Understanding How Families Influence Children's Development: An Emotional Security Perspective
Mark Cummings
The quality of the home environment plays an important role in children's development, but many people do not understand how. This seminar will provide an introduction to how developmental psychologists and psychopathologists have approached the study of family influences on children's development and present some of the basic findings, with a particular emphasis on emotional security theory. Emotional security theory proposes that children's sense of safety and security in the family is critical to children's mental health, especially because emotional insecurity undermines children's ability to regulate their own behavior and emotion. In addition to contributing to children's well-being and adjustment at home, family functioning affects children's performance and adjustment in schools. During the seminar, concepts will be clearly defined and concretely illustrated using multi-media presentations and teacher participation, and teachers will be encouraged to reflect on real-world applications of material to classroom and home settings.
This seminar provided a great deal of information based on credible research and was helpful in learning more of ND as a community resource.
My expectations to obtain a better understanding of family dynamics and how they influence child behavior were more than met. I felt like I received a deeper understanding from a child’s view.
Thought-provoking, stimulating discussion, information that relates to my discipline.
The lectures were excellent, the knowledge of Dr. Cummings and his ability to impart his experiences in research was extremely valuable. In addition, Brad’s presentations were very enjoyable and exemplified a practical application of the research.
I appreciated the two-pronged approach—theory and practical.
I believe I’ll carry multiple ideas to class and my life.
| E. Mark Cummings is the Notre Dame Endowed Chair in Psychology and has been a Professor at the University of Notre Dame since 1996. He has written a half dozen books on the role of families in child development and published over 150 scientific articles. In many of his research studies, Dr. Cummings seeks teachers' participation, reflecting his belief that teachers have a unique and valuable perspective on children's well-being, social and academic functioning. He is involved in research at the national level, helping set research priorities at the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Administration for Children and Families. His research focuses primarily on family functioning and child development, including the effects of marital conflict on children. He is currently the director of the Happy Couples for Happy Kids Project, which teaches families how to better handle marital conflict for the sake of children. |