A comparative analysis of early child health and development services and outcomes in countries with different redistributive policies

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van den Heuvel, Meta; Hopkins, Jessica; Biscaro, Anne; Srikanthan, Cinntha; Feller, Andrea; Bremberg, Sven; Verkuijl, Nienke; Flapper, Boudien; Ford-Jones, Elizabeth Lee; Williams, Robin

2013-01-01

Background: The social environment is a fundamental determinant of early child development and, in turn, early child development is a determinant of health, well-being, and learning skills across the life course. Redistributive policies aimed at reducing social inequalities, such as a welfare state

Child Development Laboratory Schools as Generators of Knowledge in Early Childhood Education: New Models and Approaches

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McBride, Brent A.; Groves, Melissa; Barbour, Nancy; Horm, Diane; Stremmel, Andrew; Lash, Martha; Bersani, Carol; Ratekin, Cynthia; Moran, James; Elicker, James; Toussaint, Susan

2012-01-01

Research Findings: University-based child development laboratory programs have a long and rich history of supporting teaching, research, and outreach activities in the child development/early childhood education fields. Although these programs were originally developed in order to conduct research on children and families to inform policy and…

Are There Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care?

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Belsky, Jay; Vandell, Deborah Lowe; Burchinal, Margaret; Clarke-Stewart, K. Alison; McCartney, Kathleen; Owen, Margaret Tresch

2007-01-01

Effects of early child care on children's functioning from 4 1/2 years through the end of 6th grade (M age=12.0 years) were examined in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n=1,364). The results indicated that although parenting was a stronger and more consistent predictor of…

Early relations between language development and the quality of mother-child interaction in very-low-birth-weight children.

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Stolt, S; Korja, R; Matomäki, J; Lapinleimu, H; Haataja, L; Lehtonen, L

2014-05-01

It is not clearly understood how the quality of early mother-child interaction influences language development in very-low-birth-weight children (VLBW). We aim to analyze associations between early language and the quality of mother-child interaction, and, the predictive value of the features of early mother-child interaction on language development at 24 months of corrected age in VLBW children. A longitudinal prospective follow-up study design was used. The participants were 28 VLBW children and 34 full-term controls. Language development was measured using different methods at 6, 12 and at 24 months of age. The quality of mother-child interaction was assessed using PC-ERA method at 6 and at 12 months of age. Associations between the features of early interaction and language development were different in the groups of VLBW and full-term children. There were no significant correlations between the features of mother-child interaction and language skills when measured at the same age in the VLBW group. Significant longitudinal correlations were detected in the VLBW group especially if the quality of early interactions was measured at six months and language skills at 2 years of age. However, when the predictive value of the features of early interactions for later poor language performance was analyzed separately, the features of early interaction predicted language skills in the VLBW group only weakly. The biological factors may influence on the language development more in the VLBW children than in the full-term children. The results also underline the role of maternal and dyadic factors in early interactions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Paternal Stimulation and Early Child Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

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Jeong, Joshua; McCoy, Dana Charles; Yousafzai, Aisha K; Salhi, Carmel; Fink, Günther

2016-10-01

Few studies have examined the relationship between paternal stimulation and children's growth and development, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of paternal stimulation and to assess whether paternal stimulation was associated with early child growth and development. Data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys rounds 4 and 5 were combined across 38 LMICs. The sample comprised 87 286 children aged 3 and 4 years. Paternal stimulation was measured by the number of play and learning activities (up to 6) a father engaged in with his child over the past 3 days. Linear regression models were used to estimate standardized mean differences in height-for-age z-scores and Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) z-scores across 3 levels of paternal stimulation, after controlling for other caregivers' stimulation and demographic covariates. A total of 47.8% of fathers did not engage in any stimulation activities, whereas 6.4% of fathers engaged in 5 or 6 stimulation activities. Children whose fathers were moderately engaged in stimulation (1-4 activities) showed ECDI scores that were 0.09 SD (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.12 to -0.06) lower than children whose fathers were highly engaged; children whose fathers were unengaged showed ECDI scores that were 0.14 SD lower (95% CI: -0.17 to -0.12). Neither moderate paternal stimulation nor lack of paternal stimulation was associated with height-for-age z-scores, relative to high stimulation. Increasing paternal engagement in stimulation is likely to improve early child development in LMICs. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Early Child Development and Care in Tanzania: Challenges for the Future

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Mtahabwa, Lyabwene

2009-01-01

Much remains unknown about the status of early child development and care in Tanzania. The little information available has never been put together to provide a holistic picture of the progress so far made in this important area. This paper intends to synchronise the information available in Tanzania for the purpose of depicting the country's…

Integrating Early Child Development and Violence Prevention Programs: A Systematic Review.

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Efevbera, Yvette; McCoy, Dana C; Wuermli, Alice J; Betancourt, Theresa S

2018-03-01

Limited evidence describes promoting development and reducing violence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a missed opportunity to protect children and promote development and human capital. This study presents a systematic literature review of integrated early childhood development plus violence prevention (ECD+VP) interventions in LMICs. The search yielded 5,244 unique records, of which N = 6 studies met inclusion criteria. Interventions were in Chile, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mexico, Mozambique, and Turkey. Five interventions were parent education programs, including center-based sessions (n = 3) and home visiting (n = 2), while one intervention was a teacher education program. All but one study reported improvements in both child development and maltreatment outcomes. The dearth of evidence on ECD+VP interventions suggests additional research is needed. Integrated ECD+VP interventions may improve multiple child outcome domains while leveraging limited resources in LMICs. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Enhancing the child survival agenda to promote, protect, and support early child development.

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Jensen, Sarah K G; Bouhouch, Raschida R; Walson, Judd L; Daelmans, Bernadette; Bahl, Rajiv; Darmstadt, Gary L; Dua, Tarun

2015-08-01

High rates of child mortality and lost developmental potential in children under 5 years of age remain important challenges and drivers of inequity in the developing world. Substantive progress has been made toward Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 to improve child survival, but as we move into the post-2015 sustainable development agenda, much more work is needed to ensure that all children can realize their full and holistic physical, cognitive, psychological, and socio-emotional development potential. This article presents child survival and development as a continuous and multifaceted process and suggests that a life-course perspective of child development should be at the core of future policy making, programming, and research. We suggest that increased attention to child development, beyond child survival, is key to operationalize the sustainable development goals (SDGs), address inequities, build on the demographic dividend, and maximize gains in human potential. An important step toward implementation will be to increase integration of existing interventions for child survival and child development. Integrated interventions have numerous potential benefits, including optimization of resource use, potential additive impacts across multiple domains of health and development, and opportunity to realize a more holistic approach to client-centered care. However, a notable challenge to integration is the continued division between the health sector and other sectors that support child development. Despite these barriers, empirical evidence is available to suggest that successful multisectoral coordination is feasible and leads to improved short- and long-term outcomes in human, social, and economic development. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Determinants of early child development in rural Tanzania.

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Ribe, Ingeborg G; Svensen, Erling; Lyngmo, Britt A; Mduma, Estomih; Hinderaker, Sven G

2018-01-01

It has been estimated that more than 200 million children under the age of five do not reach their full potential in cognitive development. Much of what we know about brain development is based on research from high-income countries. There is limited evidence on the determinants of early child development in low-income countries, especially rural sub-Saharan Africa. The present study aimed to identify the determinants of cognitive development in children living in villages surrounding Haydom, a rural area in north-central Tanzania. This cohort study is part of the MAL-ED (The Interactions of Malnutrition & Enteric Infections: Consequences for Child Health and Development) multi-country consortium studying risk factors for ill health and poor development in children. Descriptive analysis and linear regression analyses were performed. Associations between nutritional status, socio-economic status, and home environment at 6 months of age and cognitive outcomes at 15 months of age were studied. The third edition of the Bayley Scales for Infant and Toddler Development was used to assess cognitive, language and motor development. There were 262 children enrolled into the study, and this present analysis included the 137 children with data for 15-month Bayley scores. Univariate regression analysis, weight-for-age and weight-for-length z-scores at 6 months were significantly associated with 15-month Bayley gross motor score, but not with other 15-month Bayley scores. Length-for-age z-scores at 6 months were not significantly associated with 15-month Bayley scores. The socio-economic status, measured by a set of assets and monthly income was significantly associated with 15-month Bayley cognitive score, but not with language, motor, nor total 15-month Bayley scores. Other socio-economic variables were not significantly associated with 15-month Bayley scores. No significant associations were found between the home environment and 15-month Bayley scores. In multivariate

Child Development

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... developmental conditions. More Child Development Basics Early Brain Development Developmental Screening Screening for Professionals Positive Parenting Tips Infants (0-1 year) Toddlers (1-2 years) Toddlers (2-3 years) Preschoolers (3-5 years) Middle Childhood (6-8 years) Middle Childhood (9-11 years) ...

State of Early Child Development Research, Practice, and Policy for Most Vulnerable Children: A Global Perspective

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Young, Mary Eming

2017-01-01

Interventions to enhance development of children ages 0-6 have profound benefits for children, families, and societies. The benefits are well documented, recognized internationally, and supportive of policies and programs targeting early child development (ECD). Intervening in the early years is a critical first step toward alleviating poverty,…

Helping Your Child through Early Adolescence -- Helping Your Child Series

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... Bibliography Acknowledgements Tips to Help Your Child through Early Adolescence No Child Left Behind Printable ... Information About... Transforming Teaching Family and Community Engagement Early Learning Helping Your Child Our mission is to promote student achievement and ...

Celebrating African Men's Role in Child Care and Early Childhood Development Programs

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Ejuu, Godfrey

2016-01-01

In many cultures, early child care and education has been considered the purview of women, who were thought to be more nurturing and better suited to the role. Hand-in-hand with this notion is the historical misconception that early child care and education is unimportant, and that the most valued members of society should focus on other, more…

Early Child Development and Nutrition: A Review of the Benefits and Challenges of Implementing Integrated Interventions.

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Hurley, Kristen M; Yousafzai, Aisha K; Lopez-Boo, Florencia

2016-03-01

Poor nutrition (substandard diet quantity and/or quality resulting in under- or overnutrition) and the lack of early learning opportunities contribute to the loss of developmental potential and life-long health and economic disparities among millions of children aged early child development (ECD) or nutrition have been linked to positive child development and/or nutritional status, and recommendations currently advocate for the development and testing of integrated interventions. We reviewed the theoretical and practical benefits and challenges of implementing integrated nutrition and ECD interventions along with the evidence for best practice and benefit-cost and concluded that the strong theoretical rationale for integration is more nuanced than the questions that the published empirical evidence have addressed. For example, further research is needed to 1) answer questions related to how integrated messaging influences caregiver characteristics such as well-being, knowledge, and behavior and how these influence early child nutrition and development outcomes; 2) understand population and nutritional contexts in which integrated interventions are beneficial; and 3) explore how varying implementation processes influence the efficacy, uptake, and cost-benefit of integrated nutrition and ECD interventions. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Early Child Care and Adolescent Functioning at the End of High School: Results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

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Vandell, Deborah Lowe; Burchinal, Margaret; Pierce, Kim M.

2016-01-01

Relations between early child care and adolescent functioning at the end of high school (EOHS; M age = 18.3 years) were examined in a prospective longitudinal study of 1,214 children. Controlling for extensive measures of family background, early child care was associated with academic standing and behavioral adjustment at the EOHS. More…

Child Care Subsidy Use and Child Development: Potential Causal Mechanisms

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Hawkinson, Laura E.

2011-01-01

Research using an experimental design is needed to provide firm causal evidence on the impacts of child care subsidy use on child development, and on underlying causal mechanisms since subsidies can affect child development only indirectly via changes they cause in children's early experiences. However, before costly experimental research is…

Mothers' and Fathers' Support for Child Autonomy and Early School Achievement

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Developmental Psychology, 2008

2008-01-01

Data were analyzed from 641 children and their families in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to test the hypotheses that in the early school years, mothers' and fathers' sensitive support for autonomy in observed parent-child interactions would each make unique predictions…

A review of neighborhood effects and early child development: How, where, and for whom, do neighborhoods matter?

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Minh, Anita; Muhajarine, Nazeem; Janus, Magdalena; Brownell, Marni; Guhn, Martin

2017-07-01

This paper describes a scoping review of 42 studies of neighborhood effects on developmental health for children ages 0-6, published between 2009 and 2014. It focuses on three themes: (1) theoretical mechanisms that drive early childhood development, i.e. how neighborhoods matter for early childhood development; (2) dependence of such mechanisms on place-based characteristics i.e. where neighborhood effects occur; (3) dependence of such mechanisms on child characteristics, i.e. for whom is development most affected. Given that ecological systems theories postulate diverse mechanisms via which neighborhood characteristics affect early child development, we specifically examine evidence on mediation and/or moderation effects. We conclude by discussing future challenges, and proposing recommendations for analyses that utilize ecological longitudinal population-based databases. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Child Development in Cultural Contexts: Implications of Cultural Psychology for Early Childhood Teacher Education

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Lee, Kyunghwa; Johnson, Amy S.

2007-01-01

In this article we argue that early childhood educators, under the influence of last century's grand universal theories of child development, have not been attentive enough to the centrality of culture in children's development. We discuss how the exploration of contemporary developmental perspectives is critical to the field and illustrate…

Disentangling behavior in early child development : Interpretability of early child language and its effect on utterance length measures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Dijk, M.W.G.; Van Geert, P. L. C.

Early child speech is often difficult to understand and interpret. Usually, these unintelligible units are not included in quantitative measures, such as MLU. In this paper, we claim that these interpretation problems have an unknown effect on utterance length measures (such as MLU), since we have

Mitigating the Effects of Family Poverty on Early Child Development through Parenting Interventions in Primary Care.

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Cates, Carolyn Brockmeyer; Weisleder, Adriana; Mendelsohn, Alan L

2016-04-01

Poverty related disparities in early child development and school readiness are a major public health crisis, the prevention of which has emerged in recent years as a national priority. Interventions targeting parenting and the quality of the early home language environment are at the forefront of efforts to address these disparities. In this article we discuss the innovative use of the pediatric primary care platform as part of a comprehensive public health strategy to prevent adverse child development outcomes through the promotion of parenting. Models of interventions in the pediatric primary care setting are discussed with evidence of effectiveness reviewed. Taken together, a review of this significant body of work shows the tremendous potential to deliver evidence-based preventive interventions to families at risk for poverty related disparities in child development and school readiness at the time of pediatric primary care visits. We also addresss considerations related to scaling and maximizing the effect of pediatric primary care parenting interventions and provide key policy recommendations. Copyright © 2016 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Accuracy of Knowledge of Child Development in Mothers of Children Receiving Early Intervention Services

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Zand, Debra H.; Pierce, Katherine J.; Bultas, Margaret W.; McMillin, Stephen Edward; Gott, Rolanda Maxim; Wilmott, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Parents' involvement in early intervention (EI) services fosters positive developmental trajectories in young children. Although EI research on parenting skills has been abundant, fewer data are available on parents' knowledge of normative child development. Sixty-seven mothers of children participating in a Midwestern city's EI program completed…

Associations between birth registration and early child growth and development: evidence from 31 low- and middle-income countries.

