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Understanding Child Development

Factors Influencing Child Development

Emotional and Social Development

Cognitive Development

Strategies for Supporting Children’s Development

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Babies resulting from unplanned or unwanted pregnancies are sometimes referred to as “oops babies,” and they’re more common than you might think. According to research from theGuttmacher Institutepublished in January 2019, 45% of pregnancies in the US are unintended, with 58% of these resulting in birth.

Child development can be best understood when broken down into a series of stages. Children can develop at different paces, so the stages should be taken as a guide rather than a rule, but are nonetheless a useful indicator.

Patricia Britto, DEdPsyParents’ attentiveness to their children’s emotions is essential when fostering their emotional development and well-being.

Patricia Britto, DEdPsy

Parents’ attentiveness to their children’s emotions is essential when fostering their emotional development and well-being.

Jean Piaget’stheory of cognitive developmentlargely echoes these stages, too, as can be seen below:

When it comes to child development—particularly in the earlier stages—the relationships and bonds the child forms with their caregivers are crucial. When these bonds aren’t there, or are disrupted, the effects can remain into adulthood.

When a child doesn’t form a secure attachment to their primary caregivers, they may find it more difficult to form healthy relationships growing up, develop behavioral or mental health conditions, and displayattachment issuesas they grow up.

There are lots of factors that caninfluence child development, from genetics to the attitudes and behaviors of a child’s caregivers to things like nutrition and the socioeconomic position of their family—they all contribute. Some factors, however, play a larger role than others:

Although research on unplanned pregnancies is still very new, attachment theory explains the importance of safe connection with attachment figures in early development.

Jennie Lannette Bedsworth, MSW LCSWIt’s not how a child begins that defines their future, but rather the care and nurturing they receive along the way.

Jennie Lannette Bedsworth, MSW LCSW

It’s not how a child begins that defines their future, but rather the care and nurturing they receive along the way.

“How a parent views their children is significant,” explainsPatricia Britto, DEdPsy, an HCPC-registered educational psychologist. “Every child or young person 25 and under needs at least one adult who thinks they are priceless and provides unconditional love. Parents’ attentiveness to their children’s emotions is essential when fostering their emotional development and well-being.”

Feeling unwanted or unloved can have a negative impact on development and on mental health. Research has linked feeling unloved to adolescent depression, for example.

How to Cope With Parental Anxiety and Stress

According to Dr Britto, “Children and young people who have been told that their birth status is unplanned can likely feel unwanted, which can be associated withattachment insecurity—anxiety and avoidance.”

She explains that telling children and young people that they were unplanned can have a negative impact on the relationship with their parents both in the short term and into adulthood.

Children can worry that their parents don’t love them as much, or develop a fear of abandonment, which may in terms impact how they interact with their parents—and form relationships more generally—going forward. “For example,” she continues, “Some children and young people may struggle to trust their parents and be more sensitive to rejection.”

She advises that, if parents do tell their children that they were unplanned, they should consider how they do so. ”A nurturing approach is likely to result in a more favorable outcome than an abrupt one,” she says.

It’s not so much that being unplanned in itself will affect a child’s emotional and social development, but a child who is unplanned may be more likely to have less interaction with their parents and witness violence between parents. They are also less likely to be breastfed, for example, which can also affect development. Unplanned children may have lower self-esteem as adolescents resulting from poorer parent-child relationships too.

There’s not a lot of evidence suggesting that being unplanned results in negative cognitive development or affects academic outcomes. That said, should children who are unplanned go on to experience abuse and neglect, this is much more likely to affect their cognitive development.

“Children who have experienced neglect or abuse may struggle to sustain their focus to ask and process learning information and could be more passive in the classroom rather than active,” says Dr Britto.

And, there’s evidence that children who were unplanned are more likely to have problems with conduct and attention from the ages of around seven to nine.

However, there can be longer-term effects.Jennie Lannette Bedsworth, MSW LCSW, a licensed clinical social worker and behavioral therapist, says that an unplanned pregnancy can add stress on to a family and this might have knock-on effects on cognitive development: “Financial and emotional pressures could make it harder to provide the stable environment kids need in those early years. We also know that long-term stress isn’t good for anyone’s health.”

Cognitive Developmental Milestones

Fortunately, there are strategies for supporting your child’s development whether they were planned or not.

In terms of emotional development, Dr Britto recommends educating children about their emotions, and labeling emotions when their children present them. She also advises showing empathy toward your children no matter what the circumstances are, and pausing to self-regulate before identifying their children’s emotions, to make co-regulation easier.

External factors can help you support your child’s development, too. Bedsworth says that when children who were unplanned do well, this can often be down to things like strong family ties, support systems and resources, good healthcare, parental guidance, and policies allowing parents time off after birth.

She recommends seeking help from professionals if you think you need it, too: “Therapy, home visits, and support groups—connecting with even one of these can provide relief during challenging times.”

Probably the most important factor is parents working through their emotions—whether it’s disappointment, sadness, anger—from having an unplanned pregnancy so they can connect emotionally with their child.

Keep in Mind

Bedsworth says, “With a solid network behind them, families dealing with an unplanned pregnancy can absolutely emerge happy and healthy. It’s not how a child begins that defines their future, but rather the care and nurturing they receive along the way."

Why Parenting Styles Matter When Raising Children

3 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Zhou HY, Zhu WQ, Xiao WY, Huang YT, Ju K, Zheng H, Yan C.Feeling unloved is the most robust sign of adolescent depression linking to family communication patterns. J Res Adolesc. 2023 Jun;33(2):418-430. doi: 10.1111/jora.12813Nelson J, O’Brien M.Does an unplanned pregnancy have long-term implications for mother-child relationships?J Fam Issues. 2012;33(4):506-526. doi:10.1177/0192513X11420820Drexel University College of Medicine.Unwanted Pregnancies: Outcomes For Children.

3 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Zhou HY, Zhu WQ, Xiao WY, Huang YT, Ju K, Zheng H, Yan C.Feeling unloved is the most robust sign of adolescent depression linking to family communication patterns. J Res Adolesc. 2023 Jun;33(2):418-430. doi: 10.1111/jora.12813Nelson J, O’Brien M.Does an unplanned pregnancy have long-term implications for mother-child relationships?J Fam Issues. 2012;33(4):506-526. doi:10.1177/0192513X11420820Drexel University College of Medicine.Unwanted Pregnancies: Outcomes For Children.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Zhou HY, Zhu WQ, Xiao WY, Huang YT, Ju K, Zheng H, Yan C.Feeling unloved is the most robust sign of adolescent depression linking to family communication patterns. J Res Adolesc. 2023 Jun;33(2):418-430. doi: 10.1111/jora.12813Nelson J, O’Brien M.Does an unplanned pregnancy have long-term implications for mother-child relationships?J Fam Issues. 2012;33(4):506-526. doi:10.1177/0192513X11420820Drexel University College of Medicine.Unwanted Pregnancies: Outcomes For Children.

Zhou HY, Zhu WQ, Xiao WY, Huang YT, Ju K, Zheng H, Yan C.Feeling unloved is the most robust sign of adolescent depression linking to family communication patterns. J Res Adolesc. 2023 Jun;33(2):418-430. doi: 10.1111/jora.12813

Nelson J, O’Brien M.Does an unplanned pregnancy have long-term implications for mother-child relationships?J Fam Issues. 2012;33(4):506-526. doi:10.1177/0192513X11420820

Drexel University College of Medicine.Unwanted Pregnancies: Outcomes For Children.

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