Children's emotional functioning in the preschool period: Emotion recognition, temparament and their links with early risk factors : The Generation R Study

Emotions are essential aspects of our adaptation to the social and physical environment. All emotions, even the negative ones, have significantly beneficial effects on our behavior, well-being, and adaptation. Conversely, inappropriate and uncontrolled emotional responses are implicated in many forms of psychopathology and even in physical illness. In young children, temperament and the ability to accurately recognize emotional signals are key aspects of emotional functioning. The present thesis examines environmental and genetic correlates of children’s temperament and emotion recognition accuracy in the early preschool years, a period during which temperament begins to stabilize and children develop a solid foundation for the accurate perception and labeling of emotions. All studies included in this thesis were conducted within the context of The Generation R Study, a large-scale population-based prospective child cohort from fetal life onward in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.