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Jeong, Joshua; Bhatia, Amiya; Fink, Günther

2018-05-30

Lack of legal identification documents can impose major challenges for children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between not having a birth certificate and young children's physical growth and developmental outcomes in LMICs. We combined nationally representative data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys in 31 LMICs. For our measure of birth registration, primary caregivers reported on whether the child had a birth certificate. Early child outcome measures focused on height-for-age z-scores (HAZ), weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ), weight-for-height z-scores (WHZ), and standardized scores of the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) for a subsample of children aged 36-59 months. We used linear regression models with country fixed effects to estimate the relationship between birth registration and child outcomes. In fully adjusted models, we controlled for a variety of child, caregiver, household, and access to child services covariates, including cluster-level fixed effects. In the total sample, 34.7% of children aged 0-59 months did not possess a birth certificate. After controlling for covariates, not owning a birth certificate was associated with lower HAZ (β = - 0.18; 95% CI: -0.23, - 0.14), WAZ (β = - 0.10, 95% CI: -0.13, - 0.07), and ECDI z-scores (β = - 0.10; 95% CI: -0.13, - 0.07) among children aged 36-59 months. Our findings document links between birth registration and children's early growth and development outcomes. Efforts to increase birth registration may be promising for promoting early childhood development in LMICs.

Maternal Education, Early Child Care and the Reproduction of Advantage

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Augustine, Jennifer March; Cavanagh, Shannon E.; Crosnoe, Robert

2009-01-01

The social and human capital that educational attainment provides women enables them to better navigate their children's passages through school. In this study, we examine a key mechanism in this intergenerational process: mothers' selection of early child care. Analyses of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development revealed that…

Modeling Child Development Factors for the Early Introduction of ICTs in Schools

OpenAIRE

K. E. Oyetade; S. D. Eyono Obono

2015-01-01

One of the fundamental characteristics of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been the ever-changing nature of continuous release and models of ICTs with its impact on the academic, social, and psychological benefits of its introduction in schools. However, there seems to be a growing concern about its negative impact on students when introduced early in schools for teaching and learning. This study aims to design a model of child development factors affect...

Early Childhood Education, Child Development and School Readiness: Evidence from Zambia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski

2012-12-01

Full Text Available While early childhood education has received increasing attention in the developing world in recent years, relatively little evidence is available from sub-Saharan Africa on its effects on child development and subsequent school enrolment. We use a prospective case-control design to evaluate the developmental impact of a community-based early childhood center in an urban area in Zambia. Comparing 40 children attending the center to 40 children not attending the center from the same community, we find that center attendance was associated with significantly better performance in an assessment of task orientation, and was also weakly associated with increased letter familiarity. We also observed higher performance among center students on tests of receptive language and pencil-related fine motor skills. These associations were, however, smaller and not statistically significant. We conducted a follow-up one year after the initial assessment, when children were seven years old and should have been in first grade. At follow-up, 27% of non-attendees were not yet enrolled in primary school, compared to just 11% of center students, suggesting that participation in early education encourages a timely transition into first grade.

Influence of first-time mothers' early employment on severe early childhood caries in their child.

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Plutzer, Kamila; Keirse, Marc J N C

2012-01-01

Aim. To examine whether mothers' early employment status is related to the development of severe early childhood caries in their child. Methods. Questionnaire survey of 429 first-time mothers in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, and dental examinations of their child at 20 months of age. Results. At 20 ± 2.5 months of age, 5.6% of children exhibited caries defined as one or more demineralized or cavitated lesions on the upper incisors. Of the mothers, 52.2% had no paid employment, 39.6% were part-time and 8.2% full-time employed. Overall, mothers' participation in the workforce had no influence on the frequency of severe early childhood caries in their child, but there was a significant interaction with family structure. For mothers without employment there was no difference between single, and two-parent families, but children with an employed single mother more frequently had caries than those with a working mother in a two-parent family (P early childhood caries in their child.

Child maltreatment and children's developmental trajectories in early to middle childhood.

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Font, Sarah A; Berger, Lawrence M

2015-01-01

Associations between experiencing child maltreatment and adverse developmental outcomes are widely studied, yet conclusions regarding the extent to which effects are bidirectional, and whether they are likely causal, remain elusive. This study uses the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort of 4,898 children followed from birth through age 9. Hierarchical linear modeling and structural equation modeling are employed to estimate associations of maltreatment with cognitive and social-emotional well-being. Results suggest that effects of early childhood maltreatment emerge immediately, though developmental outcomes are also affected by newly occurring maltreatment over time. Additionally, findings indicate that children's early developmental scores predict their subsequent probability of experiencing maltreatment, though to a lesser extent than early maltreatment predicts subsequent developmental outcomes. © 2014 The Authors. Child Development © 2014 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Child protection and the development of child abuse pediatrics in New York City.

Science.gov (United States)

Palusci, Vincent J

2017-11-01

The history of child abuse pediatrics reflects the development of medicine as a profession influenced by social movements reacting to poverty, economic exploitation, and child maltreatment. As physicians began to specialize in caring for children, egregious cases led them to recognize children were affected by special medical problems and diseases which were compounded by poor conditions and abuse and neglect. They developed the fields of pediatrics and child abuse pediatrics to advocate for their needs in courts and communities. Using a history of prominent physicians and cases, the objectives of this article are to: (1) rediscover the founding of pediatrics in NYC in the context of the environment which served as the setting for its development; (2) highlight our early understanding of the medical issues surrounding child maltreatment, with advocacy and forensic medicine becoming a growing part of medical care for children; and (3) explore the development of child abuse pediatrics in light of prominent physicians making major contributions to child protection. Timelines show the early interplay among social problems, publicized cases, private and governmental agencies, and the development of child abuse pediatrics. The article concludes with potential lessons to be learned and further questions about this interplay of child protection systems and the development of child abuse pediatrics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Early Child Development and Nutrition: A Review of the Benefits and Challenges of Implementing Integrated Interventions1234

Science.gov (United States)

Hurley, Kristen M; Yousafzai, Aisha K; Lopez-Boo, Florencia

2016-01-01

Poor nutrition (substandard diet quantity and/or quality resulting in under- or overnutrition) and the lack of early learning opportunities contribute to the loss of developmental potential and life-long health and economic disparities among millions of children aged child development (ECD) or nutrition have been linked to positive child development and/or nutritional status, and recommendations currently advocate for the development and testing of integrated interventions. We reviewed the theoretical and practical benefits and challenges of implementing integrated nutrition and ECD interventions along with the evidence for best practice and benefit-cost and concluded that the strong theoretical rationale for integration is more nuanced than the questions that the published empirical evidence have addressed. For example, further research is needed to 1) answer questions related to how integrated messaging influences caregiver characteristics such as well-being, knowledge, and behavior and how these influence early child nutrition and development outcomes; 2) understand population and nutritional contexts in which integrated interventions are beneficial; and 3) explore how varying implementation processes influence the efficacy, uptake, and cost-benefit of integrated nutrition and ECD interventions. PMID:26980819

Temperament in early childhood and peer interactions in third grade: the role of teacher-child relationships in early elementary grades.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudasill, Kathleen Moritz; Niehaus, Kate; Buhs, Eric; White, Jamie M

2013-12-01

Children's interactions with peers in early childhood have been consistently linked to their academic and social outcomes. Although both child and classroom characteristics have been implicated as contributors to children's success, there has been scant research linking child temperament, teacher-child relationship quality, and peer interactions in the same study. The purpose of this study is to examine children's early temperament, rated at preschool age, as a predictor of interactions with peers (i.e., aggression, relational aggression, victimization, and prosociality) in third grade while considering teacher-child relationship quality in kindergarten through second grades as a moderator and mediator of this association. The sample (N=1364) was drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Results from structural equation models indicated that teacher-child conflict in early elementary grades mediated links between children's temperament and later peer interactions. Findings underscore the importance of considering children's temperament traits and teacher-child relationship quality when examining the mechanisms of the development of peer interactions. © 2013.

Family environment and child development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tina Kavčič

2005-04-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an overview of research findings on influence of family environment, especially parental behaviour, on child's development. Contemporary authors question early socialization researchers' claims that family characteristics and parental behaviour have important influence on behaviour of their children. Later researchers examined the size and durability of possible effects of family environment on child development. In addition, they focused on establishing whether it is actually the parental behaviour that influences child's development or, on the contrary, parental behaviour represents mainly a reaction to child's characteristics. Behaviour genetic studies have provided evidence that many traditional measures of family environment, including measures of parental behaviour, show genetic influence, thus reflecting genetically influenced child characteristics. Behaviour geneticists also suggest that environmental influences on child (personality development include predominantly non-shared environment, i.e. individual child's specific experiences, his/her own perceptions and interpretations of objectively same events. Based on empirically determined significant genetic effects on most behavioural traits and inconclusive results of studies on effects of family environment on child development some authors believe that it is not the parents, but rather genetic factor and/or peers who have the key role in child development. With respect to findings of behaviour genetics numerous recent studies of relations between family environment and child development involve child specific measures of (extrafamilial environment and examine the interactions between characteristics of an individual and those of his/her environment.

Associations between maternal experiences of racism and early child health and development: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

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Kelly, Yvonne; Becares, Laia; Nazroo, James

2013-01-01

Emerging evidence suggests that experienced racism might help explain observed ethnic inequalities in early child health and development. There are few studies outside the US context and none that consider mothers' experiences of racism in relation to a range of early childhood health and developmental markers. The authors used cross-sectional data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study on 2136 mothers and their 5-year-old children from ethnic minority groups. Measures of racism tapped two dimensions of mothers' experience: perceived frequency of racist attacks in residential area and interpersonal racism. Markers of child health and development were obesity; socioemotional difficulties; cognitive: verbal, non-verbal and spatial ability test scores. There was a suggestion that the mothers' experience of interpersonal racism was associated with an increased risk of obesity ('received insults' OR=1.47; 'treated unfairly' OR=1.57; 'disrespectful treatment by shop staff' OR=1.55), but all CIs crossed 1.0, and size estimates were attenuated on further statistical adjustment. Perception of racism in the residential area was associated with socioemotional difficulties (fully adjusted coefficient=1.40, SE=0.47) and spatial abilities (fully adjusted coefficient=-1.99, SE=0.93) but not with verbal or non-verbal ability scores. Maternal experiences of racist insults were associated with non-verbal ability scores (fully adjusted coefficient=-1.70, SE=0.88). The results suggest that mothers' experienced racism is linked to markers of early child health and development. Interventions that aim to improve early child development and address ethnic health inequalities need to incorporate approaches to tackling racism at all levels of society.

Child Care and Cortisol across Early Childhood: Context Matters

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, Daniel; Blair, Clancy; Ursache, Alexandra; Wiloughy, Michael; Garrett-Peters, Patricia; Veron-Feagans, Lynne; Bratsch-Hines, Mary; Mills-Koonce, W. Roger; Granger, Douglas A.

2014-01-01

A considerable body of literature suggests that children's child-care experiences may impact adrenocortical functioning in early childhood. Yet emerging findings also suggest that the magnitude and sometimes the direction of child-care effects on development may be markedly different for children from higher risk contexts. Using data from a large…

33 CFR 55.9 - Child development centers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

.... (c) Training programs shall be conducted monthly to ensure that all child development center employees complete a minimum of 20 hours of training annually with respect to early childhood development... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Child development centers. 55.9...

Early exposure to media violence and later child adjustment.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzpatrick, Caroline; Barnett, Tracie; Pagani, Linda S

2012-05-01

The extent to which early childhood exposure to violent media is associated with subsequent adverse child functioning remains disconcerting. In this study, we examine whether preschool child exposure to what parents generally characterize as violent television programming predicts a range of second-grade mental health outcomes. Participants are from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (N = 1786). At 41 and 53 months, parents reported whether the child had viewed television shows and videos consisting of what they judged as violent content. According to parents, children watched on average 1.8 hours of mixed programming per day. Parent-reported child exposure to televised violence was associated with teacher-reported antisocial symptoms (β = 0.180, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.026-0.333), emotional distress (β = 0.224, 95% CI: 0.010-0.438), inattention (β = 0.349, 95% CI: 0.048-0.651), and lower global academic achievement (β = -0.127, 95% CI: -0.237-0.017) in second grade. Violent televiewing was also associated with less child-reported academic self-concept (β = -0.175, 95% CI: -0.296-0.053) and intrinsic motivation (β = -0.162, 95% CI: -0.016-0.307) in second grade. Effects remained significant after adjusting for preexisting child and family characteristics such as baseline child aggression. This prospective study suggests risks associated with early childhood violent media exposure for long-term mental health in children. These findings, suggesting diffusive relationships between early childhood violent media exposure and negative socioemotional and academic outcomes, empirically support the notion that access to early childhood violent television represents a threat to population health and should be discouraged by adult caregivers.

[Early child development inequalities and associated factors between public and private providers at metropolitan region in Chile].

Science.gov (United States)

Bedregal, Paula; Hernández, Viviana; Mingo, M Verónica; Castañón, Carla; Valenzuela, Patricia; Moore, Rosario; de la Cruz, Rolando; Castro, Daniela

Early child development is a population determinant of physical, mental and social health. To know the base line situation prior to the implementation of "Chile grows with you" (Chile Crece Contigo) is key to its evaluation. To compare early child development and associated factors at baseline in pre-school children from public and private health sectors. The sample consisted of 1045 children aged 30-58 months, 52% male, and 671 from the public and 380 from the private sector of the metropolitan region in Chile were evaluated using Battelle Developmental Inventory-1 and a household interview of primary carer. Abnormal child development was found in 14.4% of children in the private sector compared to 30.4% in the public sector. There were no differences in adaptive area (26.3% vs 29.2%), but there were statistically significant differents in cognitive (8.8% vs 12.1%), social-personal (13.2% vs 32.5%), motor (19.2% vs 35.3%), and communication (19% vs 36.8%) development. The logistic regression showed that, independent of socioeconomic level, the risk factors are: Apgarsocial policy. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Chilena de Pediatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

[Child wellbeing and development indicators in Mexico].

Science.gov (United States)

de Castro, Filipa; Allen-Leigh, Betania; Katz, Gregorio; Salvador-Carulla, Luis; Lazcano-Ponce, Eduardo

2013-01-01

To provide evidence and input for monitoring child welfare and wellbeing in Mexico. Adjusting for sampling design, information from ENSANUT 2012 for children <10 years was compared with national and international parameters and goals. While 8.37% of infants were born with low birth weight (<2,500 g), neonatal screening was not performed on 9.4% of newborns. Of children <5 years, 78.03% were breastfed until at least four months. Among mothers of newborns, 69.5% received training in early stimulation. At the national level, 28% of children (23% in rural areas) received five medical consultations to monitor their early development. 29% of children either had a disability or were at risk of developing one. Progress has been made in Mexico in terms of services promoting early child development and wellbeing but important challenges persist. National standards and a system for monitoring, screening, referring and providing care for child development and wellbeing are necessary.

Evidence from Maternity Leave Expansions of the Impact of Maternal Care on Early Child Development

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Baker, Michael; Milligan, Kevin

2010-01-01

We study the impact of maternal care on early child development using an expansion in Canadian maternity leave entitlements. Following the leave expansion, mothers who took leave spent 48-58 percent more time not working in their children's first year of life. This extra maternal care primarily crowded out home-based care by unlicensed…

Risks and outcomes associated with disorganized/controlling patterns of attachment at age three years in the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

Science.gov (United States)

O'connor, Erin; Bureau, Jean-Francois; Mccartney, Kathleen; Lyons-Ruth, Karlen

2011-07-01

Disorganized/controlling attachment in preschool has been found to be associated with maternal and child maladjustment, making it of keen interest in the study of psychopathology. Additional work is needed, however, to better understand disorganized/controlling attachment occurring as early as age 3 years. The primary aims of this study were to evaluate risk factors and outcomes associated with disorganized/controlling behavior at age 3 years and to evaluate the risk factors and outcomes differentiating the four subtypes of disorganized/controlling attachment. Analyses were conducted with the first two phases of the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a prospective study of 1,364 children from birth. At 36 months of age, across the attachment-relevant domains of maternal well-being, mother-child interactions, and child social adaptation, the disorganized/controlling group evidenced the most maladaptive patterns in comparison to both secure and insecure-organized groups. At 54 months of age, the disorganized/controlling group displayed the highest levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, as rated by mothers and teachers, and the lowest quality relationships with teachers. Significant differences found among the disorganized/controlling subtypes indicated that the behaviorally disorganized and controlling-punitive subtypes had more maladaptive patterns across variables than did the controlling-caregiving and controlling-mixed subtypes. Copyright © 2011 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Behavior problems in late childhood: the roles of early maternal attachment and teacher-child relationship trajectories.

