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PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF AGE CRISES IN CHILDREN’S

Qamza Soltanova İsbandiyarova1

Abstract: The article examines age crises that manifest themselves in children’s mental development.

The study showed that one of the criteria for the successful course of the crisis and cognitive

development, in general, is the ratio of negative and constructive symptoms. Correlation analysis

also revealed some relationships between the psychological characteristics of the crisis and indicators

with a high level of motivation and intellectual preparation serve the normal course of the crisis.

Passive forms of negativist behavioural reactions, on the contrary, are more common in children with

a low level of speech development.

Keywords: Crisis period, child development, negative behaviours, psychological analysis, cognitive

development

Introduction

In modern psychology, it is relevant to investigate the age crises that arise during children’s

1 Master of Odlar Yurdu University, Baku, Azerbaijan

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2017).

Each age period is characterized by a unique crisis. Crisis is part of children’s social,

emotional and cognitive development. During this period, children try to know themselves and their

surroundings, learn and explore. The crisis is a period observed with sudden psychological changes

in certain age ranges starting from childhood. Crisis is not a disease, but just a factor that shows the

child’s development. Every age crisis has a beginning and an end. Depending on the circumstances of

the individual, this duration may increase or decrease. During the crisis, the existing behaviour model

is changed and replaced by a new one. Age crises have changed their character compared to previous

years and are manifested in a more acute form in modern times. The purpose of studying age crises is

to study the characteristics of age crises and to educate parents in this direction. It should be taken into

2020). One of the reasons for the misunderstanding of the problem of “childhood crisis” is the lack

of attention to the semantic, emotional and aective expression of feelings in a separate, isolated

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structure. The child separates his “I” from the “I” of the mother. During this period, a sense of pride

in achievements develops, he is proud that he can do something himself. Later, this new formation

is incorporated into a very complex structure - the “self-concept” of a person, which leads to the

formation of a sphere of motivation that contributes to the development of self-esteem. If a child

does not develop such a sense of self, he will feel empty, uninterested in himself, awed, unworthy

of respect, and completely dependent on someone. During this period, children’s ability to learn

increases. Logical thinking replaces concrete thinking. With the development of thinking, self-

perception, introspection, and the child’s own experiences develop (Mudrik., 2002).

L.S. Vygotsky associates an age crisis with the emergence of speech. At this time, the child

begins to walk independently. According to Vygotsky, the emergence of autonomous speech leads to a

rst sign L.S. Vygotsky drew attention to is negativism. This behavioural response is that the child

does not want to do something because an adult suggests it. The second sign is stubbornness. Unlike

negativism, stubborn children only insist on something. At this time, the child develops a stubborn

attitude towards the whole way of life (Vygotsky., 1984).

L.S. Vygotsky denes the signs of the crisis and the behaviour of children in the work “Crisis

of Seven Years”. He notes that age seven is the age of “loss of spontaneity.” Childish behaviour ceases

to be natural. He considers the reason for this to be the generalization of experiences. Dierent crises

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Every baby’s characteristics are dierent. Some babies are quiet, some babies are more active

and active. However, it is known that babies face various crises in the growth process. The rst of these

is called the 1-year crisis. The 1-year crisis is a process that begins to manifest itself when babies reach

break things around him. He may attack other children around him. Their tendency to do what they

want increases. He does not want to share his toys and food with others. They show a selsh attitude.

2 years is considered one of the most dicult periods for children. The 2-year crisis occurs when the

child is not understood, the family is overly protective, he cannot do what he wants, he realizes that

there is no communication with mom and dad, and parents do not spend money. (Leontiev, 1983).

Spending quality and sucient time with them, when there is a new sibling, when there is a

to meet the child’s needs, or exposure to violence. The next 3 years are equally dicult and crazy

for parents. However, with the right behaviour and attitude, many parents pass these periods more

easily. The 2-year-old crisis covers a short interval. The attitude of a child showing such aggression

and anger usually ends between 3 and 3.5 years of age. Sometimes it is observed that this aggression

continues until the end of 4 years. In this case, it may be necessary to get support from a specialist

(Erikson, 1968; Maslow, 1970, Tatlıbayevoy, 1999; Young, 2016; Huhlayeva, 2009).

If the child does not feel valued enough and is not socialized enough, this leads to the

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and feel safe. The 5-year crisis refers to certain behavioural changes that occur during the child’s

development. Symptoms during the crisis may be dierent for boys and girls. Commonly observed

symptoms are: Constantly asking questions and being very curious: During this period, children may

constantly ask questions and exhibit curious behaviors with a desire to explore the world. Learning

behaviours: They tend to show rapid development in many areas, such as language development,

psychomotor skills, and creativity. Playing games in the social environment and showing leadership:

Children tend to play dierent games to interact with friends, take leadership and improve their social

skills. (Huhlayeva, 2009: Ramiz and Vakil, (2020).

