The Online Assessment of Toddler Emotional Knowledge

Emotional knowledge (EK) refers to the ability to identify and understand emotions. EK is seldom explored in toddlerhood, when many of its facets begin to develop, nor in the context of online assessments. To address this gap, a sample of 98 toddlers (age:18-36-months, 55 female and 43 male) and their mothers (Mage= 32.5 years; 89.8% Caucasian) participated in this exploratory study investigating child and maternal characteristics associated with toddlers’ receptive and expressive EK abilities, which were evaluated using an online modified version of the Affective Knowledge Task (AKT). Results support the feasibility of assessing toddler EK online, as most of the toddlers (68.3%) were able to partially complete the task. Stronger receptive and expressive EK were both associated with older child age, yet receptive abilities were inversely related to maternal depression severity. Methodological strengths and suggestions are discussed to facilitate research including online assessments with younger cohorts.