Profiles of Sensitivity in Early Childhood Care: Psychologists’ and Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Children’s Emotional Discomfort

Attitudes of early childhood professionals are central to the quality of care and education, shaping children’s socioemotional development and informing how educators and psychologists respond to daily challenges. This article examines professionals’ evaluations of caregiver responses to children’s emotional discomfort in Colombia, using scenario-based semantic differential questionnaires and cluster analyses across two large studies. In Study 1, 319 psychologists assessed 12 vignettes varying by child age, gender, and adult response (accepting, ignoring, rejecting). Four latent attitudinal profiles emerged, ranging from highly sensitive to ambivalent or tolerant of insensitive responses, with membership associated with education, family structure, and housing conditions. In Study 2, 1000 teachers evaluated 18 vignettes expanding age variation (1, 2, and 3 years). A two-cluster solution distinguished teachers with strong sensitivity from those with moderate sensitivity and greater tolerance for insensitive practices, linked to emotional intelligence, social support, leadership quality, and experiential avoidance. Across both studies, sensitive responses were strongly endorsed, while rejecting and ignoring were consistently disfavored, though subtle variations appeared by child age and gender. These findings highlight that caregiving attitudes cluster into identifiable profiles shaped by personal, occupational, and cultural factors. Methodologically, combining vignette-based judgments with cluster analysis provides a robust approach to uncovering variability in professional dispositions. The results inform professional development and policy initiatives seeking to strengthen sensitive caregiving in early education.