A child who goes to school in the rst years, which coincides with the 7-year crisis, now has

rules come into the child’s life, this continues in a certain sequence until the child reaches the age of

7, and he encounters new psychological situations with unusual regularity, which leads to the 7-year

crisis. In addition to the physical development of the child, his mental and social development is also

a very important part of the growth process. Along with the school process, there are evolutions in

the child’s mental development and dierences in the thinking system may arise. Although some

children can overcome this change with healthy pain, some children may have symptoms of a 7-year

crisis (Tatlıbayevoy, 1999). Signs of a 7-year-old crisis include constant expectation of praise from the

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parent-child relationship. Otherwise, it can cause permanent eects on the child. The 2-year crisis can

be a dicult process for both children and their families. However, by following some steps, you can

ensure that the crisis passes smoothly.

• Wait for the child to express his anger.

• Do not force the child to do or not do something.

• Set the child’s boundaries.

• Don’t always use the word “no”. Using it in the most suitable places creates a more positive

eect on the child.

The 3-year crisis, like the 2-year crisis, is a period when the child is quite stubborn and

• Involve your child in creative activities. Even do these activities together. In this way, you

will strengthen the bond between you.

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• The child is quite stubborn in this period and wants to do everything he wants. However, it

is very wrong to say “yes” to everything the child wants. Say no to your child when necessary.

• Be calm in the face of the child’s behaviour. Find logical answers by controlling anger.

• Be decisive and act together with your partner.

• Try to anticipate the behaviours that will trigger the child. Then try to take action for these

situations.

In the 4-year crisis, children can be in dierent moods and react dierently to events because

very important. Because this step is taken in the direction of children’s personality transformation,

parents and learns about the child’s behaviour before and after the process. Then interviews are

conducted with the child.

for his or her developmental period. Diagnosis can also be made by combining parent interviews,

developmental tests, and play therapy techniques into a single denominator. In this process,

communication and cooperation with teachers at school is important. Since children attach great

importance to their social relations with their friends, the observations and opinions of their teachers

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well as the family are important. The goal of treatment is to improve the child’s quality of life. The

main goal here is to get a positive result with both the treatment process and the support of the family.

Families should be patient, knowing that crises are not a disease, on the contrary, they are a stage of

the child’s development and are important for self-development.

From a methodological point of view, it is important to avoid the social desirability of

responses when studying the signs of a crisis. Some parents tend to exaggerate constructive symptoms

and minimize negative ones. Therefore, it is important to give them some information about the age

crisis pattern before the study. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the opposite eect

- when familiar with the psychological content of the crisis, parents can exaggerate its severity in the

child. The study showed that, in general, the crisis in preschool children is not so obvious: the severity

of all signs of “domestic behaviour” is about 46%. The constructive symptom category predominates

is the least expressed. Often, parents note the emergence of common questions and a desire for

interest in appearance, disobedience and capriciousness. There was practically no gender specicity

in the symptoms of the age crisis. The dierence was signicant only in the indicator of interest in

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low average values, we can conclude that the severity of disobedience and adult behaviour is a

fairly reliable criterion for the onset of an age crisis. Argument, pause, stubbornness and cunning

also became a system builder. The least integrated into the general structure are manifestations of

independence. In boys, the galaxy of correlations is more structured due to negative symptoms, while

constructive symptoms are practically not integrated into the overall structure. For boys, the factors

that create the system are disobedience, reaction to criticism and the behaviour of adults, for girls

- interruption, stubbornness, capriciousness, and interest in school. Thus, the most obvious signs

of the onset of the age crisis can be considered negativist symptoms: the appearance of a neutral

symptom such as disobedience, argument, interruption, stubbornness, cunning, and adult behaviour.

Constructive symptoms are less informative for the diagnosis of crisis, especially in boys. Group

level of girls is higher than that of boys (p < 0.05).

Average levels of self-esteem and aspirations of preschool children are high, which corresponds

to normative values. Most of the children are still not able to approach the dierential evaluation of

their qualities. However, some children already seem somewhat critical in their self-evaluations, which

suggests a dierence between the real self and the ideal self. The study of children’s psychological

preparation for learning revealed a fairly high level of development of the student’s internal position.

Most of the children expressed cognitive motivation. Indicators of intellectual preparation generally