Influencing factors and pathways of the social-emotional  competence of children aged 1 - 3 years

REN Fengyi; QIN Mengyao; BAO Mengyu; ZHANG Zixuan; ZHAO Fei; YUE Chenying; CHEN Xinxia

doi:10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0528

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Chinese Journal of Child Health Care ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (2) : 159-164. DOI: 10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0528

Column on Early Development & Nurturing Care

Influencing factors and pathways of the social-emotional competence of children aged 1 - 3 years

REN Fengyi¹, QIN Mengyao¹, BAO Mengyu², ZHANG Zixuan², ZHAO Fei², YUE Chenying², CHEN Xinxia¹

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Abstract

Objective To identify the factors influencing social-emotional competence in children aged 1 - 3 years and elucidate the underlying pathways, so as to provide evidence for targeted interventions to promote early childhood development. Methods A convenience sample of 408 children aged 1 - 3 years was recruited from the Department of Child Healthcare at Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital and Jinan Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital between December 2022 and September 2023.Parents of the participants completed a general information questionnaire, the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF), the Responsive Caregiving Scale, and the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (ITSEA).Random forest algorithm was employed to rank variable importance, multiple linear regression was used to identify significant predictors, and structural equation modeling was used to examine mediating effects. Results The mean score for children's social-emotional competence was 56.35±10.11.Random forest analysis identified responsive caregiving and parenting stress as the top two predictors.Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that responsive caregiving (β=0.413) was positively associated with social-emotional competence(P<0.05), while parenting stress (β=-0.173) showed a negative association (P<0.05).Child's age in months (β=0.104) and maternal education level (β=0.089) were also positively associated with social-emotional competence (P<0.05).The structural equation model demonstrated that responsive caregiving partially mediated the relationship between parenting stress and social-emotional competence, with an indirect effect of -0.248 (95%CI:-0.327 - -0.184), accounting for 61.85% of the total effect. Conclusions Maternal responsive caregiving and parenting stress are primary determinants of social-emotional competence in children aged 1 - 3 years, with responsive caregiving serving as a significant mediator in the relationship between parenting stress and developmental outcomes.Interventions targeting maternal mental health and parenting behaviors, like providing parenting support, and enhancing responsive caregiving skills, may effectively promote children's social-emotional development.

Key words

social-emotional competence / parenting stress / responsive caregiving / random forest model / toddlers

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REN Fengyi, QIN Mengyao, BAO Mengyu, ZHANG Zixuan, ZHAO Fei, YUE Chenying, CHEN Xinxia. Influencing factors and pathways of the social-emotional competence of children aged 1 - 3 years[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2026, 34(2): 159-164 https://doi.org/10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0528

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