Intergenerational Programs Benefit Social-Emotional Development for Young Children and Older Adults

Abstract

Lifespan developmental psychology identifies both early childhood and late adulthood as sensitive periods for developing social-emotional skills crucial for wellbeing. The public seeks support for these developmental periods, structured social-emotional programs such as childcare and older adult social activities. However, policy solutions have yet to fully address the increasing need for social-emotional supports for the youngest and oldest members of society; policymakers meet economic- and workforce-related roadblocks. This review summarizes empirical evidence on how intergenerational, joint programs that bridge early childhood and late adulthood care impact social-emotional outcomes. Joint programming is a promising policy route to address the social-emotional needs of young children and older adults. Policy—including economic concerns, accessibility, and alternative policy options—can use empirical evidence on joint early childhood and late adulthood programs for social-emotional wellbeing. Evidence-based suggestions facilitate successful program design and implementation.

Keywords

early childhood late adulthood social-emotional development intergenerational programming policy

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adekpedjou

Léon

Dewidar

Al-Zubaidi

Jbilou

Kaczorowski

Muscedere

Hirdes

Heckman

Girard

Hébert

P. C.

(2023). Effectiveness of interventions to address different types of vulnerabilities in community-dwelling older adults: An umbrella review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 19(2), e1323. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1323

Allen

Hutton

(Eds.). (2023). Closing the opportunity gap for young children. National Academies Press.

Andrew

M. K.

Rockwood

(2010). Social vulnerability predicts cognitive decline in a prospective cohort of older Canadians. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 6, 319–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2009.11.001

Bailey

P. E.

Henry

J. D.

Von Hippel

(2008). Empathy and social functioning in late adulthood. Aging & Mental Health, 12(4), 499–503. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860802224243

Banks

J. A.

Frydenberg

Liang

(2024). Promoting social and emotional learning in early childhood through intergenerational programming: A systematic review. The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 41(1), 12–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/20590776.2023.2289626

Bierman

K. L.

Motamedi

(2015). Social-Emotional Learning Programs for Preschool Children. In Durlak

Domitrovich

Weissberg

R. P.

Gullotta

(Eds.), Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice (pp. 135–151). Guilford.

Bradbury

Corak

Waldfogel

Washbrook

(2011). Inequality during the early years: Child outcomes and readiness to learn in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and United States. ZA Discussion Paper No. 6120. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1965137

Bradbury

Waldfogel

Washbrook

(2019). Income-related gaps in early child cognitive development: Why are they larger in the United States than in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada? Demography, 56(1), 367–390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-018-0738-8

CASEL. (2013). 2013 Casel Guide. Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs (Pre-School and Elementary School Edition).

10.

Chari

A. V.

Engberg

Ray

K. N.

Mehrotra

(2015). The opportunity costs of informal elder-care in the United States: New estimates from the American Time Use Survey. Health Services Research, 50(3), 871–882. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12238

11.

Cohen-Mansfield

Jensen

(2017). Intergenerational programs in schools: Prevalence and perceptions of impact. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 36(3), 254–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464815570663

12.

Cui

Natzke

(2021). Early childhood program participation: 2019 (NCES 2020-075REV). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved April 6, 2026 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020075REV

13.

De Fruyt

Scheirlinckx

(2025). Challenges and opportunities for the assessment of social-emotional skills. ECNU Review of Education, 20965311251319355. https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311251319355

14.

Denham

S. A.

Zinsser

K. M.

(2014). Social and emotional learning during early childhood. In Gullotta

T. P.

Bloom

(Eds.), Encyclopedia of primary prevention and health promotion (pp. 926–935). Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5999-6_144

15.

Dixit

S. K.

Sambasivan

(2018). A review of the Australian healthcare system: A policy perspective. Sage Open Medicine, 6, 2050312118769211. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312118769211

16.

Donato

Scotton

(2020). The Australian health care system. In Economics and Australian health policy (pp. 20–39). Routledge.

17.

Eaton

S. C.

(2005). Eldercare in the United States: Inadequate, inequitable, but not a lost cause. Feminist Economics, 11(2), 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/13545700500115845

18.

Edwards

N. M.

Denham

(2018). Early social-emotional development. Brookes Publishing.

19.

Fang

Yang

(2023). Socioeconomic status, cultural values, and elderly care: An examination of elderly care preference in OECD countries. Aging and Health Research, 3(3), 100153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ahr.2023.100153

20.

