| Sumario: | Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common physical disability in childhood, yet research on the socio‐emotional development of young children with or at high risk of CP remains limited. The aim of the study is to describe how socio‐emotional development has been investigated in young children diagnosed with or at high risk of CP and identify knowledge gaps and areas for future research. Methods: A scoping review based on a systematic search of PsycInfo, PubMed and Web of Science including studies on children aged 0–6:11 years diagnosed with or at high risk of CP, examining socio‐emotional development. No restrictions on publication year or language were applied. Data were extracted following PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews. Results: Twenty‐five studies, representing 1914 toddlers and preschool children, were included. No studies exclusively examined infants. Most studies were cross‐sectional (68%) and used parent‐reported data (76%). The most commonly investigated areas of socio‐emotional development were expressing negative emotionality, engagement in peer relationships and exploratory behaviour. Less optimal socio‐emotional development was frequently reported, with prevalence estimates ranging from 14% to 65%. Socio‐emotional difficulties were associated with severity of child motor disability, child delayed language abilities and parenting difficulties. Conclusion: This review identifies conceptual and methodological limitations in studies of socio‐emotional development in young children with CP. Future research should include infants from a diverse range of geographical and cultural contexts, utilize observational or multi‐informant methods, investigate positive emotionality and parent–child relationships and adopt longitudinal designs to better capture if and how CP may impact socio‐emotional development in early childhood. Summary: Socio‐emotional difficulties among young children with CP are commonly reported, with a wide range of prevalence rates found.The majority of existing studies are cross‐sectional, rely on parent‐reported information and are conducted among toddlers and preschool children living in Western high‐income countries.Conceptually, studies focus on negative emotionality, difficulties in peer relationships and exploratory behaviour, with fewer studies investigating positive emotionality and parent–child relationships.Risk factors for socio‐emotional development include child motor disability, child communication delays and parenting difficulties.Future studies should include more geographically and culturally diverse populations, be longitudinal and include observational and multi‐informant methodology (including child‐reported information).
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