The Interrelationships Between Health and Physical, Social, Emotional and Intellectual

Development

Development

• Defined as the physical, emotional, social and intellectual changes that take place in human beings over time.

• Development is a continual process beginning at conception and ending with death.

Types of Development

• Development can be divided into many different types.

• PHYSICAL• INTELLECTUAL• EMOTIONAL• SOCIAL

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Physical development includes growth which is changes in the size and structure of cells such as increases in height and weight and therefore the lengthening of bones, the cutting of teeth, changes in body proportions and increases in muscles and tissues.

Physical Development

• Physical development also includes MOTOR SKILLS which are changes in the ability to use and control muscles that enable us to undertake a range of activities.– Kicking a ball– Hopping– Holding and writing with

a pen.– Tying shoelaces

Motor Skills

• The development of motor skills is dependent upon the maturation of the central nervous system.

Motor Skills• In our body we tend to

have large muscle groups and smaller muscle groups.

• Control of the larger muscle groups is called GROSS MOTOR SKILLS– Kicking – Catching a ball– Running – Sitting– Walking– Playing a musical

instrument

Motor Skills

• Control of the smaller muscles of the body such as those in the fingers and toes are known as FINE MOTOR SKILLS– Threading beads– Colouring in shapes

and staying within the lines

– Tying shoelaces

LAWS OF DEVELOPMENT

• There are two laws of development that help us to predict physical changes that will take place.– Cephalocaudal Development– Proximodistal Development

– Physical development occurs in two directions known as cephalocaudal and proximodistal.

Cephalocaudal Direction• Cephalocaudal direction sees

development move down the body from head to toe.

• An infant will develop control of the muscles in their neck, followed by the muscles in their upper body, upper legs, lower legs, feet and then toes.

• That is why most infants will crawl, stand supported, stand, walk supported and then walk independently

Proximodistal Direction

• Proximodistal direction sees development progress from the centre of the body to the outside or extremities.

• An infant will be able to hit an object with their arm and hand, grab an object, then control the manipulation of the object with their fingers.

• An embryo shows a well developed torso with very small, underdeveloped arms and legs.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

• Social development relies on the interaction with others and refers to the development of knowledge and skills, attitudes, values and behaviours necessary for the appropriate interaction and relationships with other people.

Social Development

• Social development occurs as a result of socialisation.

• We learn primarily from our family but other influences include:

• Peers• Kindergarten• Child care• School• Sporting clubs• Church• Workplaces• Media

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Refers to the changes that occur in our ability to control and understand our own moods and feelings and the expression of these emotions, as well as understanding the emotions of others.

• It includes feelings we develop about ourselves and includes aspects such as confidence, self esteem and self concept.

INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT

• Refers to changes in our ability to think and reason and includes the establishment of language skills, understanding the basic concepts for daily living such as numbers, time and space and our ability to solve problems.

Summary of Development

Physical Development

Growth or ChangeEg height, weight

Physical ChangesEg breast devel., grey hair

Motor DevelopmentEg gross motor skills, fine motor skills

Summary of Development

Social Development

Social groups/relationshipsEg family, school,

Work, peers

RolesEg parent, employee, friend,

Gender roles.

Summary of Development

Emotional

Awareness of emotionsEg fear, love

Expression/control of emotionsEg anger, sadness,Frustration, joy, love

Self concepts and Self esteemEg identity,

Positive self esteem,Negative self esteem

Summary of Development

Intellectual

Attention and memoryEg concentration, remember,

Sensory development

Knowledge and LanguageEg concepts, words, writing,

speaking

Understanding and reasoningEg problem solving,

Understanding abstract ideas,

Stages of the Lifespan

• The lifespan is the period of time between fertilisation and death. It can be divided up into a series of stages

• These stages are determined by a combination of biological age, social age and psychological age.

Lifespan Stage Approx. Age RangePrenatal Fertilisation to birth

Infancy Birth to 18-24 months

Early Childhood End of Infancy to 5-6 yrs

Late Childhood End of early childhood to 12-14 yrs

Youths/young people End of late childhood to 22 years

Early adulthood End of youths to 35-40 yrs

Middle adulthood End of early adulthood to 60-65 yrs

Late adulthood End of middle adulthood to death

INTERRELATIONSHIP• There is a very strong interrelationship between all types

of development and between health and development.

• Physical changes may impact social changes and vice versa etc.– Refer to table in text book

Interrelationship

• One of the most significant influences on development is health.

• Good health means improved quality of life and the opportunity to achieve development potential.

• Ill health may impact on physical, social, emotional and intellectual development.

Interrelationship

• In children, ill health may affect the growth of the brain, bones, muscles and organs, particularly if the illness leads to malnutrition.

• This could also contribute to poor motor development, impaired learning and delayed sexual development.

• Continued ill health may also affect social development.– i.e interacting with others – learning new skills,

knowledge, behaviour, poor motor skills (lack of acceptance into social group)

Interrelationship

• Different types of development are therefore interrelated and do not occur in isolation.

• Growth and development of the brain (physical development) leads to changes in mental abilities (intellectual development) like reasoning, memory and language skills.

• These abilities allow the child to make better personal and social adjustment.(social development)

• Speech means a child can explain and satisfy its wants (emotional development)

• This also has a direct impact on academic achievement (intellectual development).