Child psychology studies the behavior of children.
Child psychology is responsible for the study of children 's behavior from birth to adolescence . In this way, this branch of psychology focuses on physical, motor, cognitive, perceptual, affective and social development. This is how child psychologists carry out methods to predict and solve problems in children's mental health.
The etymological origin of the two words that give form to the term can be found in Greek and Latin. Specifically, the first of those, psychology , can be determined to come from Greek because it is formed by the union of psyche , which can be translated as “soul”, and logia , which is synonymous with “the study of”. Meanwhile, the second word, infantil , has its origin in the Latin word infantilis, which is equivalent to “relating to babies”.
Factors studied by child psychology
Child psychology addresses two variables that can affect a child's development: the environmental factor , such as the influence of parents or friends, and the biological factor , determined by genetics .
One of the fundamental issues that is attempted to be conveyed through the aforementioned child psychology is also the need for parents to react and know when to turn to the same in order to be able to find a solution to the problem that their child has, whatever type it may be. In this sense, it is established that there are a series of parameters that can indicate to the father or mother that the time has come to request the help of specialists.
Thus, it is clear that professionals should be chosen when a family is experiencing a major crisis, when a child is having problems at school , when someone has relationship problems with their classmates, when their child is depressed or when their child's personality and behaviour has changed radically.
Emotional problems in children can be treated using child psychology techniques.
Main theories
Regarding its main theories, child psychology is based on the description of personality and perception developed by the Austrian Sigmund Freud , and on the concepts of cognitive knowledge proposed by the Swiss Jean Piaget .
According to Freudian theory, the development of a healthy personality is essential to satisfy the instinctive needs of the child. Freud states that the three structural stages of personality are the id (the source of all instincts), the super-ego (representing social and moral rules) and the ego (the intermediate phase between the id and the super-ego).
Piaget , for his part, focuses on the child's innate knowledge, which appears from birth and allows learning without the need for external stimuli.
Problems and disorders treated by child psychology
There are many issues and areas that can be studied and solved through child psychology. In this regard, we should especially highlight school failure, emotional problems, mistreatment, sexual abuse or incontinence problems.
The most common psychological disorders among children are those related to sleep , night terrors , fears in general, eating , activity (hyperkinesia, tics) and language (stuttering, aphasia and others).