Forcing Child's Development: Implications for Emotional Well-being of a Preschooler

This article investigates the problem of forcing a preschoolers development, analyzes its possible consequences for emotional sphere of a preschooler. In modem Russia there are many groups of early education (up to "prenatal"). Parents pay special attention to the intellectual aspect of education of their preschool children: they teach them reading, foreign languages, logical thinking and etc. In this case we consider it apt to speak about forcing a child's development. Under "forcing" we understand parents' striving to accelerate child's development at the expense of a child's early transition to the next stage of development. We made research with its primary goal to examine the peculiarities of the emotional sphere of a preschoolers with the mother aiming to force the child's development. According to the results we obtained a general emotional ill-being of the examined preschoolers (confirmed by many fears and wishes showing child's ill-being). And mothers' aiming to force the development of their children connected with the increasing of children's anxiety about shortage of emotional intimacy with their mothers. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.