Fantini-Hauwel

Mikolajczak

(2014). Factor structure, evolution, and predictive power of emotional competencies on physical and emotional health in the elderly. Journal of Aging and Health, 26(6), 993–2014. https://doi.org/10.1177/089826431453563

21.

Foley

K. T.

Luz

C. C.

(2021). Retooling the health care workforce for an aging America: A current perspective. The Gerontologist, 61(4), 487–496. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa163

22.

Frochen

Ailshire

Rodnyansky

(2019). Residential care in Los Angeles: Evaluating the spatial distribution of facilities and neighbourhood access to care among older adults. Local Environment, 24(3), 274–288. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2018.1564254

23.

Gabard-Durnam

McLaughlin

K. A.

(2020). Sensitive periods in human development: Charting a course for the future. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Sensitive and Critical Periods, 36, 120–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.09.003

24.

Gardiner

Barnes

(2016). The impact of volunteer befriending services for older people at the end of life: Mechanisms supporting wellbeing. Progress in Palliative Care, 24(3), 159–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/09699260.2015.1116728

25.

Gee

D. G.

(2021). When do sensitive periods emerge later in development? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(2), 97–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2021.12.001

26.

Giraudeau

Bailly

(2019). Intergenerational programs: What can school-age children and older people expect from them? A systematic review. European Journal of Ageing, 16(3), 363–376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-018-00497-4

27.

Gualano

M. R.

Voglino

Bert

Thomas

Camussi

Siliquini

(2018). The impact of intergenerational programs on children and older adults: A review. International Psychogeriatrics, 30(4), 451–468. https://doi.org/10.1017/S104161021700182X

28.

Guo

Tang

Marsh

H. W.

Parker

Basarkod

Sahdra

Ranta

Salmela-Aro

(2023). The roles of social–emotional skills in students’ academic and life success: A multi-informant and multicohort perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 124(5), 1079–1110. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000426

29.

Hammer

Melhuish

Howard

S. J.

(2018). Antecedents and consequences of social–emotional development: A longitudinal study of academic achievement. Archives of Scientific Psychology, 6(1), 105–116. https://doi.org/10.1037/arc0000034

30.

Herbst

C. M.

(2023). Child care in the United States: Markets, policy, and evidence. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 42(1), 255–304. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22436

31.

Holmes

C. L.

(2009). An Intergenerational Program with Benefits. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(2), 113–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-009-0329-9

32.

Ince Yenilmez

(2015). Economic and social consequences of population aging the dilemmas and opportunities in the twenty-first century. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 10(4), 735–752. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-014-9334-2

33.

Jain

Khatri

Stanford

F. C.

(2022). Racial disparities in senior healthcare: System-level interventions. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 70(4), 1292–1296. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.17658

34.

Jimenez

D. E.

Park

Rosen

Joo

J. H.

Garza

D. M.

Weinstein

E. R.

Conner

Silva

Okereke

(2022). Centering culture in mental health: Differences in diagnosis, treatment, and access to care among older people of color. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 30(11), 1234–1251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2022.07.001

35.

Jones

S. M.

Barnes

S. P.

Bailey

Doolittle

E. J.

(2017). Promoting social and emotional competencies in elementary school. The Future of Children, 27(1), 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2017.0003

36.

Joshi

Geronimo

Acevedo-Garcia

(2016). Head Start since the War on Poverty: Taking on new challenges to address persistent school readiness gaps. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk, 7(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.58464/2155-5834.1282

37.

Katz

Kaplan

(2022). Intergenerational community planning. American Planning Association.

38.

Khanjani

Mosanezhad Jeddi

Hekmati

Khalilzade

Etemadi Nia

Andalib

Ashrafian

(2015). Comparison of cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and social functioning in different age groups: Empathy and social functioning. Australian Psychologist, 50(1), 80–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12099

39.

Kirsh

Frydenberg

Deans

(2021). Benefits of an intergenerational program in the early years. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 10(2), 140–164.

40.

Kröger

(2022). Care poverty: When older people’s needs remain unmet. Springer International Publishing.

41.

Kuiper

J. S.

Zuidersma

Zuidema

S. U.

Burgerhof

J. G.

Stolk

R. P.

Oude Voshaar

R. C.

Smidt

(2016). Social relationships and cognitive decline: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies. International Journal of Epidemiology, 45(4), 1169–1206. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw089

42.