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O'Connor, Erin E; Collins, Brian A; Supplee, Lauren

2012-01-01

The purposes of the current study were: (1) to examine the roles of early maternal attachment relationships and teacher-child relationships during childhood for externalizing and internalizing behaviors in late childhood, and (2) to investigate teacher-child relationships, as well as externalizing and internalizing behaviors in early childhood as possible mechanisms linking early maternal attachment relationships to behavior problems in late childhood. Longitudinal data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1140 mothers and children) were used in this investigation. There were three main findings. First, insecure/other maternal attachment relationships in early childhood (i.e., 36 months) were associated with externalizing and internalizing behaviors in late childhood (Grade 5). Second, elevated levels of teacher-child conflict during childhood were associated with externalizing behaviors in late childhood whereas low levels of teacher-child closeness were associated with internalizing behaviors. Third, the effects of insecure/other attachment on externalizing and internalizing behaviors in late childhood were mediated through teacher-child relationships during childhood and early externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Implications for attachment theory are discussed.

Influence of First-Time Mothers' Early Employment on Severe Early Childhood Caries in Their Child

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Kamila Plutzer

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. To examine whether mothers' early employment status is related to the development of severe early childhood caries in their child. Methods. Questionnaire survey of 429 first-time mothers in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, and dental examinations of their child at 20 months of age. Results. At months of age, 5.6% of children exhibited caries defined as one or more demineralized or cavitated lesions on the upper incisors. Of the mothers, 52.2% had no paid employment, 39.6% were part-time and 8.2% full-time employed. Overall, mothers' participation in the workforce had no influence on the frequency of severe early childhood caries in their child, but there was a significant interaction with family structure. For mothers without employment there was no difference between single, and two-parent families, but children with an employed single mother more frequently had caries than those with a working mother in a two-parent family (. However, there were no significant differences in children's reported general health. Conclusions. The data indicate a need to explore strategies that may assist single mothers and especially those in the workforce to prevent severe early childhood caries in their child.

Is the Prediction of Adolescent Outcomes From Early Child Care Moderated by Later Maternal Sensitivity? Results From the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

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Burchinal, Margaret R.; Vandell, Deborah Lowe; Belsky, Jay

2016-01-01

Longitudinal data are used to examine whether effects of early child care are amplified and/or attenuated by later parenting. Analyses tested these interactions using parenting as both a categorical and continuous variable to balance power and flexibility in testing moderation. The most consistent finding was that maternal sensitivity during adolescence accentuated the association between child care quality and adolescent academic-cognitive skills at age 15 years when maternal sensitivity during adolescence was high. This interaction was obtained in analyses with maternal sensitivity as both a categorical and continuous variable. Relations between early child care hours and adolescent behavioral outcomes also were moderated by maternal sensitivity, with longer child care hours predicting more impulsivity and externalizing at age 15 when maternal sensitivity during middle childhood, scored as a categorical variable, was low to moderate and when maternal sensitivity during adolescence, scored as a continuous variable, was lower. These findings suggest that some child care effects are moderated by subsequent parenting and that this moderation may take both linear and nonlinear forms. PMID:23937381

Early Head Start: Factors Associated with Caregiver Knowledge of Child Development, Parenting Behavior, and Parenting Stress

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Belcher, Harolyn M. E.; Watkins, Katara; Johnson, Elizabeth; Ialongo, Nicholas

2007-01-01

This study investigates the role of socioeconomic status, parental mental health, and knowledge of child development on parenting styles and perceived parenting stress in caregivers of children, ages 3 months to 3 years, enrolled in Early Head Start (EHS). Caregivers of EHS students were interviewed using the Knowledge of Infant Development…

Influence of First-Time Mothers' Early Employment on Severe Early Childhood Caries in Their Child

OpenAIRE

Plutzer, Kamila; Keirse, Marc J. N. C.

2012-01-01

Aim. To examine whether mothers' early employment status is related to the development of severe early childhood caries in their child. Methods. Questionnaire survey of 429 first-time mothers in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, and dental examinations of their child at 20 months of age. Results. At 20 ± 2.5 months of age, 5.6% of children exhibited caries defined as one or more demineralized or cavitated lesions on the upper incisors. Of the mothers, 52.2% had no paid employment, 39.6%...

Do early care and education services improve language development for maltreated children? Evidence from a national child welfare sample.

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Merritt, Darcey H; Klein, Sacha

2015-01-01

Young children under 6 years old are over-represented in the U.S. child welfare system (CWS). Due to their exposure to early deprivation and trauma, they are also highly vulnerable to developmental problems, including language delays. High quality early care and education (ECE) programs (e.g. preschool, Head Start) can improve children's development and so policymakers have begun calling for increased enrollment of CWS-supervised children in these programs. However, it is not a given that ECE will benefit all children who experience maltreatment. Some types of maltreatment may result in trauma-related learning and behavior challenges or developmental deficits that cause children to respond to ECE settings differently. The current study uses data from a nationally representative survey of children in the U.S. child welfare system, the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II, to assess whether young CWS-supervised children (N=1,652) who were enrolled in ECE had better language development outcomes 18 months later than those not enrolled in ECE. We also explore whether the type of maltreatment that brought children to the CWS' attention moderates the relationship between ECE and children's language development. After controlling for children's initial scores on the Preschool Language Scale (PLS-3), type(s) of maltreatment experienced, and child and caregiver demographics, we found that ECE participation predicted better PLS-3 scores at follow-up, with a positive interaction between ECE participation and supervisory neglect. ECE seems to be beneficial for CWS-involved children's early language development, especially for children referred to the CWS because they lack appropriate parent supervision at home. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Curriculum analysis and comparison between strategies or programs for early child development in Mexico].

Science.gov (United States)

Vargas-López, Guillermo; Guadarrama-Orozco, Jessica Haydee; Rizzoli-Córdoba, Antonio; Narcizo-Cenobio, Francisco Javier; Medrano-Loera, Gerónimo; Villagrán, Daniel Aceves; O'Shea Cuevas, Gabriel; Muñoz Hernández, Onofre

Most of the strategies or programs that support early child development in Mexico are independent efforts that vary in scale, services offered and means of providing them. For the evaluation of the quality of these programs, an important aspect is the curriculum content. The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the curriculum content of the different strategies or programs focused on the promotion and intervention of early child development, which are offered by the Federal Government in Health and Education sectors in Mexico. We conducted a review of the curriculum content of the strategies and programs. The qualitative phase consisted of a comparative analysis where 75 indicators proposed by the Inter-American Development Bank were identified. The quantitative phase consisted of a descriptive analysis of the indicators. Finally, the analyses were compared to establish the performance of each one. Six strategies or programs were identified. In the analysis of the presence of indicators, the Oportunidades de Aprendizaje (Learning Opportunities, LO) strategy showed a larger number of indicators. In the amplitude analysis, both PEI-CONAFE and LO were the best balanced. Finally, in-depth analysis of the indicators LO and Skills for life were the best balanced while PEI-CONAFE was the best balanced in the social-emotional area, CeNSIA program for language and LO for cognitive development area. LO strategy showed the closest level of contents established by the Inter-American Development Bank. Copyright © 2016 Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Story interpretation and its influence to child in early school

OpenAIRE

Kitanova, Irena

2015-01-01

One of the most beautiful reading-pice for education with ethical and esthetical value for the children in the early child education at the family and in the kindergarten is the story. The story has big importance for education process in early childhood and for the school period of child development. As a meter of fact on that age with specifically language and statement the story offers possibility to see the beauty of art expression, to wake up the esthetical sense and with that procedure ...

Dietary patterns in early childhood and child cognitive and psychomotor development: the Rhea mother-child cohort study in Crete.

Science.gov (United States)

Leventakou, Vasiliki; Roumeliotaki, Theano; Sarri, Katerina; Koutra, Katerina; Kampouri, Mariza; Kyriklaki, Andriani; Vassilaki, Maria; Kogevinas, Manolis; Chatzi, Leda

2016-04-01

Early-life nutrition is critical for optimal brain development; however, few studies have evaluated the impact of diet as a whole in early childhood on neurological development with inconsistent results. The present analysis is a cross-sectional study nested within an ongoing prospective birth cohort, the Rhea study, and aims to examine the association of dietary patterns with cognitive and psychomotor development in 804 preschool (mean age 4·2 years) children. Parents completed a validated FFQ, and dietary patterns were identified using principal component analysis. Child cognitive and psychomotor development was assessed by the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA). Multivariable linear regression models were used to investigate the associations of dietary patterns with the MSCA scales. After adjustment for a large number of confounding factors, the 'Snacky' pattern (potatoes and other starchy roots, salty snacks, sugar products and eggs) was negatively associated with the scales of verbal ability (β=-1·31; 95 % CI -2·47, -0·16), general cognitive ability (β=-1·13; 95 % CI -2·25, -0·02) and cognitive functions of the posterior cortex (β=-1·20; 95 % CI -2·34, -0·07). Further adjustment for maternal intelligence, folic acid supplementation and alcohol use during pregnancy attenuated the observed associations, but effect estimates remained at the same direction. The 'Western' and the 'Mediterranean' patterns were not associated with child neurodevelopmental scales. The present findings suggest that poorer food choices at preschool age characterised by foods high in fat, salt and sugar are associated with reduced scores in verbal and cognitive ability.

Mothers' and fathers' support for child autonomy and early school achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

2008-07-01

Data were analyzed from 641 children and their families in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to test the hypotheses that in the early school years, mothers' and fathers' sensitive support for autonomy in observed parent-child interactions would each make unique predictions to children's reading and math achievement at Grade 3 (controlling for demographic variables), children's reading and math abilities at 54 months, and children's level of effortful control at 54 months and that these associations would be mediated by the level of and changes over time in children's observed self-reliance in the classroom from Grades 1 through 3. The authors found that mothers' and fathers' support for autonomy were significantly and uniquely associated with children's Grade 3 reading and math achievement with the above controls, but only for boys. For boys, the effect of mothers' support for child autonomy was mediated by higher self-reliance at Grade 1 and of fathers' support for child autonomy by greater increases in self-reliance from Grades 1 through 3.

[The role of playful interactions in the development of the early mother-child relationship--factors of risk and protection].

Science.gov (United States)

Eigner, Bernadett

2015-01-01

prevention and early-prevention of the early mother-child interactions, and other factors in cognition of the potential strengths and weaknesses in order to prevent the future negative outputs (attachment, cognitive and social-emotional development, emotional and behavioural disorders).

Cognitive Development and Home Environment of Rural Paraguayan Infants and Toddlers Participating in Pastoral del Nino, an Early Child Development Program

Science.gov (United States)

Peairson, Shannon; Austin, Ann M. Berghout; de Aquino, Cyle Nielsen; de Burro, Elizabeth Urbieta

2008-01-01

Participants included 106 infants and toddlers living in rural Paraguay and their primary caregiver. Children ranged in age from birth to 24 months and belonged to two distinct groups, including 46 children who had never participated in Pastoral del Nino, an early child development program, and 60 children who had participated in Pastoral for at…

Early Origins of Child Obesity: Bridging Disciplines and Phases of Development - September 30–October 1, 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Christoffel, Katherine Kaufer; Wang, Xiaobin; Binns, Helen J.

2012-01-01

This report summarizes a conference: “Early Origins of Child Obesity: Bridging Disciplines and Phases of Development”, held in Chicago on September 30–October 1, 2010. The conference was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and the Williams Heart Foundation, to achieve the conference objective: forging a next-step research agenda related to the early origins of childhood obesity. This research agenda was to include working with an array of factors (from genetic determinants to societal ones) along a continuum from prenatal life to age 7, with an emphasis on how the developing child deals with the challenges presented by his/her environment (prenatal, parental, nutritional, etc.). The conference offered a unique opportunity to facilitate communication and planning of future work among a variety of researchers whose work separately addresses different periods in early life. Over the span of two days, speakers addressed existing, critical research topics within each of the most-studied age ranges. On the final day, workshops fostered the discussion needed to identify the highest priority research topics related to linking varied early factor domains. These are presented for use in planning future research and research funding. PMID:23443002

Marital Birth and Early Child Outcomes: The Moderating Influence of Marriage Propensity

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Ryan, Rebecca M.

2012-01-01

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, the present study tested whether the benefits of a marital birth for early child development diminish as parents' risk of having a nonmarital birth increases (N = 2,285). It was hypothesized that a child's likelihood of being born to unmarried parents is partly a function of father…

Measuring Child Development and Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Raikes, Abbie

2017-01-01

The Sustainable Development Goal's "Education 2030" agenda includes an explicit focus on early childhood development. Target 4.2 states that all children are "developmentally on track" at the start of school. What does it mean for a child to be developmentally on track, and how should it be measured, especially in an…

Role of mother’s perceptions on their child development on early detection of developmental deviation

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Pudji Andayani

2006-10-01

Full Text Available This report aimed to assess mothers’ perceptions on normal and deviation of development in their children. The study was done in underfive children and their mothers from May 1st 1999 to June 30th 1999 who visited the Nutrition, Growth & Development Clinic of the Child Health Department, Sanglah Hospital, Denpasar. A total of 76 children between 2 and 59 months of age and their mothers were enrolled. Data were collected by interview with mothers concerning the following items: perception of their children development, age of child, sex, mother’s education, mother’s job, number of sibling, and mother ability in making referral decisions. Denver II screening test was administered to each child to identify of development status as a gold standard. Sixteen (21% children was identified as having developmental deviation (by mother’s perception and 21 (28% by authors using Denver II screening test. The mother’s perception sensitivity was 67% and specificity was 97%. There were no significant differences of development status perception according to child’s age, mother’s education, mother’s job, and number of sibling. Most of mother’s perceptions about normal development were if the body weight increased and had no disability. Most of the sources of information about development was from the relatives. Thirteen of 21 children who had developmental deviation were referred by mothers. We conclude that mother’s perception can be used as early detection of developmental problems. Mother’s concerns of their children growth development had focused on again body weight, physical developmental and gross motor skill.

