Association between social-emotional competence of toddlers aged 12 - 36 months and maternal responsive caregiving

LI Ping; GUO Jiajia; WANG Yinuo

doi:10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-1137

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Chinese Journal of Child Health Care ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (5) : 519-524. DOI: 10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-1137

Special Column on Nurturing Care & Growth and Development

Association between social-emotional competence of toddlers aged 12 - 36 months and maternal responsive caregiving

LI Ping^*, GUO Jiajia^*, WANG Yinuo

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Abstract

Objective To analyze the association between social-emotional competence of toddlers aged 12 - 36 months and maternal responsive caregiving, in order to provide scientific basis for promoting the social-emotional development of children. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to September 2025 using convenience sampling. A total of 269 mothers of 12- to 36-month-old children were recruited from the pediatric ward of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University. The Chinese Version of Urban Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment Scale and Responsive Caregiving Rating Scale were used to assess the social-emotional competence of children and the responsive caregiving level of mothers, respectively. Univariate analyses were used to compare differences in social-emotional competence scores across demographic characteristics. Correlation analysis and multiple linear regression were performed to examine the association between maternal responsive caregiving and toddlers' social-emotional competence. Results A total of 248 valid questionnaires were collected. There were 130 boys (52.42%) and 118 girls (47.58%), with 176 (70.97%) children aged 12 - 24 months. Social-emotional competence scores differed significantly by number of children in the family (t=6.76), place of residence (F=23.11), maternal education level (F=3.88), and monthly family income per capita (F=16.02) (P<0.05). Maternal responsive caregiving was positively correlated with toddlers' social-emotional competence (r=0.596, P<0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that after adjusting for demographic confounders, the dimensions of respecting autonomy (β=1.102, 95% CI: 0.543 - 1.661) and responsiveness (β=0.856, 95% CI: 0.317 - 1.395) remained significant positive predictors of toddlers' social-emotional competence (P<0.01). Conclusions Maternal responsive caregiving is closely associated with social-emotional competence in toddlers aged 12 - 36 months. It is recommended to strengthen guidance on parenting skills, focusing on enhancing maternal sensitivity and responsiveness, so as to foster healthy social-emotional development of toddlers.

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responsive caregiving / social emotional competence / toddlers / mothers

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LI Ping, GUO Jiajia, WANG Yinuo. Association between social-emotional competence of toddlers aged 12 - 36 months and maternal responsive caregiving[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2026, 34(5): 519-524 https://doi.org/10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-1137

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