Lee

(2024). Racial disparities in the impact of Head Start on health outcomes among low-income Head Start-eligible children and parents. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 11(6), 3846–3863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01836-7

43.

Lee

Kreutzer

(2021). Head Start impact on social–emotional outcomes among children from families who are low-income. Child Welfare, 99(5), 25–50. https://www-jstor-org-443.web.bisu.edu.cn/stable/10.2307/48647832

44.

Lee

R. D.

Mason

(2011). Population Aging and the Generational Economy: A Global Perspective. Edward Elgar Publishing.

45.

Leonce

T. E.

(2020). The inevitable rise in dual-income households and the intertemporal effects on labor markets. Compensation & Benefits Review, 52(2), 64–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886368719900032

46.

Lin

Liu

(2024). Race/ethnicity, nativity, and gender disparities in unmet care needs among older adults in the United States. The Gerontologist, 64(4), gnad094. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad094

47.

Lindgren

(2016). The rise in life expectancy, health trends among the elderly, and the demand for health and social care. National Bureau of Economic Research.

48.

Magnuson

K. A.

Waldfogel

(2005). Early childhood care and education: Effects on ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness. The Future of Children, 15(1), 169–196. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2005.0005

49.

Mah

Rockwood

Stevens

Keefe

Andrew

(2022). Do interventions reducing social vulnerability improve health in community dwelling older adults? A systematic review. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 17, 447–465. https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S349836

50.

Malti

Noam

G. G.

(2016). Social-emotional development: From theory to practice. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 13(6), 652–665. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2016.1196178

51.

Marshall

Windle

Harvey

Davy

(2025). Who is being heard? Implementing change with people from diverse and marginalized groups in aged care: A scoping review. JBI Evidence Implementation, 23(2), 231–245. https://doi.org/10.1097/XEB.0000000000000491

52.

Martins

Midão

Martínez Veiga

Dequech

Busse

Bertram

McDonald

Gilliland

Orte

Vives

Costa

(2019). Intergenerational programs review: Study design and characteristics of intervention, outcomes, and effectiveness. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 17(1), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/15350770.2018.1500333

53.

McCoy

D. C.

Connors

M. C.

Morris

P. A.

Yoshikawa

Friedman-Krauss

A. H.

(2015). Neighborhood economic disadvantage and children’s cognitive and social-emotional development: Exploring head start classroom quality as a mediating mechanism. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 32, 150–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.04.003

54.

Mendizabal-Espinosa

Bonhote

S. Y.

Dickson

(2024). Increasing Access to Childcare for Ethnic Minority and Disadvantaged Communities: A Rapid Evidence Review. Wales Centre for Public Policy. https://doi.org/10.54454/24100105

55.

Mesinas

Casanova

(2023). The value of communal and intergenerational settings for studying social and emotional learning. Child Development Perspectives, 17(3–4), 122–128. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12485

56.

Mizokawa

Koyasu

(2015). Digging deeper into the link between socio-cognitive ability and social relationships. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 33(1), 21–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12072

57.

Monnier

(2015). Difficulties in defining social-emotional intelligence, competences and skills—A theoretical analysis and structural suggestion. International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training, 2(1), 59–84. https://doi.org/10.13152/IJRVET.2.1.4

58.

Monroe

(2020, February 18). Addressing the need for affordable, high-quality early childhood care and education for all in the United States. Equitable Growth. https://equitablegrowth.org/addressing-the-need-for-affordable-high-quality-early-childhood-care-and-education-for-all-in-the-united-states/

59.

Morland

Ives

McNeely

Allen

(2016). Providing a Head Start: Improving Access to Early Childhood Education for Refugees. Migration Policy Institute.

60.

Nakajima

Jung

Pradhan

Hasan

Kinnell

Brinkman

(2020). Gender gaps in cognitive and social-emotional skills in early primary grades: Evidence from rural Indonesia. Developmental Science, 23(5), e12931. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12931

61.

Newman

Smith

T. B.

(2014). Developmental theories as the basis for intergenerational programs. In Newman

Ward

C. R.

Smith

T. B.

Wilson

J. O.

McCrea

J. M.

(Eds.), Intergenerational programs (pp. 3–20). Taylor & Francis.

