Psychosocial Development of Toddlers: A Case Study of Andrew

This essay explores the psychosocial development of toddlers through a case study of Andrew, a 2.5-year-old toddler who experiences difficulties in healthy eating and toileting habits. It discusses the factors that influence psychosocial development and suggests strategies to encourage toddlers in developing independence and autonomy.

Running head: HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AND LIFE TRANSITIONS
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

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Introduction:
Childhood development considered as one of the fundamental attributes of human being
which further shape them as responsible adults (Bedford et al., 2016). The case study involves a
toddler of 2 and a half years, Andrew who communicate in four to five sentences for his needs
and experience difficulties in healthy eating and toileting habits. Considering the assessment, the
developmental stage is toddler where they experience frequent psychosocial development which
further shapes their personality. McCarthy et al. (2016), highlighted that in this developmental
stage, toddle develop an ability to express themselves through sounds, facials expressions and
they have frequent habits. This essay will explore two crucial examples such as toileting habit of
the child and healthy eating of the child that her mother was concerned. This essay also aims to
address the factors that influence the psychosocial development of a children and shape the
personality in the following paragraphs.
Discussion:
Psychosocial development, its importance to development:
Psychosocial development is referred to the developmental stage of the human being
where individuals gather cognitive, intellectual, physical and social capabilities to live a healthy
life (Murray et al., 2016). While considering the psychosocial development of the toddler, it is
crucial to consider Eriksson’s stages of psychosocial development. Considering this theory,
Andrew is a toddler and he is experiencing “Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt” stage. Erikson
highlighted that this stage occurs between 18 months to 3 years and toddlers of this age gain a
sense of independence and learn to gather new skills (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017). In this stage,
encouragement and support from the peers and parents increase their independence and feeling

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of autonomy, they feel confident and empowered. The lack of support and increased criticism
have a negative impact since they begin to feel they have inadequate ability to survive which
decrease the self-esteem of them (Knight, 2017). This psychosocial development is crucial for
the children since children who have experienced criticism and lack of support during this stage,
tend to have low self-esteem and dependence (Britto et al., 2017).
Example and outline of strategy:
Considering the case study, the first example of the issues highlighted that Andrew is the
first child of Maria and Tom and both are working parents. Consequently, very little time they
allocate to Andrew for supporting psychosocial development. Tom takes care of Andrew during
his two days off which further encouraged Andrew to sing with Dad, mum and extended
families. Brassell et al. (2016), highlighted that in this developmental stage, the normative
transition is that the children usually recognize the names of familiar people, form simple
phrases in 4 to 5 words and sentences. Since his parents take care of him and communicate with
him in their day-offs, Andrew was able to communicate in 4 to 5 sentences for his needs. If
toddlers are not encouraged for toileting and developing a healthy eating pattern and actively
playing in the presence of his peers which enhanced his inability to develop these skills. In this
case, He failed to take the initiatives for developing the skills and build a sense of autonomy and
independence like the toddlers of his age and it further impacted his psychosocial development
(Van Mourik et al., 2017).
In this case, discussion regarding engaging children with healthy eating patterns, active
play, childcare, peer communication would be an effective strategy for the development of
psychosocial skills. Bandura’s socio-cognitive development suggested that all of the gathered
knowledge and skills of the individuals are the result of the observation and imitation of others

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(Bandura, 2018). In other words, it can be said that the psychosocial and developmental skills are
usually gathered by observing the peers and individuals present in the social environment.
Hence, if Andrew involves in the toileting training with other peers of his age, by imitating and
observing his peer he will take the initiatives to gather the skills of the toileting and continence.
Lang et al. (2017), suggested that toddlers usually able to gain full continence at the age of three.
Since Andrew is two and a half month, with the assistance of his peers and communicating with
peer regarding, he will be able to build autonomy and initiatives.
For building active play and healthy eating pattern, the similar kind of strategy can be
used where peers can be incorporated in the playing session and during lunchtime, peers of
toddler can be provided with the healthy lunch such as vegetables and fruits for the healthy
eating pattern (Chai et al., 2016). Consequently, by observing peers and communicating with
them, toddler will able to develop independence, autonomy and able to boost his self-esteem
(Bedford et al., 2016). In this case, parents of Andrew and childcare must encourage him in the
developmental of these skills and create an environment which further facilitates his initiatives
for acquiring kills of healthy eating, active playing and toileting.
Factors that influence psychosocial development:
The psychosocial development of a child solely depends on the biological factors such as
cognitive ability along with physical ability to embrace change and parental along with teaching
practice (Xie et al., 2018). In this chosen case scenario, it was evident that Andrew is a toddler of
2 and half years and require to develop motors skills and psychosocial skills for shaping himself
as a healthy and responsible adult. To develop psychosocial skills, factors such as parental
practice and caregiver practice and interactions with peers play a crucial role. At this age, the

4HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AND LIFE TRANSITIONS
children usually develop fine motor skills such as feeding themselves and toileting on their own
and in this case encouragement from the parents enhance these skills (Xie et al., 2018). In this
current context, an issue identified in this case scenario is that his parents are working and get
limited-time to support his psychosocial development. While both of his parents were able to
encourage him in development of communication skills for his needs, they failed to support him
for developing toileting skills and healthy eating skills which hindered the development of
autonomy, independence, and self-esteem. Hence, he failed to develop psychosocial skills. The
parental practice of working parents usually failed to encourage their child due to lack of time
which further impacted psychosocial skill development of the toddlers. The case scenario
mentions that he attends daycare three days a week for five hours each day while his mother
Maria works part-time. However, no evidence of the role of caregiver in developing skills was
mentioned in this case scenario. A caregiver plays a crucial role in the development of
psychosocial skills since children with working parents spend the majority of the time of in
daycare (Wise, 2018). Hence, it is crucial for a caregiver to involve Andrew in the effective
communication and encourage him to take initiatives during lunch for developing independence
and support him for gaining continence while he was unable to gain these skills (Bedford et al.,
2016). Peers play a crucial role in the development of the psychosocial skills since if peers
develop certain skills necessary for this age, other infants imitate and observe these skills
(Conway et al., 2018). This factor improves motor skills but helps to shape the values and beliefs
of the children.
In this case, child and health nurse must assess the parental practice of his parents and
assist them in supporting Andrew at home by creating an environment for the development of
independence. The child and health nurse must also monitor and assist the child-caregiver of

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Andrew for engagement peers during lunch with the diet containing vegetables and snacks. It
will boost the self-esteem of the toddler.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, it can be said that psychosocial development is essential for a
toddler in shaping personally. Toddler of working parents usually unable to develop crucial
skills such as eating and toileting habits due to lack of encouragement. Encouraging toddlers in
the development of these skills is crucial for building independence and autonomy. Hence,
parents, caregiver required to encourage toddlers in building these skills through peer
interactions.

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