If the first child comes from a home in which there are high levels of anger or hostility and poor communication about feelings, they are likely to view the question as hostile and react accordingly. A child with greater awareness of emotions and an ability to empathize might simply respond with a shrug or a request for next.

Though emotional intelligence is often considered a 鈥渟oft skill,鈥� it forms the bedrock of learning and can help set up a child for success in school, their relationships, and their future work and earnings. Knowledge of emotions is the ability to recognize, label and understand emotions in yourself and others. It鈥檚 a prerequisite for emotional regulation: the foundation for effective communication, the ability to listen, the capacity to change one鈥檚 emotional state to meet immediate goals, and even the ability to manage stress.

The child鈥檚 ability to regulate their emotions predicts these attributes across socioeconomic strata, and various racial and ethnic groups, but can be especially valuable for children facing the twin stressors of poverty and racism.

Various studies have shown that emotional intelligence in adults and adolescents can be a significant moderator of stress responses, but no published studies to date have examined the association in any demographic for basic emotion knowledge and stress.

A recent study published in the journal examined for the first time the association between emotion knowledge and levels of cortisol, a major marker for stress, in young children. The 307 children in the study attended Head Start preschool; all their families faced economic hardship, and 80% were Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), positioned to experience systemic racism. The children鈥檚 median age was 4 years.

鈥淚鈥檝e been studying the physiological toll of poverty-related stress, and stress and trauma related to racism and systemic oppression,鈥� says Dr. Eleanor Brown, professor of psychology at West Chester University and the study鈥檚 lead author. 鈥淲e know that poverty gets under the skin, and when you鈥檙e exposed to stress or trauma related to poverty, your whole body responds.

鈥淚f you are exposed to a particular stressor, as in an incident of neighborhood violence, your cortisol levels are going to increase, which helps you marshal the physiological resources to respond. But chronic or repeated elevations in cortisol take a toll on physiological functioning in ways that are detrimental to social-emotional, cognitive and physical health. So, I鈥檝e been interested in what might help children facing high levels of poverty-related stress modulate their physiological response, and a student working with me 鈥� Sara King 鈥� was especially interested in emotion knowledge.鈥� King is co-first author on the current study.

According to the , nearly 40% of children in the U.S. grow up in homes classified as poor ($25,926 for a family of four) or low-income ($51,852 for a family of four). That鈥檚 a lot of stress and a lot of cortisol in some very young kids.

Brown鈥檚 research focused on the Head Start preschool program because it represents the nation鈥檚 largest investment in early childhood education and was designed to support the development of children placed at risk by economic hardship. Head Start enrollment has been associated with improved language and literary skills in preschool children as well as fewer behavioral problems and increased social-emotional competencies. Most Head Start schools have implemented emotions-based prevention programs and curriculum support to increase students鈥� ability to identify, regulate and constructively use appropriate emotions.

A suggested that having strong emotional regulation skills helped mitigate some of the negative impact from repeated exposure to poverty-related stressors. Brown鈥檚 study looks at whether younger children who developed greater understanding of emotions would show fewer stress effects, as measured by their bodies鈥� cortisol levels.

Implementing renowned theorist Carroll Izard鈥檚 coding system that measures children鈥檚 ability to recognize and label expressions of emotion, the researchers found a statistically relevant association of greater emotion knowledge with lower amounts of cortisol. The study highlights the importance of addressing emotional competence in early childhood, Brown says.

When children can identify their emotions, they can exercise a level of cognitive control over their emotional arousal, which enables them to react appropriately to the situations and people they encounter. Emotion knowledge is also linked to the emergence of theory of mind between the ages of 3 and 5, when children become aware that other鈥檚 beliefs, desires and feelings may be different from one鈥檚 own 鈥� a foundational mechanism for navigating social interactions.

This age is the birthplace of empathy 鈥� also narcissism, the inability to imagine the needs or feelings of another. As children鈥檚 ability to understand emotions grows, their ability to negotiate social situations develops, which can set them on a positive course for elementary school and beyond. On the other hand, children who are unable to identify emotions in preschool may face behavioral and social problems as well as internalizing symptoms such as depression and anxiety.

Across cultures, humans (and some species) have evolved to recognize certain emotions like anger and fear as important knowledge for survival. Understanding potential causes and appropriate responses to these emotions is not so automatic. Much of the teaching of emotions happens naturally as parents and caregivers talk with children about emotion-provoking events they experience in their day-to-day. However, for households facing economic hardship and systemic racism, the picture may be somewhat different.

鈥淎 parent who is stressed about poverty or related hardship may be frustrated, anxious, sad, and exhausted,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淒espite good intentions, they may treat the child harshly or withdraw emotionally and be less nurturing, less able to have the conversations with them about labeling shapes, learning the alphabet or asking, 鈥楬ow did that make you feel?鈥� A parent working multiple shifts or juggling too many responsibilities simply may not have the time or emotional energy for those conversations.鈥�

Children growing up in chronic poverty also may have issues properly identifying their emotions simply because their stress levels are such that they don鈥檛 have the mental and physical bandwidth to do so.