62.

Nix

R. L.

Bierman

K. L.

Domitrovich

C. E.

Gill

(2013). Promoting children’s social-emotional skills in preschool can enhance academic and behavioral functioning in kindergarten: Findings from head start REDI. Early Education and Development, 24(7), 1000–1019. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2013.825565

63.

Nores

Barnett

W. S.

(2014). Access to high quality early care and education: Readiness and opportunity gaps in America. In National institute for early education and center on enhancing early learning policy report (pp. 1–30). Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes. Accessed February, 13, 2015.

64.

Pilni

V. K.

(2025). Education and social inequality: Bridging the gap in access and opportunities for marginalized communities. Scholar’s Digest : Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies, 1(1), 144–163. https://scholarsdigest.in/index.php/sdjhsss/article/view/20

65.

Piolatto

Bianchi

Rota

Marengoni

Akbaritabar

Squazzoni

(2022). The effect of social relationships on cognitive decline in older adults: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 278. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12567-5

66.

Quinn

D. M.

(2025). Experimental effects of “opportunity gap” and “achievement gap” frames. Sociology of Education, 98(3), 203–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380407251321372

67.

Radford

Gould

Vecchio

Fitzgerald

(2018). Unpacking intergenerational (IG) programs for policy implications: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 16(3), 302–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/15350770.2018.1477650

68.

Rahman

O. E.

Sireli

(2025). The early divide: Access and impact of ECE in rural versus urban settings in the USA. Societies, 15(11), 307. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15110307

69.

Reiter

A. M. F.

Kanske

Eppinger

S.-C.

(2017). The aging of the social mind—differential effects on components of social understanding. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-10669-4

70.

Ruba

A. L.

Pollak

S. D.

(2020). The development of emotion reasoning in infancy and early childhood. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 2(1), 503–531. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-060320-102556

71.

Ruggles

(2007). The decline of intergenerational coresidence in the United States, 1850 to 2000. American Sociological Review, 72(6), 964–989. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240707200606

72.

Sen

Laheji

Ramamonjiarivelo

Renick

Osborne

Beauvais

(2024). Examining the effect of contactless intergenerational befriending intervention on social isolation among older adults and students’ attitude toward companionship: Content analysis. JMIR Aging, 7(1), e47908. https://doi.org/10.2196/47908

73.

Smock

P. J.

Schwartz

C. R.

(2020). The demography of families: A review of patterns and change. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(1), 9–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.1261

74.

Stevens

K. B.

(2017). Workforce of today, workforce of tomorrow: The business case for high-quality childcare. United States Chamber of Commerce.

75.

United States Census Bureau (2014, May 6). Fueled by aging baby boomers, nation’s older population to nearly double in the next 20 years, census bureau reports. [Press Release]. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/archives/2014-pr/cb14-84.html#:∼:text=According%20to%20a%20May%202014%20press%20release,is%20projected%20to%20drop%20to%202.4%20million

76.

Vernon

Gage

D. D.

(2016). Late adulthood: Emotional and Social Development. In Capuzzi

Stauffer

M. D.

(Eds.), Human growth and development across the lifespan (pp. 543–572). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394258925.ch18

77.

Wachs

T. D.

Georgieff

Cusick

McEwen

B. S.

(2014). Issues in the timing of integrated early interventions: Contributions from nutrition, neuroscience, and psychological research. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1308(1), 89–106. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12314

78.

Wang

F. Y.

(2025). Improving social–emotional competence in preschool children in China: A randomized controlled trial of a shared-site intergenerational program. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15350770.2025.2583117

79.

Wendland

Parizet

(2023). Benefits and challenges of intergenerational child daycare and senior programs or facilities: A systematic review of the literature. Annales Médico-Psychologiques, Revue Psychiatrique, 181(6), 487–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amp.2022.02.020

80.

Yoshikawa

Weiland

Brooks-Gunn

Burchinal

M. R.

Espinosa

L. M.

Gormley

W. T.

Ludwig

Magnuson

K. A.

Phillips

Zaslow

M. J.

(2013). Investing in our future: The evidence base on preschool education. Society for Research in Child Development. https://eric.ed.gov/?Id=ED579818

81.

Young

Murray

Eadie

Page

(2026). Practices that support enriching interactions between young children and older adults in a co-located intergenerational program. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/15350770.2026.2638870