Sexual development in childhood emotions and behavior

Abstract

Introduction. Childhood is a stage of life characterized by observation, curiosity, and discovery, through experimentation and play, children get to know themselves and their environment. In the stage of sexual development, children become aware of the sex to which they belong imitating roles of people of their gender, which marks their behavior and being able to adapt to their environment. Objective. To determine the emotional and behavioral factors involved in child sexual development, and discerning normative and pathological behavior. Method. A systematic review was carried out based on 19 investigations of the last 10 years and considering the scientific databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Taylor & Francis, Google Scholar. Results. The studies reviewed showed that child sexual development is a natural part of the human being. There are two types of sexual behavior, the normative, based on self-exploration, imitation, the expression of affection towards oneself and the others and the pathological, in which the behaviors and emotions of the normative are expressed more explicitly and as a frequent pattern as it relates to sexual abuse. Conclusions. It was concluded that emotional factors such as affectivity, self-esteem and behavioral factors such as curiosity and self-exploration represent normative behavior, while pathological behaviors such as depression and distress, and violent behaviors influence emotions such as depression and distress, and violent behaviors and excessive manipulation of private parts. For healthy child sexual development, it is essential for children to have guidance and receive age-appropriate information to build security and trust in them.