One unfortunate finding of multiple studies is that parents across all socioeconomic strata are more likely to engage in emotion conversations with girls, more likely to offer space for emotional processing, and to support their taking time to work through emotions, Brown says. Parents are more likely to scaffold girls鈥� emotional processing with emotion coaching, talking about it, giving their emotions labels and helping them understand. Practically universally in American culture, parents of boys have less tolerance of them showing emotion 鈥� especially sadness and fear 鈥� and taking space to process it, which possibly explains lower levels of emotion knowledge among boys.

Children during this crucial period of development are not only building their knowledge of emotions, but they are also developing the neurocircuitry that will later support their ability to regulate their emotions, driving home the idea, Brown says, that early intervention with preschoolers may be critical for mitigating the impact of early stress exposure on brain development and functioning.

鈥淭his isn鈥檛 so much that someone who misses this window can never learn that someone who鈥檚 smiling is probably feeling happy,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey can learn to label emotions earlier or later. But this is a critical period for equipping children with the emotion understanding that will allow them to modulate their responses to meet social and learning goals. It鈥檚 also a critical period for the development of a key stress response system 鈥� the hypothalamic, pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) 鈥� which influences learning and memory as well as emotional and physical well-being.鈥�

Brown adds, 鈥淭here is a critical period of calibration of that system in early childhood that will influence the child鈥檚 development. You can鈥檛 necessarily reverse the impact of high stress in childhood, and these findings don鈥檛 definitively show that emotion knowledge is lowering the children鈥檚 cortisol, but the existence of the link we鈥檝e shown suggests that there鈥檚 a good chance that by boosting children鈥檚 emotion knowledge, we can help them to regulate at a physiological level.

鈥淭his is hopeful because we may be able to use these opportunities with children in early childhood educational contexts to target emotion knowledge and skill development in ways that promote lower levels of stress.鈥�

The report from and the surveyed more than 14,000 respondents in the fall of 2023 鈥� including about 6,000 enrolled college students, 5,000 students who left college and 3,000 adults who never enrolled.

More than 40 percent of Black and Latino students considered leaving compared to 30 percent of white students 鈥� with stress, mental health and cost leading the reasons why.

鈥淭he fact that stress and mental health concerns continue to be the number one concern for Black and Latino students is alarming,鈥� said Dr. Courtney Brown, vice president of impact and planning at the Lumina Foundation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something we need to pay attention to because it鈥檚 almost like a cry for help for [postsecondary] institutions to do something about this.鈥� 

Brown said Black and Latino adults鈥� enthusiasm for enrolling in a traditional four-year college has waned in comparison to certificate and associate degree pathways.

Most recent enrollment gains were carried by community colleges with a vocational program focus compared to those with a transfer focus.

鈥淏lack and Latino adults recognize the cost is high and their time is limited,鈥� said Brown. 鈥淪o if they can invest in something like a certificate or associate degree that gets them into the workforce as fast as possible it makes more sense.鈥�

Here are four key takeaways from the report:

1. Black and Latino students are more likely to leave postsecondary programs than their white peers.

More than 40 percent of Black and Latino students were likely to consider leaving college compared to about 30 percent of white students.

Black students experienced slight improvement compared to 2022 but their likelihood of leaving remained higher than 2021 and 2020.

Latino students also saw improvement compared to 2022 returning them to similar levels in 2020.

2. Emotional stress, mental health and cost are consistent reasons across racial groups for why current students considered leaving their postsecondary programs.

More than 50 percent of students said stress was their biggest reason to consider leaving college 鈥� followed by mental health and cost by more than 40 and 30 percent respectively. 

Brown said Black and Latino students are more likely than white students to balance coursework with a part or full time job in addition to taking care of family members.

鈥淎ll of these students greatly value getting a degree and understand how important it is, but all these things accelerate their stress level,鈥� Brown said. 

She added how the competing priorities in their lives influence their desire to leave their postsecondary education to join the workforce and earn income faster.

鈥淏lack and Latino students often don鈥檛 have the money to actually enroll or stay enrolled,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淪o it becomes hard for them when they can get a job but the opportunity is lost because they鈥檙e in class.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 short-sighted and they end up losing that opportunity cost because with a degree they would be able to get a better job in the long-term,鈥� she added.

3. Black and Latino adults who have considered enrolling in a postsecondary program are largely interested in certificate and associate pathways.

Nearly six in 10 unenrolled adults have considered enrolling in a postsecondary program in the past two years.

But, Black and Latino adults are more likely to consider a certificate or associate program compared to a slightly smaller number who have considered a bachelor鈥檚 degree. 

Brown said postsecondary institutions can help Black and Latino students who have difficulty working towards a bachelor鈥檚 degree by providing resources such as healthcare, mental health services and childcare facilities.

鈥淎 bachelor鈥檚 degree is a lot more involved and it鈥檚 going to take a few years minimum if you鈥檙e going full time,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淪o providing these services will give them a leg up to completion.鈥�

4. Financial aid and scholarships hold larger importance to Black and Latino adults than their white peers.

Nearly 60 percent of Black and Latino adults said financial aid and scholarships are important to get them to enroll in a postsecondary program in the next year compared to about 50 percent of white adults.

Also, more than 40 percent of Black and Latino adults said emergency aid would influence their enrollment compared to about 30 percent of white adults.

鈥淚 hope this data becomes a call to action for [postsecondary] institutions,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淭heir attainment rate is very low because our system has failed them again and again, so we can and must do better.鈥