The Benefits of Early Book Sharing (BEBS) for child cognitive and socio-emotional development in South Africa: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

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Dowdall, Nicholas; Cooper, Peter J; Tomlinson, Mark; Skeen, Sarah; Gardner, Frances; Murray, Lynne

2017-03-09

Children in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are at risk for problems in their cognitive, social and behavioural development. Factors such as a lack of cognitive stimulation, harsh parenting practices, and severe and persistent aggression in early childhood are central to the genesis of these problems. Interventions that target the intersection between early childhood development, parenting, and early violence prevention are required in order to meaningfully address these problems. We are conducting a randomised controlled trial to evaluate a parenting intervention for caregivers of children aged between 23 and 27 months, designed to promote child cognitive and socioemotional development in Khayelitsha, a low-income peri-urban township in South Africa. Families are randomly allocated to a book-sharing intervention group or to a wait-list control group. In the intervention, we train caregivers in supportive book-sharing with young children. Training is carried out in small groups over a period of 8 weeks. Data are collected at baseline, post intervention and at 6 months post intervention. In addition to targeting child cognitive development, the intervention aims to improve child socioemotional functioning. The Benefits of Early Book Sharing (BEBS) trial aims to evaluate the impact of an early parenting intervention on several key risk factors for the development of violence, including aspects of parenting and child cognition, prosocial behaviour, aggression, and socioemotional functioning. The study is being carried out in a LMIC where violence constitutes a major social and health burden. Since the intervention is brief and, with modest levels of training, readily deliverable in LMIC contexts, a demonstration that it is of benefit to both child cognitive and socioemotional development would be of significance. The BEBS trial is registered on the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number database, registration number ISRCTN71109104

Child and Family Development Research. OPRE Report 2014-89

Science.gov (United States)

Administration for Children & Families, 2014

2014-01-01

This catalog provides short descriptions of major Division of Child and Family Development (DCFD) projects from Fiscal Year 2014. Multiple projects are described in the areas of child care, Head Start/Early Head Start, child welfare promotion, and the recognition of cultural diversity. An additional section features projects that fall into more…

The Meaning of Emotional Overinvolvement in Early Development: Prospective Relations with Child Behavior Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Khafi, Tamar Y.; Yates, Tuppett M.; Sher-Censor, Efrat

2015-01-01

Emotional Overinvolvement (EOI) in parents’ Five Minute Speech Samples (FMSS; Magaña-Amato, 1993) is thought to measure overconcern and enmeshment with one’s child. Although related to maladaptive outcomes in studies of adult children, FMSS-EOI evidences varied relations with behavior problems in studies with young children. These mixed findings may indicate that certain FMSS-EOI criteria reflect inappropriate and excessive involvement with adult children, but do not indicate maladaptive processes when parenting younger children. Thus, this study evaluated relations of each FMSS-EOI criterion with changes in child behavior problems from preschool to first grade in a community sample of 223 child-mother dyads (47.98% female; Mage_W1 = 49.08 months; 56.50% Hispanic/Latina). Maternal FMSS-EOI ratings were obtained at wave 1, and independent examiners rated child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at wave 1 and two years later. Path analyses indicated that both the Self-Sacrifice/Overprotection (SSOP) and Statements of Attitude (SOAs) FMSS-EOI criteria predicted increased externalizing problems. In contrast, Excessive Detail and Exaggerated Praise were not related to child externalizing behavior problems, and Emotional Display was not evident in this sample. None of the FMSS-EOI criteria evidenced significant relations with internalizing behavior problems. Multigroup comparisons indicated that the effect of SOAs on externalizing behavior problems was significant for boys but not for girls, and there were no significant group differences by race/ethnicity. These findings point to the salience of SSOP and SOAs for understanding the developmental significance of EOI in early development. PMID:26147935

A Population-based Study Evaluating the Association between Surgery in Early Life and Child Development at Primary School Entry.

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O'Leary, James D; Janus, Magdalena; Duku, Eric; Wijeysundera, Duminda N; To, Teresa; Li, Ping; Maynes, Jason T; Crawford, Mark W

2016-08-01

It is unclear whether exposure to surgery in early life has long-term adverse effects on child development. The authors aimed to investigate whether surgery in early childhood is associated with adverse effects on child development measured at primary school entry. The authors conducted a population-based cohort study in Ontario, Canada, by linking provincial health administrative databases to children's developmental outcomes measured by the Early Development Instrument (EDI). From a cohort of 188,557 children, 28,366 children who underwent surgery before EDI completion (age 5 to 6 yr) were matched to 55,910 unexposed children. The primary outcome was early developmental vulnerability, defined as any domain of the EDI in the lowest tenth percentile of the population. Subgroup analyses were performed based on age at first surgery (less than 2 and greater than or equal to 2 yr) and frequency of surgery. Early developmental vulnerability was increased in the exposed group (7,259/28,366; 25.6%) compared with the unexposed group (13,957/55,910; 25.0%), adjusted odds ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.08. Children aged greater than or equal to 2 yr at the time of first surgery had increased odds of early developmental vulnerability compared with unexposed children (odds ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.10), but children aged less than 2 yr at the time of first exposure were not at increased risk (odds ratio, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.98 to 1.10). There was no increase in odds of early developmental vulnerability with increasing frequency of exposure. Children who undergo surgery before primary school age are at increased risk of early developmental vulnerability, but the magnitude of the difference between exposed and unexposed children is small.

The World Bank's Position on Early Child Education in Brazil: A Critical Assessment of Contributions and Shortcomings

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Sabrina

2014-01-01

In 2010, the World Bank published a policy study on early child education (ECE) developments in Brazil, entitled "Early Child Education: Making Programs Work for Brazil's Most Important Generation. Development." This paper analyses the report's assessment of ECE policy in Brazil as well as the recommendations it provides. A critical…

Developmental delay and emotion dysregulation: Predicting parent-child conflict across early to middle childhood

Science.gov (United States)

Marquis, Willa A.; Noroña, Amanda N.; Baker, Bruce L.

2016-01-01

Cumulative risk research has increased understanding of how multiple risk factors impact various socioemotional and interpersonal outcomes across the life span. However, little is known about risk factors for parent-child conflict early in development, where identifying predictors of change could be highly salient for intervention. Given their established association with parent-child conflict, child developmental delay (DD) and emotion dysregulation were examined as predictors of change in conflict across early to middle childhood (ages 3 to 7 years). Participants (n=211) were part of a longitudinal study examining the development of psychopathology in children with or without DD. Level of parent-child conflict was derived from naturalistic home observations, while child dysregulation was measured using an adapted CBCL-Emotion Dysregulation Index. PROCESS was used to examine the conditional interactive effects of delay status (typically developing, DD) and dysregulation on change in conflict from child ages 3 to 5 and 5 to 7 years. Across both of these timeframes, parent-child conflict increased only for families of children with both DD and high dysregulation, providing support for an interactive risk model of parent-child conflict. Findings are considered in the context of developmental transitions, and implications for intervention are discussed. PMID:28054804

Developmental delay and emotion dysregulation: Predicting parent-child conflict across early to middle childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Marquis, Willa A; Noroña, Amanda N; Baker, Bruce L

2017-04-01

Cumulative risk research has increased understanding of how multiple risk factors impact various socioemotional and interpersonal outcomes across the life span. However, little is known about risk factors for parent-child conflict early in development, where identifying predictors of change could be highly salient for intervention. Given their established association with parent-child conflict, child developmental delay (DD) and emotion dysregulation were examined as predictors of change in conflict across early to middle childhood (ages 3 to 7 years). Participants (n = 211) were part of a longitudinal study examining the development of psychopathology in children with or without DD. Level of parent-child conflict was derived from naturalistic home observations, whereas child dysregulation was measured using an adapted CBCL-Emotion Dysregulation Index. PROCESS was used to examine the conditional interactive effects of delay status (typically developing, DD) and dysregulation on change in conflict from child ages 3 to 5 and 5 to 7 years. Across both of these timeframes, parent-child conflict increased only for families of children with both DD and high dysregulation, providing support for an interactive risk model of parent-child conflict. Findings are considered in the context of developmental transitions, and implications for intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Language development in early childhood in relation to child's gender and parental education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Urška Fekonja

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Many studies show that parental education and child's gender are the factors that influence child's language development. The purpose of the longitudinal study was to examine the effect of parental education and child's gender on language competence of children aged 3 to 4 years. The sample included 80 randomly chosen children, 39 girls and 41 boys, who were included in one of 13 preschool institutions from different regions of Slovenia. The average age of the children was 3;1 years at the first assessment and 4;1 years at the second assessment, one year later. The characteristics of child'slanguage development were assessed by 3 assessors in 3 different social contexts, in test situation by a trained examiner, in child's home environment by his mother and in the preschool institution by his preschool teacher. Results show a positive effect of mother's educational level on some of the measures of child's language development, e.g. achievements on Language development scale; developmental level of storytelling, mother's estimation of child's language competence, while the father's educational level had no significant effect on any of the obtained measures. Child's gender had only a small effect on his achievements on language expression subscale at the age of 3 and 4 as well as on the preschool teacher's estimations of child's language competence at 4 years of age.

Parental tobacco consumption and child development.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Nadine F; Costa, Raquel A

2015-01-01

To analyze the association between parental tobacco consumption and the prevalence of psychomotor development disorders in children between 6 and 22 months of age. One hundred and nine mothers, fathers, and their babies participated in the study. The sociodemographic and clinical conditions were assessed using questionnaires. Tobacco consumption was assessed using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). Child development was evaluated using the Scale of Psychomotor Development in Early Childhood. There was a significant negative correlation between the father's morning smoking (FTND) and the child's language development quotient; r=-0.41, p=0.005, r(2)=0.15. The children of mothers without nicotine dependence had a higher mean language development quotient than children of mothers with nicotine dependence; F(1, 107)=5.51, p=0.021, ηp(2)=0.05. Parental smoking appears to have a detrimental effect on child development. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Parental tobacco consumption and child development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadine F. Santos

2015-08-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association between parental tobacco consumption and the prevalence of psychomotor development disorders in children between 6 and 22 months of age.METHOD: One hundred and nine mothers, fathers, and their babies participated in the study. The sociodemographic and clinical conditions were assessed using questionnaires. Tobacco consumption was assessed using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND. Child development was evaluated using the Scale of Psychomotor Development in Early Childhood.RESULTS: There was a significant negative correlation between the father's morning smoking (FTND and the child's language development quotient; r = -0.41, p = 0.005, r2 =0.15. The children of mothers without nicotine dependence had a higher mean language development quotient than children of mothers with nicotine dependence; F(1, 107 = 5.51, p = 0.021, ?p2 = 0.05.CONCLUSION: Parental smoking appears to have a detrimental effect on child development.

Children's early child care and their mothers' later involvement with schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Crosnoe, Robert; Augustine, Jennifer March; Huston, Aletha C

2012-01-01

Theory and policy highlight the role of child care in preparing children for the transition into school. Approaching this issue in a different way, this study investigated whether children's care experiences before this transition promoted their mothers' school involvement after it, with the hypothesized mechanism for this link being the cultivation of children's social and academic skills. Analyses of 1,352 children (1 month-6 years) and parents in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development revealed that mothers were more involved at their children's schools when children had prior histories of high-quality nonparental care. This pattern, which was fairly stable across levels of maternal education and employment, was mediated by children's academic skills and home environments. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Early-life conditions and child development: Evidence from a violent conflict

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Valentina Duque

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates how the exposure to violent conflicts in utero and in early and late childhood affect human capital formation. I focus on a wide range of child development outcomes, including novel cognitive and non-cognitive indicators. Using monthly and municipality-level variation in the timing and severity of massacres in Colombia from 1999 to 2007, I show that children exposed to terrorist attacks in utero and in childhood achieve lower height-for-age (0.09 SD and cognitive outcomes (PPVT falls by 0.18SD and math reasoning and general knowledge fall by 0.16SD, and that these results are robust to controlling for mother fixed-effects. The timing of these exposures matters and differs by type of skill. In terms of parental investments, I find some evidence that parents reinforce the negative effects of violence by increasing their frequency of physical aggression.

Early-life conditions and child development: Evidence from a violent conflict.

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Duque, Valentina

2017-12-01

This paper investigates how the exposure to violent conflicts in utero and in early and late childhood affect human capital formation. I focus on a wide range of child development outcomes, including novel cognitive and non-cognitive indicators. Using monthly and municipality-level variation in the timing and severity of massacres in Colombia from 1999 to 2007, I show that children exposed to terrorist attacks in utero and in childhood achieve lower height-for-age (0.09 SD) and cognitive outcomes (PPVT falls by 0.18SD and math reasoning and general knowledge fall by 0.16SD), and that these results are robust to controlling for mother fixed-effects. The timing of these exposures matters and differs by type of skill. In terms of parental investments, I find some evidence that parents reinforce the negative effects of violence by increasing their frequency of physical aggression.

Producing children in the 21st century: a critical discourse analysis of the science and techniques of monitoring early child development.

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Einboden, Rochelle; Rudge, Trudy; Varcoe, Colleen

2013-11-01

The purpose of this article is to identify the implications of commonly held ideologies within theories of child development. Despite critiques to doing so, developmental theory assumes that children's bodies are unitary, natural and material. The recent explosion of neuroscience illustrates the significance of historical, social and cultural contexts to portrayals of brain development, offering the opportunity for a critical departure in thinking. Instead, this neuroscience research has been taken up in ways that align with biomedical traditions and neoliberal values. This article uses a critical discursive approach, supported by Haraway's ideas of technoscience, to analyse a population-based early child development research initiative. This initiative organises a large-scale surveillance of children's development, operating from the premise that risks to development are best captured early to optimise children's potential. The analysis in this article shows an intermingling of health and economic discourses and clarifies how the child is a figure of significant contemporary social and political interests. In a poignant example of technobiopolitics, the collusion between health research, technologies and the state enrols health professionals to participate in the production of children as subjects of social value, figured as human capital, investments in the future, or alternatively, as waste. The analysis shows how practices that participate in what has become a developmental enterprise also participate in the marginalisation of the very children they intend to serve. Hence, there is the need to rethink practices critically and move towards innovative conceptualisations of child development that hold possibilities to resist these figurations.

Economic gradients in early child neurodevelopment: A multi-country study

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Wehby, George L.; McCarthy, Ann Marie

2013-01-01

Little is known about the importance of household wealth for child neurodevelopment very early in life including during infancy. Previous studies have focused on specific developmental domains instead of more holistic multi-domain measures of neurodevelopment and on economic effects for the “average” child instead of evaluating the heterogeneity in economic gradients by different levels of developmental ability. Furthermore, not much is known about whether economic gradients in early child neurodevelopment are country-specific or generalizable between populations. We evaluate wealth gradients in child neurodevelopment, an important predictor of future health and human capital, between ages 3 and 24 months in four South American countries. We also assess the heterogeneity in these gradients at different locations of the neurodevelopment distribution using quantile regression. Employing a unique dataset of 2032 children with neurodevelopment measures obtained by physicians in 2005–2006, we find a large positive wealth gradient in neurodevelopment in Brazil. The wealth gradient is larger for children at higher neurodevelopment rankings, suggesting that wealth is associated with child development inequalities in the form of a wider gap between low and high achievers on neurodevelopment in Brazil. This result highlights the need to target poverty in Brazil as a key factor in health and human capital disparities earlier in life rather than later as early developmental deficits will be carried forward and possibly multiplied later in life. More importantly, small or insignificant wealth gradients are generally found in the other countries. These results suggest that wealth gradients in child neurodevelopment are country-specific and vary with population demographic, health, and socioeconomic characteristics. Therefore, findings from previous studies based on specific populations may not be generalizable to other countries. Furthermore, wealth gradients in child

Maternal-child adrenocortical attunement in early childhood: continuity and change.

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Hibel, Leah C; Granger, Douglas A; Blair, Clancy; Finegood, Eric D

2015-01-01

This study evaluated continuity and change in maternal-child hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis attunement in early childhood. Participants were drawn from a prospective study of 1,292 mother-child dyads, which were racially diverse, predominantly low-income, and non-urban. Child focused stress tasks designed to elicit anger, fear, and frustration were administered during early infancy, later infancy, and toddlerhood. Mothers' and children's saliva samples (later assayed for cortisol) were collected before and after the tasks. The strength of mother-child adrenocortical attunement was conserved across infancy and toddlerhood. The magnitude of maternal-child adrenocortical attunement decreased in response to the child-focused stress tasks. Maternal sensitivity and the child's task-related emotional reactivity moderated adrenocortical attunement across the task, with greater maternal sensitivity during a free-play, and lower levels of child emotional reactivity during the stress tasks, stabilizing attunement from pre- to post-task levels. The findings advance our understanding of individual differences in the social regulation of adrenocortical activity in early childhood. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Child and Adolescent Development for Educators

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Pressley, Michael; McCormick, Christine B.

