Impact of Parental Relationships and Parents’ Emotional Intelligence on Children’s Development of Emotional Intelligence: A Dyadic Clinical Intervention

Abstract

The early years of childhood represent a critical time frame in emotional development. This qualitative study sought to elucidate the impact of parental relationships and parents’ emotional intelligence on young children’s development of emotional intelligence capacity, as well as changes in this development when a dyadic clinical intervention was applied. The study setting was a children’s psychiatric clinic in Israel. Participants were five preschool non-clinically diagnosed children (3 girls, 2 boys, aged 5–6) and their parents (1 father, 4 mothers) and five preschool clinically diagnosed children (3 boys, 2 girls, aged 5–6) and their parents (5 fathers, 4 mothers) (N = 20). Clinically diagnosed children and parents received a dyadic intervention; non-clinically diagnosed children and parents did not. The methodological framework was rooted in phenomenology. We gathered data using semi-structured interviews and applied thematic analysis to dissect the complex interplay between parents’ emotional intelligence and relationship with their children, and the children’s emotional development. Initial findings pointed to a nuanced improvement in the emotional expression abilities of clinically diagnosed children post-intervention, implying the efficacy of the intervention and suggesting the importance of integrating parental education on emotional intelligence and responsive strategies as part of child-focused interventions. This could foster children’s emotional growth and enhance parent-child relationships, contributing to a holistic strategy for fostering emotional intelligence in early childhood.