👤 By the CinnaRN Clinical Content Team🕐 Updated 2026-08-23🏷️ Health Promotion & Maintenance🔖 Free to read, print, and share
Also known as: erikson psychosocial stages · 8 stages of development · trust vs mistrust
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Use this quick-reference guide to spot, treat, and prevent Erikson Stages of Development on the NCLEX. Keep it handy during review and on exam day!
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📒 The 1-minute cheat sheet
📌 Infant-Pre
Infant: trust vs mistrust
Toddler: autonomy vs shame
Preschool: initiative vs guilt
📌 School-Teen
School-age: industry vs inferiority
Adolescent: identity vs role confusion
📌 Adult
Young adult: intimacy vs isolation
Middle: generativity vs stagnation
Older: integrity vs despair
🎓 Teach
Toddler needs routine + choices
Teen → peers + privacy
📚 Erikson Stages of Development — full study notes
The cheat sheet above is your quick recall card. These notes go deeper — what it is, what to do first, what must be reported, and what to teach.
Erikson described 8 psychosocial stages across the lifespan, each with a developmental conflict that must be resolved for healthy ego development. Successful resolution builds a virtue; failure leads to difficulty in later stages. Memory aid: Try Always Inviting Interesting Individuals Into Good Discussions (Trust, Autonomy, Initiative, Industry, Identity, Intimacy, Generativity, Integrity).
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Key points
Understand these first
Infant (0-1 yr) faces Trust vs Mistrust; consistent caregiving builds hope and trust.
Toddler (1-3 yr) faces Autonomy vs Shame/Doubt; toilet training and saying 'no' build will.
Preschool (3-6 yr) faces Initiative vs Guilt; play and curiosity build purpose.
School-age (6-12 yr) faces Industry vs Inferiority; accomplishment and peer comparison build competence.
Adolescent (12-18 yr) faces Identity vs Role Confusion; peer groups and self-concept build fidelity.
Young adult faces Intimacy vs Isolation, middle adult Generativity vs Stagnation, older adult Integrity vs Despair (life review).
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Nursing priorities
What to do, in order
Provide consistent caregivers and routines for infants to foster trust.
Allow toddlers safe choices and autonomy during care (which arm for the injection).
Encourage school-age children to complete tasks and praise effort to build industry.
Support adolescents' need for privacy, peer contact, and identity exploration.
Facilitate life review and reminiscence with older adults to promote ego integrity.
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Red flags — report now
Escalate immediately
Regression in a hospitalized child (loss of toilet training, thumb-sucking) signals stress and needs support, not punishment.
Older adult expressing hopelessness or that life was meaningless during life review may indicate despair and depression risk; assess for suicide.
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Patient teaching
What patients must know
Tailor explanations to the child's stage: concrete and play-based for preschoolers, fact-based and privacy-respecting for adolescents.
Encourage parents to allow age-appropriate independence rather than doing everything for the child.
❓ Erikson Stages of Development: NCLEX FAQs
What are the priority nursing interventions for Erikson Stages of Development?
Provide consistent caregivers and routines for infants to foster trust. Allow toddlers safe choices and autonomy during care (which arm for the injection). Encourage school-age children to complete tasks and praise effort to build industry. Support adolescents' need for privacy, peer contact, and identity exploration.
What are the warning signs of Erikson Stages of Development a nurse must report?
Regression in a hospitalized child (loss of toilet training, thumb-sucking) signals stress and needs support, not punishment. Older adult expressing hopelessness or that life was meaningless during life review may indicate despair and depression risk; assess for suicide.
What do I need to know about Erikson Stages of Development for the NCLEX?
Infant (0-1 yr) faces Trust vs Mistrust; consistent caregiving builds hope and trust. Toddler (1-3 yr) faces Autonomy vs Shame/Doubt; toilet training and saying 'no' build will. Preschool (3-6 yr) faces Initiative vs Guilt; play and curiosity build purpose. School-age (6-12 yr) faces Industry vs Inferiority; accomplishment and peer comparison build competence.
What patient teaching is important for Erikson Stages of Development?
Tailor explanations to the child's stage: concrete and play-based for preschoolers, fact-based and privacy-respecting for adolescents. Encourage parents to allow age-appropriate independence rather than doing everything for the child.
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Quick Tip
Infant (0-1 yr) faces Trust vs Mistrust; consistent caregiving builds hope and trust.