2006-01-01

Filling a tremendous need, this is the first graduate-level child development text written specifically for future educators. The volume provides a solid understanding of major theories of development, focusing on how each has informed research and practice in educational contexts. Topics include the impact of biology and early experiences on the…

Quality Early Education and Child Care From Birth to Kindergarten.

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Donoghue, Elaine A

2017-08-01

High-quality early education and child care for young children improves physical and cognitive outcomes for the children and can result in enhanced school readiness. Preschool education can be viewed as an investment (especially for at-risk children), and studies show a positive return on that investment. Barriers to high-quality early childhood education include inadequate funding and staff education as well as variable regulation and enforcement. Steps that have been taken to improve the quality of early education and child care include creating multidisciplinary, evidence-based child care practice standards; establishing state quality rating and improvement systems; improving federal and state regulations; providing child care health consultation; as well as initiating other innovative partnerships. Pediatricians have a role in promoting quality early education and child care for all children not only in the medical home but also at the community, state, and national levels. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Impact of integrated child development scheme on child malnutrition in West Bengal, India.

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Dutta, Arijita; Ghosh, Smritikana

2017-10-01

With child malnutrition detected as a persistent problem in most of the developing countries, public policy has been directed towards offering community-based supplementary feeding provision and nutritional information to caregivers. India, being no exception, has initiated these programs as early as 1970s under integrated child development scheme. Using propensity score matching technique on primary data of 390 households in two districts of West Bengal, an Eastern state in India, the study finds that impact of being included in the program and receiving supplementary feeding is insignificant on child stunting measures, though the program can break the intractable barriers of child stunting only when the child successfully receives not only just the supplementary feeding but also his caregiver collects crucial information on nutritional awareness and growth trajectory of the child. Availability of regular eggs in the feeding diet too can reduce protein-related undernutrition. Focusing on just feeding means low depth of other services offered under integrated child development scheme, including pre-school education, nutritional awareness, and hygiene behavior; thus repealing a part of the apparent food-secure population who puts far more importance on the latter services. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Early childhood development: impact of national human development, family poverty, parenting practices and access to early childhood education.

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Tran, T D; Luchters, S; Fisher, J

2017-05-01

This study was to describe and quantify the relationships among family poverty, parents' caregiving practices, access to education and the development of children living in low- and middle-income countries (LAMIC). We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected in UNICEF's Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). Early childhood development was assessed in four domains: language-cognitive, physical, socio-emotional and approaches to learning. Countries were classified into three groups on the basis of the Human Development Index (HDI). Overall, data from 97 731 children aged 36 to 59 months from 35 LAMIC were included in the after analyses. The mean child development scale score was 4.93 out of a maximum score of 10 (95%CI 4.90 to 4.97) in low-HDI countries and 7.08 (95%CI 7.05 to 7.12) in high-HDI countries. Family poverty was associated with lower child development scores in all countries. The total indirect effect of family poverty on child development score via attending early childhood education, care for the child at home and use of harsh punishments at home was -0.13 SD (77.8% of the total effect) in low-HDI countries, -0.09 SD (23.8% of the total effect) in medium-HDI countries and -0.02 SD (6.9% of the total effect) in high-HDI countries. Children in the most disadvantaged position in their societies and children living in low-HDI countries are at the greatest risk of failing to reach their developmental potential. Optimizing care for child development at home is essential to reduce the adverse effects of poverty on children's early development and subsequent life. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Parenting and the Family Check-Up: Changes in Observed Parent-Child Interaction Following Early Childhood Intervention.

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Sitnick, Stephanie L; Shaw, Daniel S; Gill, Anne; Dishion, Thomas; Winter, Charlotte; Waller, Rebecca; Gardner, Frances; Wilson, Melvin

2015-01-01

Coercion theory posits a cyclical relationship between harsh and coercive parent-child interactions and problem behavior beginning in early childhood. As coercive interactions have been theorized and found to facilitate the development and growth of early conduct problems, early interventions often target parenting to prevent or reduce early disruptive problem behavior. This study utilizes direct observations of parent-child interactions from the Early Steps Multisite study (N = 731; 369 boys) to examine the effect of the Family Check-Up, a family-centered intervention program, on measures of parent-child positive engagement and coercion from age 2 through 5, as well as on childhood problem behavior at age 5. Results indicate that high levels of parent-child positive engagement were associated with less parent-child coercion the following year, but dyadic coercion was unrelated to future levels of positive engagement. In addition, families assigned to the Family Check-Up showed increased levels of positive engagement at ages 3 and 5, and the association between positive engagement at age 3 and child problem behavior at age 5 was mediated by reductions in parent-child coercion at age 4. These findings provide longitudinal confirmation that increasing positive engagement in parent-child interaction can reduce the likelihood of coercive family dynamics in early childhood and growth in problem behavior.

Dietary cyanogen exposure and early child neurodevelopment: An observational study from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Kashala-Abotnes, Espérance; Sombo, Marie-Thérèse; Okitundu, Daniel L; Kunyu, Marcel; Bumoko Makila-Mabe, Guy; Tylleskär, Thorkild; Sikorskii, Alla; Banea, Jean-Pierre; Mumba Ngoyi, Dieudonné; Tshala-Katumbay, Désiré; Boivin, Michael J

2018-01-01

Dietary cyanogen exposure from ingesting bitter (toxic) cassava as a main source of food in sub-Saharan Africa is related to neurological impairments in sub-Saharan Africa. We explored possible association with early child neurodevelopmental outcomes. We undertook a cross-sectional neurodevelopmental assessment of 12-48 month-old children using the Mullen Scale of Early Learning (MSEL) and the Gensini Gavito Scale (GGS). We used the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-10 (HSCL-10) and Goldberg Depression Anxiety Scale (GDAS) to screen for symptoms of maternal depression-anxiety. We used the cyanogen content in household cassava flour and urinary thiocyanate (SCN) as biomarkers of dietary cyanogen exposure. We employed multivariable generalized linear models (GLM) with Gamma link function to determine predictors of early child neurodevelopmental outcomes. The mean (SD) and median (IQR) of cyanogen content of cassava household flour were above the WHO cut-off points of 10 ppm (52.18 [32·79]) and 50 (30-50) ppm, respectively. Mean (SD) urinary levels of thiocyanate and median (IQR) were respectively 817·81 (474·59) and 688 (344-1032) μmole/l in mothers, and 617·49 (449·48) and 688 (344-688) μmole/l in children reflecting individual high levels as well as a community-wide cyanogenic exposure. The concentration of cyanide in cassava flour was significantly associated with early child neurodevelopment, motor development and cognitive ability as indicated by univariable linear regression (p child neurodevelopment remained the main predictors associated with the concentration of cyanide in cassava flour: coefficients of -0·08 to -.15 (p child linear growth, early child neurodevelopment, cognitive ability and motor development at both univariable and multivariable linear regression analyses coefficients of 1.44 to 7.31 (p early child neurodevelopment, cognitive abilities and motor development, even in the absence of clinically evident paralysis. There is a need for community

Normal motor milestone development for use to promote child care

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Mahdin A. Husaini

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background Motor behavior is an essential aspect of child development, and usually assessed in terms of age of achievement of motor milestone. The early detection of infants experiencing subtle delays in motor maturation can allow early intervention in developmental problems. Intervention can be more effective if delays are identified early. In order to facilitate the identification of early delays, the Center of Nutrition and Foods Research and Development in Bogor has designed a simple tool to monitor the child (aged 3 to 18 months motor development. Objective To develop an observable of normal gross motor maturation for use to detect deviance or motor delay. Methods A total of 2100 healthy children, aged 3-18 months, from high socio-economic group, in urban and suburban areas, were studied. Body length, weight and motor development were measured on all children. Gross motor development was measured 17 pre selected milestones: lie, sit, crawl, creep, stand Mth assistance, walk with assistance, stand alone, walk alone, and run. Results There were no differences between males and females in the comparison of attainment motor maturation therefore a sex combined curve was developed. Conclusion The curve of normal motor milestone development can be used as a tool to evaluate motor development over time, and/or as a child development card for use in primary health care.

Supporting Child Participation in the Early Years of Education

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Sturges, Marion

2015-01-01

This paper aims to contribute to conversations around child participation within early childhood settings in Australia. Ethnographic approach was used for this study to explore child participatory workshops in Early Childhood Centers. The center in which this study took place was chosen as one of the sites of analysis for a broader PhD research…

Teacher-Child Relationships and the Development of Academic and Behavioral Skills during Elementary School: A within- and between-Child Analysis

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Maldonado-Carreno, Carolina; Votruba-Drzal, Elizabeth

2011-01-01

Despite recent growth in research highlighting the potential of teacher-child relationships to promote children's development during the early years of school, questions remain about the importance of these relationships across elementary school. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care (N = 1,364), this study examines between- and…

Early mother-child attachment and behavior problems in middle childhood: the role of the subsequent caregiving environment.

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O'Connor, Erin E; Scott, Marc A; McCormick, Meghan P; Weinberg, Sharon L

2014-01-01

The current study investigated associations between early mother-child attachment, as well as mother-child and teacher-child relationships, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in middle childhood. Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were used. Findings from a series of individual growth curve analyses revealed that attachment security was negatively related to internalizing and externalizing behaviors, while insecure/other and avoidant attachment were positively related to internalizing behaviors. In addition, longitudinal associations were found between mother-child and teacher-child relationships and internalizing and externalizing behaviors across middle childhood. Implications for attachment theory are discussed.

Structural development of child's artistic expression

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Sanja Filipović

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Structural development implies control and capability of the expression usage in terms of independent creative expression and making. Understanding of structural development of child's artistic expression as a phenomenon (which is suitable to child's age has some implications on methodical acts considering the artistic education of children and youngsters. Therefore, it is of unexceptional importance to know these laws as well as methodical acts which encourage the structural development of artistic capabilities from an early age. Various experts dealt with this phenomenon, particularly Bogomil Karlavaris. In his methodical research, he has given an unexceptional part to this problem. It has been a starting point for analysis of certain methodical questions which are included in this work.

Early motor skill competence as a mediator of child and adult physical activity

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Paul D. Loprinzi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: In order to effectively promote physical activity (PA during childhood, and across the lifespan, a better understanding of the role of early motor skill development on child and adult PA is needed. Methods: Here, we propose a conceptual model delineating the hypothesized influence of motor skill development on child and adult PA, while providing an overview of the current empirical research related to this model. Results: There is consistent and emerging evidence showing that adequate motor skill competence, particularly locomotor and gross motor skills, is associated with increased PA levels during the preschool, child, and adolescent years, with early motor skill development also influencing enjoyment of PA as well as long-term PA and motor skill performance. The physical education setting appears to be a well-suited environment for motor skill development. Conclusion: Employing appropriate strategies to target motor skill development across the childhood years is of paramount interest in helping shape children's PA behavior, their experiences related to PA, as well as maintain their PA.

Pre-School Attendance and Child Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bauchmüller, Robert; Gørtz, Mette; Rasmussen, Astrid Würtz

Earlier research suggests that children's development is shaped in their early years of life. This paper examines whether differences in day-care experiences during pre-school age are important for children's cognitive and language development at the age of 15. The analysis is based on class...... performance at the end of elementary schooling. We assess the effects of attended types and qualities of day-care institutions on various child outcomes as measured by school grades in mathematics, science, English and Danish for the whole Danish population as well as outcomes from the 2006 PISA Denmark...... survey and a 2007 PISA Copenhagen survey. We use administrative registries to generate indicators such as child-staff ratios, child-pedagogues ratios, and the share of male staff and of staff with non-Danish origins. Furthermore, we use information on the average levels of educational attainments...

Day-care attendance and child development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bauchmüller, Robert; Gørtz, Mette; Rasmussen, Astrid Würtz

Earlier research suggests that children’s development is shaped in their early years of life. This paper examines whether differences in day-care experiences during pre-school age are important for children’s cognitive and language development at the age of 15. The analysis is based on class...... performance at the end of elementary schooling. We assess the effects of attended types and qualities of day-care institutions on various child outcomes as measured by school grades in mathematics, science, English and Danish for the whole Danish population as well as outcomes from the 2006 PISA Denmark...... survey and a 2007 PISA Copenhagen survey. We use administrative registries to generate indicators such as child-staff ratios, child-pedagogues ratios, and the share of male staff and of staff with non-Danish origins. Furthermore, we use information on the average levels of educational attainments...

Changes in Parent-Child Relationship Quality across Early Adolescence: Implications for Engagement in Sexual Behavior

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McElwain, Alyssa D.; Bub, Kristen L.

2018-01-01

The present study investigated how changes in specific dimensions of the parent-adolescent relationship predict adolescent engagement in sexual intercourse and oral sex. Longitudinal data from 1,364 participants in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were gathered at…

Early Childhood Education and Care Educators Supporting Parent-Child Relationships: A Systematic Literature Review

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O'Connor, Amanda; Nolan, Andrea; Bergmeier, Heidi; Hooley, Merrilyn; Olsson, Craig; Cann, Warren; Williams-Smith, Janet; Skouteris, Helen

2017-01-01

Building strong relationships between children and parents is vital for children's social and emotional development. A majority of children attend early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings where they experience a range of relationships (educator-child, educator-parent, parent-child). Educators build relationships with children and…

Early child care and child development: For whom it works and why

OpenAIRE

Felfe, Christina; Lalive, Rafael

2013-01-01

Many countries are currently expanding access to child care for young children. But are all children equally likely to benefit from such expansions? We address this question by adopting a marginal treatment effects framework. We study the West German setting where high quality center - based care is severely rationed and use within state differences in child care supply as exogenous variation in child care attendance. Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel provides comprehensive informa...

Enhancing early child care quality and learning for toddlers at risk: the responsive early childhood program.

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Landry, Susan H; Zucker, Tricia A; Taylor, Heather B; Swank, Paul R; Williams, Jeffrey M; Assel, Michael; Crawford, April; Huang, Weihua; Clancy-Menchetti, Jeanine; Lonigan, Christopher J; Phillips, Beth M; Eisenberg, Nancy; Spinrad, Tracy L; de Villiers, Jill; de Villiers, Peter; Barnes, Marcia; Starkey, Prentice; Klein, Alice

2014-02-01

Despite reports of positive effects of high-quality child care, few experimental studies have examined the process of improving low-quality center-based care for toddler-age children. In this article, we report intervention effects on child care teachers' behaviors and children's social, emotional, behavioral, early literacy, language, and math outcomes as well as the teacher-child relationship. The intervention targeted the use of a set of responsive teacher practices, derived from attachment and sociocultural theories, and a comprehensive curriculum. Sixty-five childcare classrooms serving low-income 2- and 3-year-old children were randomized into 3 conditions: business-as-usual control, Responsive Early Childhood Curriculum (RECC), and RECC plus explicit social-emotional classroom activities (RECC+). Classroom observations showed greater gains for RECC and RECC+ teachers' responsive practices including helping children manage their behavior, establishing a predictable schedule, and use of cognitively stimulating activities (e.g., shared book reading) compared with controls; however, teacher behaviors did not differ for focal areas such as sensitivity and positive discipline supports. Child assessments demonstrated that children in the interventions outperformed controls in areas of social and emotional development, although children's performance in control and intervention groups was similar for cognitive skills (language, literacy, and math). Results support the positive impact of responsive teachers and environments providing appropriate support for toddlers' social and emotional development. Possible explanations for the absence of systematic differences in children's cognitive skills are considered, including implications for practice and future research targeting low-income toddlers.

