therefore, parents and adults in general have an important role in keeping their differences from their children and also handling them amicably and calmly.

Lisa Firestone, a Ph.D. holder psychologist asserts that the self-esteem of a child, right from when the child is an infant or a toddler, starts with the parent. She notes that a parent’s reaction to their infant or toddler cry or show of emotions is always vital. Should the parent feel agitated or stressed by the cry, the child is most likely going to have trouble relaxing. On the other hand, if the parent is calm and composed, the child is most likely going to feel secure and trusting. The more calm and compassionate a parent is when reacting to their children the more resilient these children become in handling their emotions. Firestone goes on to mention a research carried out by Dr. Ed Tronick, an Associate professor of Pediatrics at Harvard University and child development expert. In the research, Tronick found that even those parents who are considered as ‘perfect epitomes’ of parenting are only attuned to their children for 30% of the time. This means that the remaining 70% of the time, these ‘best’ parents are off from their children’s needs. This lack of ability for continuous attunement paints a scenario in which parents are more likely to respond unsuitably or inadequately to their children’s needs. This is despite the fact that children are almost always attuned to their parent. For this reason, it is clear that improving parenting skills means gaining a better understanding of one’s own self as a parent. Undeniably, all parents have both love and hate feelings for themselves at one point or another. These feelings are both extended to the children through the reactions of parents. When the love a parent feels for themselves is extended to their child, this amounts to parental nurturance, a factor that positively impacts the self-image of their children and the better self-perception amounts to a healthy self-esteem [ CITATION Fir11 l 1033 ].

On the opposite side of this spectrum lies the feelings of hate (negativity) that parents hold against themselves. Just like the feelings of love (positive), it is equally easy for parents to extend feelings of hate to their children. When a parent holds negative thoughts on their self, or in other words when a parent has a negative self-concept, these feelings contribute to parental neglect, rejection and hostility. This serves as an example to their children besides the fact that these parents become more critical of their children just in the same ways they disapprove themselves. For example, when a child hears their mother criticizing herself for being fat, this child is most likely going to feel bad if they themselves gain weight. Therefore, these negative feelings create a negative ripple effect in the child’s self-esteem [ CITATION Fir11 l 1033 ].

Conclusion

From the above discussion, a couple of highlights can be made. First, it has been learnt that adult interactions with children in their early childhood years plays a critical role in shaping the self-concept of the young children in terms of their emotional development and self-esteem. It was evident that toddlers too, just like adults, have a self-esteem which develops right from the time they acquire a self-concept, at the time of birth. The self-esteem of toddlers is based on or comes from knowing that they are loved and cared for by the adults around them, these adults being caregivers, parents or teachers. However, based on the fact that parents spend the greatest amount of time with children in the period of early childhood (infants and toddlers), parental interaction is considered to be the most primary adult-child interaction. Further on, four parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, neglectful and permissive) have been identified and analyzed based on their effects on the self-esteem of children and a conclusion arrived at pointing to the fact that there is no such thing as the ‘best’ parenting style since each style had ages where it fits best but was not useful in other ages. Further on, this discussion found that children with a high sense of self (self-esteem) are more emotionally developed compared to those with a lower sense of self. It has also been learnt that children learn to control their emotions by observing how adults in their social environment handle their emotions. From this, it can be recommended that adults interacting with children in their early childhood years should learn to set the right example for these children in aspects of emotional and self-concepts since children have even been rated as the best learning machines around the globe. For parents, a bigger burden is vested on their shoulder, and as many say “children are precious gifts from God”, parents should endeavor to work on healthy parenting skills and maintain positive interactions with their children right from when they are infants or toddlers since this also determines how these children develop into adulthood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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