Research Purpose
The critical importance of early childhood social-emotional development for learning, school performance, and future life outcomes is well established. Ren et al. (2016) emphasized that social-emotional competence predicts school readiness, academic achievement, and psychological well-being and thus influences academic success and life outcomes in adulthood. Given the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on humans— including social isolation, restrictions that like growing apart, school and office closures, and uncertainty on emotional words this study investigated how the pandemic affected social-emotional development in young children.
Research Motivation
1. Diverse Research Landscape: The rapidly evolving field of early childhood development is added to with multiple studies each year. Thus, understanding key topics, trends, and interdisciplinary areas is crucial for researchers and policymakers.
2. Influence of COVID-19 on Research Trends: The COVID-19 pandemic substantially affected society, lifestyle and learning models. Analyzing how this global event influenced research regarding early childhood social-emotional development could provide crucial insights for academia and policy.
3. Enhancing Policy Relevance: Bridging the gap between academic research and policy implementation remains vital. Analyzing the dynamics of research regarding early childhood social-emotional development could deepen academic understanding and provide evidence to inform policy decisions that benefit society.
Literature Review
1. Foundational Theories of Social-Emotional Development in Early Childhood:
This section discusses foundational theories proposed by Erikson (1968) in “Identity: Youth and Crisis”; Bowlby (1969) in “Attachment and Loss: Attachment, Vol. 1”; Bandura (1977) in “Social Learning Theory”; and Vygotsky (1978) in “Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.”
2. Key Research Trends and Relevant Studies Regarding Social-Emotional Development in Early Childhood:
Following the logic of scientific literature growth stages introduced by De Solla Price (1965), this section delineates research trends across two periods, namely 1986-2009 and 2010-2022, to highlight research topics and significant studies published in these periods.
(1) 1986-2009
This period covers research topics including (1) emotional regulation and behavioral problems in young children, (2) the influence of family environment on social-emotional development, (3) effects of peer relationships, (4) the development of self-identity, (5) emotional expression and cognitive development, and (6) the relationship between family interactions and children’s emotions. Notable studies are cited for each of these topics.
(2) 2010-2022
This period covers research topics including (1) the development of emotional identification and expressive skills, (2) emotional regulation and self-control abilities, (3) emotional development and social relationships, and (4) emotional distress and mental health challenges. Notable studies are cited for each of these topics.
3. Systematic Literature Reviews:
This section highlights key literature reviews conducted by Rouhollah et al. (2018), Blewitt et al. (2018) and Djamnezhad et al. (2021) to offer comprehensive insights into key trends in research regarding early childhood social-emotional development.
Research Methods
The present research methodology utilizes key search terms such as “early childhood,” “education,” “social-emotional development,” “COVID-19,” and related combinations of key words with Boolean logic operators. The document types considered were defined as “Article,” “Early Access,” and “Review Article.” In total, 822 documents were retrieved from the Web of Science database for 2020-2022.
Using BibExcel and visualization tools such as Pajek and Excel, the present analysis identified primary authors, countries, collaborative patterns, co-occurrence of research domains, frequently cited documents, document co-citation, and word co-occurrence networks during the pandemic period, thereby determining trends and academic communities in research regarding early childhood social-emotional development.
Research Results
The research results are presented across the following seven sections:
1. Primary Authors
The primary authors are six scholars from the University of Melbourne, Australia, led by Eadie, P. However, the analysis of the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and social-emotional development in early childhood identified nine primary authors who published related journal articles between 2020 and 2022, forming a basis for co-occurrence analysis and exploration of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on social-emotional development in early childhood.
2. Country and Region
Among 27 countries, Brazil was identified as the most closely cooperating country and acted as a crucial mediator influencing information dissemination and exchange. This outcome indicated Brazil’s vital role in the flow of information and knowledge in scholarly collaboration on the academic social network.
3. Author Cooperation
Scholars from the University of Melbourne— particularly P. Eadie, P. Levickis, L. Murray, J. Page, C. Elek, and A. Church— were central nodes with the highest absolute centrality score of 5, signifying direct connections. Another group, led by scholars from the University of Colorado Denver, exhibited a distinct centralization pattern.
4. Co-Occurrence
Education and educational research held the most central position, closely followed by psychology and development and then psychology and education. The strongest network association was that between education and educational research and psychology and development, indicating that these domains were the primary co-occurring research domains.
5. Co-Citation
“The Coronavirus Pandemic and Lessons Learned in Preschools in Norway, Sweden and the United States: OMEP Policy Forum,” which emphasized measures to protect the health of educators and children and to ensure continuity in learning and development, was the most frequently cited document (8 times). That report shared experiences from Sweden, Norway, and the United States related to early childhood education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
6. Document Coupling
Articles #24 (“Challenges and Supports for Educator Well-Being: Perspectives of Australian Early Childhood Educators during the COVID-19 Pandemic”) and #15 (“Early Childhood Educators’ Well-being during the COVID-19 Pandemic”), which discuss the pandemic’s effects from the perspective of early childhood educators— covering mental health, workload, and occupational stress and addressing the needs of parents and children— had the highest document coupling count (15).
7. Co-Word Network
The most frequently used words were “COVID-19” (35 occurrences), “Early Childhood Education” (20 occurrences), and then “Early Childhood” (7 occurrences). The overall word co-occurrence network had a relatively low density, namely 0.23822715, with strong relationships between COVID-19 and key terms including “Early Childhood Education,” “Teachers,” “Pandemic,” “Early Childhood Teachers,” “Early Childhood Education and Care” and “Distance Education.”
Discussion and Suggestions
Research regarding the effects of COVID-19 on the social-emotional development of young children has primarily focused on emerging topics such as teacher well-being and challenges in remote learning, along with corresponding solutions. During the pandemic period, safeguarding the rights of early childhood educators was essential to ensure ample educational resources. The analyzed studies address emerging themes that shed light on the status of and shifts in research concerning social-emotional development in early childhood. As the pandemic subsides, observing evolving research trends and comprehensively examining the theoretical and practical aspects of early childhood social-emotional development is crucial. This paper proposes the use of multiple bibliometric tools as a form of cross-validation for follow-up research to explore the influence of public opinion on the development of related research trends.
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