1. Erikson’s Theory: Industry vs. Inferiority
Developing a sense of competence at useful skills and tasks
School provides many opportunities
Inferiority
Pessimism and lack of confidence in own ability to do things well
Negative responses from family, teachers, and peers can contribute to negative feelings

2. Changes in Self-Concept During Middle Childhood
In middle childhood children look to more people beyond the family for information about themselves as they enter a wider range of settings in the school and in the community Self concept varies from culture to culture. For example in Asian parents stress harmonious interdependence where as Western parents stress independence Social comparisons-making judgements of one’s own appearance, abilities, and behavior in relation to others

3. Hierarchical Structure of Self-Esteem in Middle Childhood

4. Influences on Self-Esteem
Stop and think!
What social influences might lead self-esteem to be high for some children and low for others?

5. Influences on Self-Esteem
Refer to your textbook :How does the following influence self-esteem
Culture (page 261)
Child rearing practices (page 262)
Achievement related attributions (page 263)

6. Role of Parenting in Self-Esteem
Authoritative style is best
Risks of controlling parenting: low self-esteem, aggression, and antisocial behavior
Risks of indulgent parenting: unrealistically high self-esteem, lashing out at challenges to overblown self-images
Encourage worthwhile goal-setting to boost self-esteem

7. Emotional Development
Self Conscious emotions
In middle childhood, the self conscious emotions of pride and guilt become clearly governed by personal responsibility
Pride motivates children to take on further challenges whereas guilt prompts them to make amends and to strive for self-improvement

8. Emotional Development
Emotional Understanding
School age children are more likely to explain emotion by referring to internal states such as happy or sad thoughts.
Between the ages of 6 and 12, children become more aware of circumstances likely to spark mixed emotions
Appreciating mixed emotions helps children realize that people’s expressions may not reflect their true feelings

9. Emotional Development
Emotional Self-Regulation
During middle childhood, there is rapid gains in emotional self regulation
Children must learn to manage negative emotion that threatens their self-esteem

10. Changes in Moral Understanding
Flexible moral rules:
lying not always bad/truthfulness not always good
considers prosocial and antisocial intentions
Clarifies link between moral imperatives and social conventions:
considers people’s intentions and the contexts of their actions
Cultural similarities/differences
What are examples of some of the cultural similarities. How about the differences? Refer to the top of page 266

11. Coping Strategies Problem-Centered Coping Emotion-Centered Coping
Appraise situation as changeable
Identify difficulty
Decide what to do
Emotion-Centered Coping
Use when problem-centered coping does not work
Internal, private, and aimed at controlling distress when little can be done about outcome

12. Friendship in Middle Childhood
Personal qualities, trust become important
More selective in choosing friends:
tends to select friends similar to self
Friendships fairly stable, can last several years
Type of friends affects development:
aggressive friends often magnify antisocial acts

13. Bullies and Victims Bullies Victims Most are boys
Physically, verbally, relationally aggressive
Socially prominent, powerful
Victims
Passive when active behavior expected
Lack defenders
Inhibited temperament
Physically frail
Overly protective, controlling parents

14. Helping Rejected Children
Coach positive social skills.
Promote perspective taking and social problem solving.
Alter peers’ negative opinions.
Intervene in negative parenting practices.

15. Gender Typing in Middle Childhood
Research in many countries show that stereotyping of personality traits increases steadily in middle childhood
There are sex differences in behavior as well as from adult treatment. For example, parents behave in a more mastery oriented fashion with sons, setting higher standards, explaining concepts and pointing out pursuits.
Parents less often encourage girls to make their own decisions
In line with adult stereotypes, school age children figure out which academic subjects and skill areas are “masculine” and which are “feminine”. They often regard reading, spelling, art, and music as more for girls and mathematics, athletics and mechanical skills for boys.

16. Family influences Parent child relationships
In middle school, the amount of time children spend with parents declines dramatically.
During this time, children become independent and parents deal with new issues such as whether their children's friends are good influences
Child rearing becomes easier for those parents who established an authoritative style during the early years
As children demonstrate that they can manage daily activities and responsibilities, effective parents engage in coregulation, a form of supervision in which parents exercise general oversight while letting children take charge of moment by moment decision making.

17. Family Influences Siblings
Sibling rivalry tend to increase in middle childhood
School age siblings rely on each other for companionship and support
Parental encouragement of warm, considerate sibling ties is vital

18. Only Children
Only children are higher in self esteem, do better in school, and attain higher levels of education
Only children have closer relationships with parents, who may exert more pressure for mastery and accomplishments
Only children tend to be less well accepted in the peer group because they have not had the opportunities to learn effective conflict resolution strategies through sibling interactions.

19. International Divorce Rates

20. Consequences of Parental Divorce
Immediate
Drop in income
Parental stress, disorganized home life
Child reactions vary with age, sex, temperament
Long-Term
Improved adjustment after two years
Multiple divorces associated with greater adjustment difficulties
Father’s involvement and effective coparenting improve adjustment

21. Helping Families Through Divorce
Shield children from conflict.
Provide continuity in daily life.
Explain the divorce.
Emphasize permanence of situation.
Sympathize with children’s feelings.
Use authoritative parenting.
Promote relationship with both parents.

22. Blended Families Mother–Stepfather Father–Stepmother Most common
Boys tend to adjust quickly
Girls often adapt less favorably
Older children and adolescents of both sexes display more adjustment problems
Father–Stepmother
Often leads to reduced father–child contact
Children in father custody often react negatively
Girls and stepmothers slow to get along at first, gradually adapt favorably

23. Maternal Employment and Child Development
Benefits:
higher self-esteem
positive family and peer relations
fewer gender stereotypes
better grades
more father involvement
Drawbacks:
heavy employment demands associated with ineffective parenting

24. Fears and Anxieties in Middle Childhood
Common fears include
poor academic performance
peer rejection
personal harm
threats to parents’ health
frightening media events
School phobia:
5–7 years: maternal separation
11–13: particular aspects of school
Harsh living conditions promote severe anxieties

25. Ethnic and Political Violence
Chronically dangerous environments:
loss of sense of safety
desensitization to violence
impaired moral reasoning
pessimistic view of future
Parents, communities, schools must provide reassurance, security, intervention:
preserve physical, psychological, educational well-being

26. Child Sexual Abuse Characteristics of victims More often girls
Most cases reported in middle childhood
Characteristics of abusers
Usually male
Usually a parent or known by parent
Internet and mobile phones used to commit abuse
Consequences
Emotional, physical, and behavioral reactions
May persist for years
Prevention and treatment
Prevention: education
Treatment: long-term therapy