The results of early physiotherapy on a child with incontinentia pigmenti with encephalocele

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Kara, Ozgun Kaya; Mutlu, Akmer; Gunel, Mintaze Kerem

2010-01-01

This study aimed to exhibit the effects of early physiotherapy and discusses post-treatment results on a patient with incontinentia pigmenti (IP) with encephalocele. Physiotherapy evaluations of the child included cognitive, fine and gross motor development assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development – Third Edition (Bayley-III), disability level with the gross motor function classification system, gross motor function with the gross motor function measurement (GMFM), and tonus evaluation with the Modified Ashworth Scale. The child was included in a physiotherapy and rehabilitation programme based on neurodevelopmental treatment three times a week. Although cognitive and motor development according to Bayley-III improved in the present case, motor and cognitive retardation became more apparent with growth. GMFM results indicated a large improvement from 5.88% to 47.73%. Presentation of this case shows the significance of early physiotherapy in this first study on physiotherapy for IP during the early rehabilitation process. PMID:22767665

Improving Latino Children's Early Language and Literacy Development: Key Features of Early Childhood Education within Family Literacy Programmes

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Jung, Youngok; Zuniga, Stephen; Howes, Carollee; Jeon, Hyun-Joo; Parrish, Deborah; Quick, Heather; Manship, Karen; Hauser, Alison

2016-01-01

Noting the lack of research on how early childhood education (ECE) programmes within family literacy programmes influence Latino children's early language and literacy development, this study examined key features of ECE programmes, specifically teacher-child interactions and child engagement in language and literacy activities and how these…

Maternal depression and anxiety disorders (MDAD and child development: A Manitoba population-based study.

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Brenda Comaskey

Full Text Available To examine the association between maternal depression and anxiety disorders (MDAD and child development assessed during the kindergarten year.Administrative data from several health and social databases in Manitoba, Canada, were used to study 18,331 mother-child pairs. MDAD over the period from one year prior to the child's birth to the kindergarten year was defined using physician diagnoses and filled prescriptions. Child development was assessed during the kindergarten year using the Early Development Instrument (EDI which measures vulnerability across five domains of development. Structural equation modeling was used to examine associations between timing, recurrence and severity of MDAD and child outcomes. Health at Birth (preterm, low birth weight, neonatal intensive care stay and long birth hospitalization, Family Context (teen mother, lone parent, socio-economic status (SES, child age and child sex were covariates.MDAD had a modest negative association with child EDI scores across all models tested, particularly for social, emotional and physical development. Prenatal MDAD had a stronger negative association with outcomes than other time periods; however, recurrent MDAD had a stronger negative association with outcomes than any specific time period or MDAD severity. The influence of MDAD was mediated by Family Context, which had a strong, negative association with outcomes, particularly language and cognitive development.The number of time periods a child was exposed to MDAD in early childhood was more negatively associated with five areas of child development than timing or severity. Prenatal exposure may be more sensitive to MDAD than other time periods. The familial context (teen mother, lone parenthood and low SES had a stronger influence on child outcomes than MDAD. Findings can be used to inform interventions which address maternal mental health from the prenatal period onward, and to support disadvantaged families to encourage

Early childhood cortisol reactivity moderates the effects of parent-child relationship quality on the development of children’s temperament in early childhood

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Kopala-Sibley, Daniel C.; Dougherty, Lea R.; Dyson, Margret W.; Laptook, Rebecca S.; Olino, Thomas M.; Bufferd, Sara J.; Klein, Daniel N.

2017-01-01

Positive parenting has been related both to lower cortisol reactivity and more adaptive temperament traits in children, whereas elevated cortisol reactivity may be related to maladaptive temperament traits, such as higher negative emotionality (NE) and lower positive emotionality (PE). However, no studies have examined whether hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, as measured by cortisol reactivity, moderates the effect of the quality of the parent-child relationship on changes in temperament in early childhood. In this study, 126 3-year olds were administered the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB; Goldsmith et al., 1995) as a measure of temperamental NE and PE. Salivary cortisol was collected from the child at 4 time points during this task. The primary parent and the child completed the Teaching Tasks battery (Egeland et al., 1995), from which the quality of the relationship was coded. At age 6, children completed the Lab-TAB again. From age 3 to 6, adjusting for age 3 PE or NE, a better quality relationship with their primary parent predicted decreases in NE for children with elevated cortisol reactivity and predicted increases in PE for children with low cortisol reactivity. Results have implications for our understanding of the interaction of biological stress systems and the parent-child relationship in the development of temperament in childhood. PMID:26689860

Clarifying Parent-Child Reciprocities during Early Childhood: The Early Childhood Coercion Model

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Scaramella, Laura V.; Leve, Leslie D.

2004-01-01

Consistent with existing theory, the quality of parent-child interactions during early childhood affects children's social relationships and behavioral adjustment during middle childhood and adolescence. Harsh parenting and a propensity toward emotional overarousal interact very early in life to affect risk for later conduct problems. Less…

Is the Prediction of Adolescent Outcomes from Early Child Care Moderated by Later Maternal Sensitivity? Results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

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Burchinal, Margaret R.; Lowe Vandell, Deborah; Belsky, Jay

2014-01-01

Longitudinal data are used to examine whether effects of early child care are amplified and/or attenuated by later parenting. Analyses tested these interactions using parenting as both a categorical and continuous variable to balance power and flexibility in testing moderation. The most consistent finding was that maternal sensitivity during…

Promoting Early Brain and Child Development: Perceived Barriers and the Utilization of Resources to Address Them.

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Garner, Andrew S; Storfer-Isser, Amy; Szilagyi, Moira; Stein, Ruth E K; Green, Cori M; Kerker, Bonnie D; O'Connor, Karen G; Hoagwood, Kimberly E; McCue Horwitz, Sarah

Efforts to promote early brain and child development (EBCD) include initiatives to support healthy parent-child relationships, tools to identify family social-emotional risk factors, and referrals to community programs to address family risk factors. We sought to examine if pediatricians perceive barriers to implementing these activities, and if they utilize resources to address those barriers. Data were analyzed from 304 nontrainee pediatricians who practice general pediatrics and completed a 2013 American Academy of Pediatrics Periodic Survey. Sample weights were used to decrease nonresponse bias. Bivariate comparisons and multivariable regression analyses were conducted. At least half of the pediatricians agreed that barriers to promoting EBCD include: a lack of tools to promote healthy parent-child relationships, a lack of tools to assess the family environment for social-emotional risk factors, and a lack of local resources to address family risks. Endorsing a lack of tools to assess the family environment as a barrier was associated with using fewer screening tools and community resources. Endorsing a lack of local resources as a barrier was associated with using fewer community resources and fewer initiatives to promote parent-child relationships. Interest in pediatric mental health was associated with using more initiatives to promote healthy parent-child relationships, screening tools, and community resources. Although the majority of pediatricians perceive barriers to promoting EBCD, few are routinely using available resources to address these barriers. Addressing pediatricians' perceived barriers and encouraging interest in pediatric mental health may increase resource utilization and enhance efforts to promote EBCD. Copyright © 2016 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ebb and Flow in Parent-Child Interactions: Shifts from Early through Middle Childhood

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Bradley, Robert H.; Pennar, Amy; Iida, Masumi

2015-01-01

Objective This study documents the strength of relations between key parent and child behaviors as they occur during typical encounters for both mothers and fathers and determines whether there were shifts in the strength of relations between parent and child behaviors during early and middle childhood. Design Multivariate multi-level modeling was used to examine associations between three parent behaviors (respect for autonomy, stimulation of development, hostility) and two child behaviors (agency, negativity) as they occurred in typical parent-child activities at four time points from 54 months through 5th grade for 817 families. Results For mothers and fathers, respect for autonomy and stimulation were associated with child agency. Paternal hostility was negatively associated with child agency, but for mothers the relation became more positive with age. Parental respect for autonomy and hostility were associated with child negativity for both mothers and fathers; however, for mothers, relations between autonomy support and child negativity became more positive, and relations between hostility and child negativity became less positive. Conclusions There are clear shifts in the strength of relations between some parenting behaviors and child behaviors from early to middle childhood, indicative of a changing dialectic as children become more independent and different dialectics for mothers and fathers. Parenting behavior links to child competence and adaptive behavior, and the findings may help resolve some uncertainties about relations between parental behavior and children's developmental trajectories. PMID:26877717

Early Inherited Risk for Anxiety Moderates the Association between Fathers’ Child-Centered Parenting and Early Social Inhibition

Science.gov (United States)

Brooker, Rebecca J.; Alto, Kathleen M.; Marceau, Kristine; Najjar, Reema; Leve, Leslie D.; Ganiban, Jody M.; Shaw, Daniel S.; Reiss, David; Neiderhiser, Jenae M.

2016-01-01

Studies of the role of the early environment in shaping children’s risk for anxiety problems have produced mixed results. It is possible that inconsistencies in previous findings result from a lack of consideration of a putative role for inherited influences moderators on the impact of early experiences. Early inherited influences not only contribute to vulnerabilities for anxiety problems throughout the lifespan, but can also modulate the ways that the early environment impacts child outcomes. In the current study, we tested the effects of child-centered parenting behaviors on putative anxiety risk in young children who differed in levels of inherited vulnerability. We tested this using a parent-offspring adoption design and a sample in which risk for anxiety problems and parenting behaviors were assessed in both mothers and fathers. Inherited influences on anxiety problems were assessed as anxiety symptoms in biological parents. Child-centered parenting was observed in adoptive mothers and fathers when children were 9 months old. Social inhibition, an early temperament marker of anxiety risk, was observed at child ages 9 and 18 months. Inherited influences on anxiety problems moderated the link between paternal child-centered parenting during infancy and social inhibition in toddlerhood. For children whose birth parents reported high levels of anxiety symptoms, greater child-centered parenting in adoptive fathers was related to greater social inhibition 9 months later. For children whose birth parents reported low levels of anxiety symptoms, greater child-centered parenting in adoptive fathers was related to less social inhibition across the same period. PMID:27572913

Early inherited risk for anxiety moderates the association between fathers' child-centered parenting and early social inhibition.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooker, R J; Alto, K M; Marceau, K; Najjar, R; Leve, L D; Ganiban, J M; Shaw, D S; Reiss, D; Neiderhiser, J M

2016-12-01

Studies of the role of the early environment in shaping children's risk for anxiety problems have produced mixed results. It is possible that inconsistencies in previous findings result from a lack of consideration of a putative role for inherited influences moderators on the impact of early experiences. Early inherited influences not only contribute to vulnerabilities for anxiety problems throughout the lifespan, but can also modulate the ways that the early environment impacts child outcomes. In the current study, we tested the effects of child-centered parenting behaviors on putative anxiety risk in young children who differed in levels of inherited vulnerability. We tested this using a parent-offspring adoption design and a sample in which risk for anxiety problems and parenting behaviors were assessed in both mothers and fathers. Inherited influences on anxiety problems were assessed as anxiety symptoms in biological parents. Child-centered parenting was observed in adoptive mothers and fathers when children were 9 months old. Social inhibition, an early temperament marker of anxiety risk, was observed at child ages 9 and 18 months. Inherited influences on anxiety problems moderated the link between paternal child-centered parenting during infancy and social inhibition in toddlerhood. For children whose birth parents reported high levels of anxiety symptoms, greater child-centered parenting in adoptive fathers was related to greater social inhibition 9 months later. For children whose birth parents reported low levels of anxiety symptoms, greater child-centered parenting in adoptive fathers was related to less social inhibition across the same period.

Mothers' perceived physical health during early and middle childhood: relations with child developmental delay and behavior problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenhower, Abbey; Blacher, Jan; Baker, Bruce L

2013-03-01

The self-perceived physical health of mothers raising children with developmental delay (DD; N=116) or typical development (TD; N=129) was examined across child ages 3-9 years, revealing three main findings. First, mothers of children with DD experienced poorer self-rated physical health than mothers of children with TD at each age. Latent growth curve analyses indicated that mothers in the DD group experienced poorer health from age 3 but that the two groups showed similar growth across ages 3-9 years. Second, cross-lagged panel analyses supported a child-driven pathway in early childhood (ages 3-5) by which early mother-reported child behavior problems predicted poorer maternal health over time, while the reversed, health-driven path was not supported. Third, this cross-lagged path was significantly stronger in the DD group, indicating that behavior problems more strongly impact mothers' health when children have developmental delay than when children have typical development. The health disparity between mothers of children with DD vs. TD stabilized by child age 5 and persisted across early and middle childhood. Early interventions ought to focus on mothers' well-being, both psychological and physical, in addition to child functioning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mother-Child Interaction and Resilience in Children with Early Developmental Risk

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Fenning, Rachel M.; Baker, Jason K.

2014-01-01

Although prenatal and genetic factors make strong contributions to the emergence of intellectual disability (ID), children's early environment may have the potential to alter developmental trajectories and to foster resilience in children with early risk. The present study examined mother-child interaction and the promotion of competence in 50 children with early developmental delays. Three related but distinct aspects of mother-child interaction were considered: maternal technical scaffolding, maternal positive-sensitivity, and mother-child dyadic pleasure. Children were classified as exhibiting undifferentiated delays at age three based upon performance on developmental assessments and the absence of known genetic syndromes. Mother-child interaction was assessed at age four through observational ratings of structured laboratory tasks and through naturalistic home observations. ID was identified at age five using the dual criteria of clinically significant delays in cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior. Maternal technical scaffolding and dyadic pleasure each uniquely predicted reduced likelihood of later ID, beyond the contributions of children's early developmental level and behavioral functioning. Follow-up analyses suggested that mother-child interaction was primarily important to resilience in the area of adaptive behavior, with scaffolding and dyadic pleasure differentially associated with particular sub-domains. Implications for theories of intellectual disability and for family-based early intervention and prevention efforts are discussed. PMID:22662771

Links between early child maltreatment, mental disorders, and cortisol secretion anomalies.

Science.gov (United States)

Bronsard, Guillaume; Auquier, Pascal; Boyer, Laurent

2016-11-01

Early child maltreatment has been widely associated with the development of mental disorders in both childhood and adulthood. However, such association cannot be systematically established, as only few factors are observed regularly, such as high prevalence of comorbidities and externalized disorders. Similarly, the association between early abuse and cortisol secretion anomalies has been well-documented. Whereas early hypercortisolism followed by hypocortisolism was often described, the results proved inconsistent and at times contradictory. The physiopathological mechanisms are quite complex and varied, including mixed neurotoxicity and stress response anomalies, linked to circadian rhythm disturbances. One of the difficulties inherent to research on this topic is to better define maltreatment in childhood. Studying children's groups at risk of maltreatment, such as children followed by juvenile justice or in child welfare systems, could be a very good tool, provided that social, judiciary, and mental health professionals are able to work together and implement common research objectives. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Building human capacity through early childhood intervention: the Child Development Research Programme at the Tropical Medicine Research Institute, the University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, S P; Chang, S M; Powell, C A; Baker-Henningham, H

2012-07-01

Research conducted by the Child Development Research Group in the Tropical Medicine Research Institute has made significant contributions to the understanding of the importance of early nutrition and the home environment for children's development and the impact of psychosocial stimulation for disadvantaged and/or undernourished children. The work has provided critical evidence that has contributed to the increasing attention given to early childhood development in the work and policies of agencies such as the World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). This review concerns research which documented the impact of malnutrition on children's development and for the first time demonstrated the benefits and necessity of psychosocial stimulation for improvement in development. Subsequent research was critical in establishing the importance of linear growth retardation (stunting) as a risk factor for poor child development. A twenty-two-year study of stunted children has demonstrated benefits through to adulthood in areas such as educational attainment, mental health and reduced violent behaviour from an early childhood home visiting programme that works through mothers to promote their children's development. The group's research has also demonstrated that it is feasible and effective to integrate the stimulation intervention into primary care services with benefits to children's development and mothers'child rearing knowledge and practices. The group is currently conducting a study to provide information needed for scaling-up of parenting programmes through evaluation of a new approach to improving parenting through health centres and a modified home visit programme.

