6 Symptoms Of Affective Deficiencies In Children

Affective deficiencies in children is an increasingly evident fact in our society. The parents’ work hours are long and the hours for family living are scarce. However, how does this really affect the little ones?

The lack of attention of parents towards their children is very harmful for a child who is in the middle of his growth; especially because healthy affective relationships, those that provide real affection and interest, are as necessary and important for their proper development as food or education.

Your child, like every human being, needs many sweet words, kisses, hugs and constant displays of affection. Expressing affection in various ways will help him achieve adequate brain maturation.

Affective deficiencies in children are silent

If you think that your child is not prone to develop emotional deficiencies because he lives in a home where he sees his parents every day and where he does not receive extreme abuse or neglect, it is good that you know that this is often an incorrect thought.

A family that has little time and space to nurture its emotions through healthy coexistence is prone to emotional deterioration. If you’re wondering how you can fill your child with healthy emotions, one of the simplest answers is spending quality family time.

To achieve this, try to include recreational activities in the family’s agenda in which you all get involved and live pleasant moments, those that are worth remembering. Games, homework or a simple snack are a good time to enjoy time together. Remember that the important thing is not always the amount of time but everything that you will have shared.

Some symptoms of affective deficiencies in children

A child with emotional deficiencies may present certain symptoms or psychological patterns. Some of them are:

1.- Anxiety charts

Anxiety is a symptom of affective deficiency that affects both children and adults. Never being able to stay focused, showing the need to eat all the time and succumbing to impatience are strong symptoms of lack of affection in a child.

2.- Poor language development and social interaction

The correct development of language is achieved, mainly, through a good education from childhood. However,  a very important part is acquired through interaction with others. If the child’s social skills at home are clumsy or absent, the result of poor socialization and affection, their ability to express themselves will be less than that of other children and language acquisition will occur more slowly.

3.- Not knowing how to control impulses and respond aggressively

The impulses are dominated by the emotions.  If a child has difficulties controlling his impulses, shows abrupt changes in behavior and the responses are generally aggressive, it is your duty to check if he is experiencing a lack of affection in order to mitigate these negative impulses.

4.- Lack of trust in others

A child devoid of affection has a hard time developing trust in others, even with those in his family nucleus. The child may feel misunderstood, thus raising his alarms and, therefore, preferring to withdraw into himself in order to avoid suffering emotionally.

5.- Difficulty paying attention

When a child spends enough time with his parents, in an environment full of understanding, he becomes accustomed from an early age to pay attention to what is said to him, since he has understood the importance of being listened to. However, if your child does not pay attention easily, you can take this as another symptom  of emotional deficiencies in children at home.

6.- Not knowing how to express their feelings in a healthy way

Feelings are not easy to control, and for a child with an affective deficit this becomes even more complicated, either when expressing, moderating or giving them free rein. A child with emotional deficiencies, in general, will not know how to manage his feelings because no adult has explained how.

If this type of pattern is not corrected in time, there is a risk that these problems accompany the child throughout his life. It is likely that a child who does not know how to express his feelings, when he reaches adulthood, he will become a self-centered person, with poor social skills and emotionally dependent.