become more stable. adolescent mental health problems have been associated with more variable and less intense positive emotions and more intense anxiety and heightened sadness variability. assessment of social-emotional development the assessment of social emotional development in young children must include an assessment of both child-level factors, such as genetic disorders, physical limitations, or linguistic and cognitive developmental level, as well as contextual factors, such as family and cultural factors. of particular importance for young children is the caregiving context, or the parent-child relationship. early childhood assessment the majority of measures designed to assess early childhood social emotional development are parent report questionnaires. parent reports using such measures repeatedly indicate that the 7%-12% of children show early social-emotional problems or delays. increasing evidence suggests that these problems remain moderately stable over periods of 1–2 years, suggesting clinical and societal benefits to early identification and intervention. standardized assessments have been developed to identify social emotional concerns as young as 6 months old. below is a list of some more widely used parent-report screening measures and comprehensive assessments: ages and stages questionnaire: social emotional (asq-se) appropriate for children ages 6–60 months screening measure: produces one score, with high scores indicating possible need for further evaluation brief infant and toddler social emotional assessment (bitsea) appropriate for children ages 12–36 months screening measure: produces problem and competence scores, combined cut-off point determines concern child behavior checklist ages 1.5-5 (cbcl) appropriate for children ages 18 months – 60 months comprehensive measure: produces specific dsm-oriented scale scores, as well as internalizing, externalizing, total problems standardized t-scores later childhood assessment the social thinking methodology is a developmental, language-based and thinking-based (metacognitive) methodology that uses visual frameworks, unique vocabulary, strategies, and activities to foster social competence for children ages 4 – 18 years old. the methodology has assessment and treatment components for both interventionists and social learners. the methodology includes components of other well-known and evidence based interventions such as social stories, hidden curriculum, 5-point scale, and others, etc. social thinking™ shares ideals with executive functioning, central coherence issues, and perspective-taking. the assessment itself is multi-faceted, pulling information from a variety of sources and contexts. a thorough assessment of social skills includes: (a) observing the student with his peers and in different environmental contexts; (b) the diagnostician relating with the student without facilitating the student's social success; (c) a battery of informal assessment tools; (d) administering carefully considered standardized measures; (e) interviewing teachers and parents with regard to the students social cognition and social behaviors. social emotional learning & development in schools social and emotional learning in schools involves 5 key abilities: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. these skills are seen as the foundation upon which people can build all other relational skills. these core skills allow people to regulate and process emotions, think critically, maintain positive relationships, collaborate, and communicate effectively. social and emotional learning also has a clear connection with and is positively linked to academic success. it promotes active learning within a community setting, providing the emotional support many need to grow academically. social and emotional learning recognizes that learning is a social activity and is most productive through collaboration. many child theorists stress the importance of learning as a social process in theories of child development. vygotsky's developmental framework highlights the importance of children as social learners needing connections to learn and grow. social emotional development in latin america in mexico, efforts to promote social emotional development are challenged by the cultural stigma against mental health. beginning in 2013, the mexican government implemented programs of emotional pedagogy, like psicoeducacion, to raise self-knowledge and disseminate mental health information in many domains of public life in order to address this stigma. mexico's secretary of health defines pyschoeducacion as the teaching of expression, feelings, and behavior. in oaxaca, government-initiated psychoeducacion projects are common in health clinics, public health communications, as well as in the projects of nonprofit organizations. efforts have even been made to work with religious organizations to replace previous language for mental illness with more clinical terms. the psychoeducacion trainings by the mexican government, some of them mandatory, are aimed at teaching children the vocabulary to be able to express themselves in order to recognize the need for early treatment. although cultural barriers exists the identification and management of emotions are treated as teachable skills. in the global mental health sector, there is concern that western psychology is crowding out traditional understandings and treatments of mental illness, leading to some backlash against mental health care - such as, for example, amongst indigenous groups in mexico. to address this, some organizations advocate a close collaboration with indigenous communities. western experts are studying how specific terminology used in indigenous communities corresponds with common mental health syndromes recognized by the american psychiatric association. by western standards, the treatment and diagnosis of community "healers" is inconsistent and therefore devalued. trained mental health experts express frustration, for example, towards those who wait until their symptoms are severe before seeking professional help. notes specifically, baron-cohen and colleagues found that 75% of 4- to 6-year-old children understood 41 out of 336 emotion words, and that by age 11, 75% of children understood 299 of these same words.