Child's Attachment to Mother as the Basis of Mental Development Typology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galina V. Burmenskaya

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The article shows the role of the attachment system (child-mother interactions in development of a wide spectrum of individual personality characteristics. Emotional attachment of the child to mother is considered as a complicated system of internal regulation and a basis of typology of mental development. Results of a series of empirical studies show the connection between the type of attachment, formed at the early stages of child development, and characteristics of his/her autonomy, consciousness (self-concept and self-esteem and empathy in preschool and middle childhood.

Early childhood parenting and child impulsivity as precursors to aggression, substance use, and risky sexual behavior in adolescence and early adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Hentges, Rochelle F; Shaw, Daniel S; Wang, Ming-Te

2017-11-20

The current study utilized a longitudinal design to explore the effect of early child impulsivity and rejecting parenting on the development of problematic behaviors in adolescence and early adulthood. Using a low-income sample of 310 mothers and their sons, we examined the direct and interactive effects of child impulsivity and rejecting parenting at age 2 on aggression and substance use at ages 12, 15, and 22, as well as risky sexual behavior at ages 15 and 22. Results revealed that rejecting parenting at age 2 predicted greater aggression at age 12 and risky sexual behavior at ages 15 and 22. Early impulsivity had few direct effects on later outcomes, with the exception of greater substance use at age 22. Instead, impulsivity emerged as a significant moderator in the link between rejecting parenting and aggression at all three ages and substance use at age 15. Specifically, early rejecting parenting predicted greater aggression and substance use only for children high in impulsivity. Findings highlight the potential for early child and parenting risk factors to have long-term implications for adjustment, with the combination of high impulsivity and rejecting parenting being particularly deleterious for problems of aggression throughout adolescence and into early adulthood.

Fathers' Leave, Fathers' Involvement and Child Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

del Carmen Huerta, Maria; Lausten, Mette; Baxter, Jennifer

involved’ perform better during the early years than their peers with less involved fathers. This paper analyses data of four OECD countries — Australia; Denmark; United Kingdom; United States — to describe how leave policies may influence father’s behaviours when children are young and whether...... their involvement translates into positive child cognitive and behavioural outcomes. This analysis shows that fathers’ leave, father’s involvement and child development are related. Fathers who take leave, especially those taking two weeks or more, are more likely to carry out childcare related activities when...

[Child maltreatment and new morbidity in pediatrics : Consequences for early child support and child protective interventions].

Science.gov (United States)

Kindler, Heinz

2016-10-01

The effects of child maltreatment on children's chronic health conditions have become more visible during recent years. This is true for mental health problems as well as some chronic physical conditions, both summarized as new morbidity within pediatrics. As several Bradford Hill criteria (criteria from epidemiology for the determination of the causal nature of a statistical association) are met, the likely causal nature of underlying associations is discussed. Early family support may have the potential to modify such associations, although empirical evidence is lacking. At least for attachment-based interventions with foster carerers after child maltreatment, positive effects on child HPA axis dysregulation have been demonstrated.

Science as an early driver of policy: child labor reform in the early Progressive Era, 1870-1900.

Science.gov (United States)

Perera, Frederica

2014-10-01

Scientific evidence is an increasingly important driver of social and environmental policy concerning child health. This trend began earlier than generally recognized. The child labor reform movement of the Gilded Age and early Progressive Era reflected not only moral and economic forces but also the dramatic advances during the later decades of the 19th century in scientific knowledge concerning children's biological and psychological vulnerability to environmental and psychosocial stressors. The growing importance of scientific information in shaping policy concerning children's health between 1870 and 1900 is illustrated by the events leading up to and following the New York State Child Labor Law of 1886. Child labor reform during this period was a critical step in the development of a science-based as well as a value-driven movement to protect children's environmental health and well-being that continues today.

Mothers' early depressive symptoms and children's first-grade adjustment: a transactional analysis of child withdrawal as a mediator.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Ni; Dix, Theodore

2014-05-01

The depression-inhibition hypothesis suggests that mothers' depressive symptoms undermine development because they lead children to withdraw from social contact. To test this, this study examined whether poor first-grade adjustment among children of mothers with depressive symptoms is mediated by the emergence of child withdrawal in early development. Based on 1,364 dyads, four waves of data spanning from 24 months to first grade (7 years) were used to examine paths by which children's withdrawal mediates relations between mothers' early depressive symptoms and three first-grade outcomes: social competence, academic performance, and externalizing behavior problems. Structural equation modeling revealed three principal paths. First, direct relations were observed: Mothers' depressive symptoms predicted early child withdrawal and increases in child withdrawal over time, which predicted poor first-grade adjustment. Second, reciprocal relations were observed: Mothers' depressive symptoms predicted child withdrawal, which predicted increases in depressive symptoms. Third, relations via mother-child mutual responsiveness were observed: Depression-related increases in child withdrawal predicted declines in mutual responsiveness, which predicted poor first-grade adjustment. The findings suggest that, due to its interdependence with maternal depression and low mother-child mutual responsiveness over time, child withdrawal may play an important role in the poor first-grade adjustment of children whose mothers are high in depressive symptoms. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. © 2013 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Executive Function in Adolescence: Associations with Child and Family Risk Factors and Self-Regulation in Early Childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Berthelsen, Donna; Hayes, Nicole; White, Sonia L J; Williams, Kate E

2017-01-01

Executive functions are important higher-order cognitive skills for goal-directed thought and action. These capacities contribute to successful school achievement and lifelong wellbeing. The importance of executive functions to children's education begins in early childhood and continues throughout development. This study explores contributions of child and family factors in early childhood to the development of executive function in adolescence. Analyses draw on data from the nationally representative study, Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children . Participants are 4819 children in the Kindergarten Cohort who were recruited at age 4-5 years. Path analyses were employed to examine contributions of early childhood factors, including family socio-economic position (SEP), parenting behaviors, maternal mental health, and a child behavioral risk index, to the development of executive function in adolescence. The influence of children's early self-regulatory behaviors (attentional regulation at 4-5 years and approaches to learning at 6-7 years) were also taken into account. A composite score for the outcome measure of executive function was constructed from scores on three Cogstate computerized tasks for assessing cognition and measured visual attention, visual working memory, and spatial problem-solving. Covariates included child gender, age at assessment of executive function, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, speaking a language other than English at home, and child's receptive vocabulary skills. There were significant indirect effects involving child and family risk factors measured at 4-5 years on executive function at age 14-15 years, mediated by measures of self-regulatory behavior. Child behavioral risk, family SEP and parenting behaviors (anger, warmth, and consistency) were associated with attentional regulation at 4-5 years which, in turn, was significantly associated with approaches to learning at 6-7 years. Both

Community engagement to enhance child survival and early development in low- and middle-income countries: an evidence review.

Science.gov (United States)

Farnsworth, S Katherine; Böse, Kirsten; Fajobi, Olaoluwa; Souza, Patricia Portela; Peniston, Anne; Davidson, Leslie L; Griffiths, Marcia; Hodgins, Stephen

2014-01-01

As part of a broader evidence summit, USAID and UNICEF convened a literature review of effective means to empower communities to achieve behavioral and social changes to accelerate reductions in under-5 mortality and optimize early child development. The authors conducted a systematic review of the effectiveness of community mobilization and participation that led to behavioral change and one or more of the following: child health, survival, and development. The level and nature of community engagement was categorized using two internationally recognized models and only studies where the methods of community participation could be categorized as collaborative or shared leadership were eligible for analysis. The authors identified 34 documents from 18 countries that met the eligibility criteria. Studies with shared leadership typically used a comprehensive community action cycle, whereas studies characterized as collaborative showed clear emphasis on collective action but did not undergo an initial process of community dialogue. The review concluded that programs working collaboratively or achieving shared leadership with a community can lead to behavior change and cost-effective sustained transformation to improve critical health behaviors and reduce poor health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Overall, community engagement is an understudied component of improving child outcomes.

The effects of early positive parenting and developmental delay status on child emotion dysregulation.

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Norona, A N; Baker, B L

2017-02-01

Emotion regulation has been identified as a robust predictor of adaptive functioning across a variety of domains (Aldao et al. ). Furthermore, research examining early predictors of competence and deficits in ER suggests that factors internal to the individual (e.g. neuroregulatory reactivity, behavioural traits and cognitive ability) and external to the individual (e.g. caregiving styles and explicit ER training) contribute to the development of ER (Calkins ). Many studies have focused on internal sources or external sources; however, few have studied them simultaneously within one model, especially in studies examining children with developmental delays (DD). Here, we addressed this specific research gap and examined the contributions of one internal factor and one external factor on emotion dysregulation outcomes in middle childhood. Specifically, our current study used structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine prospective, predictive relationships between DD status, positive parenting at age 4 years and child emotion dysregulation at age 7 years. Participants were 151 families in the Collaborative Family Study, a longitudinal study of young children with and without DD. A positive parenting factor was composed of sensitivity and scaffolding scores from mother-child interactions at home and in the research centre at child age 4 years. A child dysregulation factor was composed of a dysregulation code from mother-child interactions and a parent-report measure of ER and lability/negativity at age 7 years. Finally, we tested the hypothesis that positive parenting would mediate the relationship between DD and child dysregulation. Mothers of children with DD exhibited fewer sensitive and scaffolding behaviours compared with mothers of typically developing children, and children with DD were more dysregulated on all measures of ER. SEM revealed that both DD status and early positive parenting predicted emotion dysregulation in middle childhood. Furthermore

Development of a vocabulary of object shapes in a child with a very-early-acquired visual agnosia: a unique case.

Science.gov (United States)

Funnell, Elaine; Wilding, John

2011-02-01

We report a longitudinal study of an exceptional child (S.R.) whose early-acquired visual agnosia, following encephalitis at 8 weeks of age, did not prevent her from learning to construct an increasing vocabulary of visual object forms (drawn from different categories), albeit slowly. S.R. had problems perceiving subtle differences in shape; she was unable to segment local letters within global displays; and she would bring complex scenes close to her eyes: a symptom suggestive of an attempt to reduce visual crowding. Investigations revealed a robust ability to use the gestalt grouping factors of proximity and collinearity to detect fragmented forms in noisy backgrounds, compared with a very weak ability to segment fragmented forms on the basis of contrasts of shape. When contrasts in spatial grouping and shape were pitted against each other, shape made little contribution, consistent with problems in perceiving complex scenes, but when shape contrast was varied, and spatial grouping was held constant, S.R. showed the same hierarchy of difficulty as the controls, although her responses were slowed. This is the first report of a child's visual-perceptual development following very early neurological impairments to the visual cortex. Her ability to learn to perceive visual shape following damage at a rudimentary stage of perceptual development contrasts starkly with the loss of such ability in childhood cases of acquired visual agnosia that follow damage to the established perceptual system. Clearly, there is a critical period during which neurological damage to the highly active, early developing visual-perceptual system does not prevent but only impairs further learning.

Genetic Moderation of Early Child-Care Effects on Social Functioning Across Childhood: A Developmental Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Belsky, Jay; Pluess, Michael

2013-01-01

Data from 508 Caucasian children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development shows that the DRD4 (but not 5-HTTLPR) polymorphism moderates the effect of child-care quality (but not quantity or type) on caregiver-reported externalizing problems at 54 months and in kindergarten and teacher-reported social skills at kindergarten and…

Timing of high-quality child care and cognitive, language, and preacademic development

OpenAIRE

Li, W; Farkas, G; Duncan, GJ; Burchinal, MR; Vandell, DL

2013-01-01

The effects of high- versus low-quality child care during 2 developmental periods (infant-toddlerhood and preschool) were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Propensity score matching was used to account for differences in families who used different combinations of child care quality during the 2 developmental periods. Findings indicated that cognitive, language, and preacademic skills prior to school entry were hig...

The role of nutrition in integrated early child development in the 21st century: contribution from the Maternal and Child Nutrition journal.

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Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael; Moran, Victoria Hall

2017-01-01

Even though it is widely recognized that early childhood development (ECD) is one of the most important predictors of future social capital and national productivity, the recently published ECD Lancet Series reports that about 250 million children under 5 years are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential, mainly as a result of poverty and social injustice. So why is this and what will it take to reverse this situation? The purpose of this special issue is to highlight important contributions from previously published articles in Maternal & Child Nutrition to the field of nutrition and ECD. The collection of papers presented in this special issue collectively indicates that although nutrition-specific interventions are essential for child development, they are not sufficient by themselves for children to reach their full developmental potential. This is because ECD is influenced by many other factors besides nutrition, including hand washing/sanitation, parenting skills, psychosocial stimulation, and social protection. Future research should focus on mixed-methods implementation science seeking to understand how best to translate evidence-based integrated ECD packages into effective intersectoral policies and programs on a large scale. In addition to health and nutrition, these programs need to consider and include responsive parenting (including responsive feeding), learning stimulation, education, and social protection. Future studies should also address if and how childhood obesity affects human physical, socioemotional, and cognitive development. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A job analysis of community health workers in the context of integrated nutrition and early child development.

Science.gov (United States)

Phuka, John; Maleta, Kenneth; Thomas, Mavuto; Gladstone, Melisa

2014-01-01

Stunting and poor child development are major public health concerns in Malawi. Integrated nutrition and early child development (ECD) interventions have shown potential to reduce stunting, but it is not known how these integrated approaches can be implemented in Malawi. In this paper, we aimed to evaluate the current jobs status of community health workers and their potential to implement integrated approaches. This was accomplished by a desk review of nutrition and ECD policy documents, as well as interviews with key informants, community health workers, and community members. We found that Malawi has comprehensive policies and well-outlined coordination structures for nutrition and ECD that advocate for integrated approaches. Strong multidisciplinary interaction exists at central levels but not at the community level. Integration of community health workers from different sectors is limited by workload, logistics, and a lack of synchronized work schedules. Favorable, sound policies and well-outlined coordination structures alone are not enough for the establishment of integrated nutrition and ECD activities. Balanced bureaucratic structures, improved task allocation, and synchronization of work schedules across all relevant sectors are needed for integrated intervention in Malawi. © 2014 New York Academy of Sciences.

Shedding Further Light on the Effects of Various Types and Quality of Early Child Care on Infant-Mother Attachment Relationship: The Haifa Study of Early Child Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Sagi, Abraham; Koren-Karie, Nina; Gini, Motti; Ziv, Yair; Joels, Tirtsa

2002-01-01

The Haifa Study of Early Child Care examined the unique contribution of various child-care-related correlates to infant-mother attachment. Findings indicated that, after controlling for other potential contributing variables (including mother characteristics, mother-child interaction, and mother- father relationship), center care adversely…

Early father's and mother's involvement and child's later educational outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Flouri, Eirini; Buchanan, Ann

2004-06-01

Few studies have investigated the individual long-term contributions that mothers and fathers make to their children's schooling. (1) To explore the role of early father involvement in children's later educational attainment independently of the role of early mother involvement and other confounds, (2) to investigate whether gender and family structure moderate the relationship between father's and mother's involvement and child's educational attainment, and (3) to explore whether the impact of father's involvement depends on the level of mother's involvement. The study used longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study. The initial sample were those 7,259 cohort members with valid data on mother involvement at age 7, father involvement at age 7, and school-leaving qualification by age 20. Of those, 3,303 were included in the final analysis. The measures were control variables, structural factors (family structure, sibship size and residential mobility), child factors (emotional/behavioural problems, cognitive ability and academic motivation), and father's and mother's involvement. Father involvement and mother involvement at age 7 independently predicted educational attainment by age 20. The association between parents' involvement and educational attainment was not stronger for sons than for daughters. Father involvement was not more important for educational attainment when mother involvement was low rather than high. Not growing up in intact two-parent family did not weaken the association between father's or mother's involvement and educational outcomes. Early father involvement can be another protective factor in counteracting risk conditions that might lead to later low attainment levels.

