There are several factors that may affect a child's development. Many of these are environmental and social factors - such as the role of peers and play, socioeconomic factors and childhood trauma.

These factors may play a role both in a child's cognitive and social development. Up until this point, we have focused on cognitive development, but another important part of child development is social development. Social Development refers to how people develop social and emotional skills across the lifespan. Healthy social development allows us to form positive relationships with family, friends and other people in our lives.