Latent profiles of early developmental vulnerabilities in a New South Wales child population at age 5 years.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Melissa J; Tzoumakis, Stacy; Laurens, Kristin R; Dean, Kimberlie; Kariuki, Maina; Harris, Felicity; O'Reilly, Nicole; Chilvers, Marilyn; Brinkman, Sally A; Carr, Vaughan J

2018-06-01

Detecting the early emergence of childhood risk for adult mental disorders may lead to interventions for reducing subsequent burden of these disorders. We set out to determine classes of children who may be at risk for later mental disorder on the basis of early patterns of development in a population cohort, and associated exposures gleaned from linked administrative records obtained within the New South Wales Child Development Study. Intergenerational records from government departments of health, education, justice and child protection were linked with the Australian Early Development Census for a state population cohort of 67,353 children approximately 5 years of age. We used binary data from 16 subdomains of the Australian Early Development Census to determine classes of children with shared patterns of Australian Early Development Census-defined vulnerability using latent class analysis. Covariates, which included demographic features (sex, socioeconomic status) and exposure to child maltreatment, parental mental illness, parental criminal offending and perinatal adversities (i.e. birth complications, smoking during pregnancy, low birth weight), were examined hierarchically within latent class analysis models. Four classes were identified, reflecting putative risk states for mental disorders: (1) disrespectful and aggressive/hyperactive behaviour, labelled 'misconduct risk' ( N = 4368; 6.5%); (2) 'pervasive risk' ( N = 2668; 4.0%); (3) 'mild generalised risk' ( N = 7822; 11.6%); and (4) 'no risk' ( N = 52,495; 77.9%). The odds of membership in putative risk groups (relative to the no risk group) were greater among children from backgrounds of child maltreatment, parental history of mental illness, parental history of criminal offending, socioeconomic disadvantage and perinatal adversities, with distinguishable patterns of association for some covariates. Patterns of early childhood developmental vulnerabilities may provide useful indicators

Parents' Role in the Early Head Start Children's Language Development

Science.gov (United States)

Griswold, Cecelia Smalls

2014-01-01

The development of language during a child's early years has been linked to parental involvement. While Early Head Start (EHS) researchers have theorized that parental involvement is an important factor in language development, there has been little research on how parents view their roles in the language development process. The purpose of this…

Early life programming as a target for prevention of child and adolescent mental disorders

OpenAIRE

Lewis, Andrew James; Galbally, Megan; Gannon, Tara; Symeonides, Christos

2014-01-01

This paper concerns future policy development and programs of research for the prevention of mental disorders based on research emerging from fetal and early life programming. The current review offers an overview of findings on pregnancy exposures such as maternal mental health, lifestyle factors, and potential teratogenic and neurotoxic exposures on child outcomes. Outcomes of interest are common child and adolescent mental disorders including hyperactive, behavioral and emotional disorders...

Research priority setting for integrated early child development and violence prevention (ECD+) in low and middle income countries: An expert opinion exercise.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomlinson, Mark; Jordans, Mark; MacMillan, Harriet; Betancourt, Theresa; Hunt, Xanthe; Mikton, Christopher

2017-10-01

Child development in low and middle income countries (LMIC) is compromised by multiple risk factors. Reducing children's exposure to harmful events is essential for early childhood development (ECD). In particular, preventing violence against children - a highly prevalent risk factor that negatively affects optimal child development - should be an intervention priority. We used the Child Health and Nutrition Initiative (CHNRI) method for the setting of research priorities in integrated Early Childhood Development and violence prevention programs (ECD+). An expert group was identified and invited to systematically list and score research questions. A total of 186 stakeholders were asked to contribute five research questions each, and contributions were received from 81 respondents. These were subsequently evaluated using a set of five criteria: answerability; effectiveness; feasibility and/or affordability; applicability and impact; and equity. Of the 400 questions generated, a composite group of 50 were scored by 55 respondents. The highest scoring research questions related to the training of Community Health Workers (CHW's) to deliver ECD+ interventions effectively and whether ECD+ interventions could be integrated within existing delivery platforms such as HIV, nutrition or mental health platforms. The priority research questions can direct new research initiatives, mainly in focusing on the effectiveness of an ECD+ approach, as well as on service delivery questions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic exercise of its kind in the field of ECD+. The findings from this research priority setting exercise can help guide donors and other development actors towards funding priorities for important future research related to ECD and violence prevention. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Science as an Early Driver of Policy: Child Labor Reform in the Early Progressive Era, 1870–1900

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Scientific evidence is an increasingly important driver of social and environmental policy concerning child health. This trend began earlier than generally recognized. The child labor reform movement of the Gilded Age and early Progressive Era reflected not only moral and economic forces but also the dramatic advances during the later decades of the 19th century in scientific knowledge concerning children’s biological and psychological vulnerability to environmental and psychosocial stressors. The growing importance of scientific information in shaping policy concerning children’s health between 1870 and 1900 is illustrated by the events leading up to and following the New York State Child Labor Law of 1886. Child labor reform during this period was a critical step in the development of a science-based as well as a value-driven movement to protect children’s environmental health and well-being that continues today. PMID:25121809

Niche Marketing: Branding Your Early Child Care and Education Business without Getting Burned

Science.gov (United States)

Wassom, Julie

2004-01-01

Branding in the early child care and education marketplace is very similar to branding on the farm. It refers to the specific image the company develops and promotes to make services unique, recognizable, and memorable in the minds of prospects and customers. This article discusses how to establish a niche in a business, develop a brand, and…

CDC Kerala 1: Organization of clinical child development services (1987-2013).

Science.gov (United States)

Nair, M K C; George, Babu; Nair, G S Harikumaran; Bhaskaran, Deepa; Leena, M L; Russell, Paul Swamidhas Sudhakar

2014-12-01

The main objective of establishing the Child Development Centre (CDC), Kerala for piloting comprehensive child adolescent development program in India, has been to understand the conceptualization, design and scaling up of a pro-active positive child development initiative, easily replicable all over India. The process of establishing the Child Development Centre (CDC) Kerala for research, clinical services, training and community extension services over the last 25 y, has been as follows; Step 1: Conceptualization--The life cycle approach to child development; Step 2: Research basis--CDC model early stimulation is effective; Step 3: Development and validation of seven simple developmental screening tools; Step 4: CDC Diagnostic services--Ultrasonology and genetic, and metabolic laboratory; Step 5: Developing seven intervention packages; Step 6: Training--Post graduate diploma in clinical child development; Step 7: CDC Clinic Services--seven major ones; Step 8: CDC Community Services--Child development referral units; Step 9: Community service delivery models--Childhood disability and for adolescent care counselling projects; Step 10: National capacity building--Four child development related courses. CDC Kerala follow-up and clinic services are offered till 18 y of age and premarital counselling till 24 y of age as shown in "CDC Kerala Clinic Services Flow Chart" and 74,291 children have availed CDC clinic services in the last 10 y. CDC Kerala is the first model for comprehensive child adolescent development services using a lifecycle approach in the Government sector and hence declared as the collaborative centre for Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), in Kerala.

National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education

Science.gov (United States)

... National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC) at the University of Colorado College of ... National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education Email: info@NRCKids.org Please read our disclaimer ...

Implementing an Inpatient Social Early Warning System for Child Maltreatment

Science.gov (United States)

Atabaki, Armita; Heddaeus, Daniela; Metzner, Franka; Schulz, Holger; Siefert, Sonke; Pawils, Silke

2013-01-01

Objectives: The current article describes the process evaluation of a social early warning system (SEWS) for the prevention of child maltreatment in the federal state of Hamburg. This prevention initiative targets expectant mothers and their partners including an initial screening of risk factors for child maltreatment, a subsequent structured…

Rethinking Early Learning and Development Standards in the Ugandan Context

Science.gov (United States)

Ejuu, Godfrey

2013-01-01

Concerns that the African child is being tailored to be a "global child," alongside other homogenizing and dominating projections, such as early learning and development standards (ELDS), have increased. African communities need to be assured that global standards and global indicators will not further homogenize nations and thereby risk…

Mother's time allocation, child care and child cognitive development

OpenAIRE

BRILLI, Ylenia

2015-01-01

This paper analyzes the effects of maternal employment and non-parental child care on child cognitive development, taking into account the mother's time allocation between leisure and child-care time. I estimate a behavioral model, in which maternal labor supply, non-parental child care, goods expenditure and time allocation decisions are considered to be endogenous choices of the mother. The child cognitive development depends on maternal and non-parental child care and on the goods bought f...

Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) through a professional development programme for early childhood educators to improve professional practice and child outcomes in the year before formal schooling: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Melhuish, Edward; Howard, Steven J; Siraj, Iram; Neilsen-Hewett, Cathrine; Kingston, Denise; de Rosnay, Marc; Duursma, Elisabeth; Luu, Betty

2016-12-19

A substantial research base documents the benefits of attendance at high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) for positive behavioural and learning outcomes. Research has also found that the quality of many young children's experiences and opportunities in ECEC depends on the skills, dispositions and understandings of the early childhood adult educators. Increasingly, research has shown that the quality of children's interactions with educators and their peers, more than any other programme feature, influence what children learn and how they feel about learning. Hence, we sought to investigate the extent to which evidence-based professional development (PD) - focussed on promoting sustained shared thinking through quality interactions - could improve the quality of ECEC and, as a consequence, child outcomes. The Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) study is a cluster randomised controlled trial for evaluating the benefits of a professional development (PD) programme for early childhood educators, compared with no extra PD. Ninety long-day care and preschool centres in New South Wales, Australia, will be selected to ensure representation across National Quality Standards (NQS) ratings, location, centre type and socioeconomic areas. Participating centres will be randomly allocated to one of two groups, stratified by centre type and NQS rating: (1) an intervention group (45 centres) receiving a PD intervention or (2) a control group (45 centres) that continues engaging in typical classroom practice. Randomisation to these groups will occur after the collection of baseline environmental quality ratings. Primary outcomes, at the child level, will be two measures of language development: verbal comprehension and expressive vocabulary. Secondary outcomes at the child level will be measures of early numeracy, social development and self-regulation. Secondary outcomes at the ECEC room level will be measures of environmental quality derived from full

Risks and Outcomes Associated with Disorganized/Controlling Patterns of Attachment at Age Three in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

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O'Connor, Erin; Bureau, Jean-Francois; McCartney, Kathleen; Lyons-Ruth, Karlen

2011-07-01

Disorganized/controlling attachment in preschool has been found to be associated with maternal and child maladjustment, making it of keen interest in the study of psychopathology. Additional work is needed, however, to better understand disorganized/controlling attachment occurring as early as age three. The primary aims of this study were to evaluate risk factors and outcomes associated with disorganized/controlling behavior at age three and to evaluate the risk factors and outcomes differentiating the four subtypes of disorganized/controlling attachment. Analyses were conducted with the first two phases of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a prospective study of 1,364 children from birth. At 36 months of age, across the attachment-relevant domains of maternal well-being, mother-child interactions, and child social adaptation, the disorganized/controlling group evidenced the most maladaptive patterns in comparison to both secure and insecure-organized groups. At 54 months of age, the disorganized/controlling group displayed the highest levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, as rated by mothers and teachers, and the lowest quality relationships with teachers. Significant differences found among the disorganized/controlling subtypes indicated that the behaviorally disorganized and controlling-punitive subtypes had more maladaptive patterns across variables than did the controlling-caregiving and controlling-mixed subtypes.

Maternal Employment and Child Cognitive Outcomes in the First Three Years of Life: The NICHD Study of Early Child Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; Han, Wen-Jui; Waldfogel, Jane

2002-01-01

Examined data on 900 European American children from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care to explore links between maternal employment during the child's first year and child cognitive outcomes. Found that maternal employment by the child's ninth month related to lower school readiness scores at 36 months, with more pronounced effects for certain…

An Ecological Risk Model for Early Childhood Anxiety: The Importance of Early Child Symptoms and Temperament

Science.gov (United States)

Mian, Nicholas D.; Wainwright, Laurel; Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J.; Carter, Alice S.

2011-01-01

Childhood anxiety is impairing and associated with later emotional disorders. Studying risk factors for child anxiety may allow earlier identification of at-risk children for prevention efforts. This study applied an ecological risk model to address how early childhood anxiety symptoms, child temperament, maternal anxiety and depression symptoms,…

The French-Farsi Simultaneous Early Bilingualism in an Iranian Child--Study on the Regularity of the Presence of the Minority Language in the First Lexical Productions of a Bilingual Child

Science.gov (United States)

Jalilian, Sahar; Rahmatian, Rouhollah; Safa, Parivash; Letafati, Roya

2017-01-01

In a simultaneous bilingual education, there are many factors that can affect its success, primarily the age of the child and socio-cognitive elements. This phenomenon can be initially studied in the first lexical productions of either language in a child. The present study focuses on the early lexical developments of a child, who lives in the…

A Longitudinal Study of Maternal and Child Internalizing Symptoms Predicting Early Adolescent Emotional Eating.

Science.gov (United States)

Kidwell, Katherine M; Nelson, Timothy D; Nelson, Jennifer Mize; Espy, Kimberly Andrews

2017-05-01

To examine maternal and child internalizing symptoms as predictors of early adolescent emotional eating in a longitudinal framework spanning three critical developmental periods (preschool, elementary school, and early adolescence). Participants were 170 children recruited at preschool age for a longitudinal study. When children were 5.25 years, their mothers completed ratings of their own internalizing symptoms. During the spring of 4th grade, children completed measures of internalizing symptoms. In early adolescence, youth completed a measure of emotional eating. Maternal and child internalizing symptoms predicted adolescent emotional eating. The results indicated that child psychopathology moderated the association between maternal psychopathology (except for maternal anxiety) and early adolescent emotional eating. There was no evidence of mediation. Pediatric psychologists are encouraged to provide early screening of, and interventions for, maternal and child internalizing symptoms to prevent children's emotional eating. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Evaluating the impact of a community developed collaborative project for the prevention of early childhood caries: the Healthy Smile Happy Child project.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroth, Robert J; Edwards, Jeanette M; Brothwell, Douglas J; Yakiwchuk, Carol A; Bertone, Mary F; Mellon, Bernadette; Ward, Jennifer; Ellis, Marion; Hai-Santiago, Khalida; Lawrence, Herenia P; Moffatt, Michael E

2015-01-01

To determine the effectiveness of the Healthy Smile Happy Child (HSHC) project, a community-developed initiative promoting early childhood oral health in Manitoba, Canada. Specific aims were to assess improvements in caregiver knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours relating to early childhood oral health, and the burden of early childhood caries (ECC) and severe ECC (S-ECC). A serial cross-sectional study design was selected to contrast findings following the Healthy Smile Happy Child (HSHC) campaign in four communities with the previous baseline data. One community was a remote First Nation in northern Manitoba and another was a rural First Nation in southern Manitoba. The other two communities were urban centres, one of which was located in northern Manitoba. A community-development approach was adopted for the project to foster community solutions to address ECC. Goals of the HSHC program were to promote the project in each community, use existing community-based programs and services to deliver the oral health promotion and ECC prevention activities, and recruit and train natural leaders to assist in program development and to deliver the ECC prevention program. The HSHC coordinator worked with communities to develop a comprehensive list of potential strategies to address ECC. Numerous activities occurred in each community to engage members and increase their knowledge of early childhood oral health and ultimately lead them to adopt preventive oral health practices for their young children. Children under 71 months of age and their primary caregivers participated in this follow-up study. A -value ≤0.05 was statistically significant. 319 children (mean age 38.2±18.6 months) and their primary caregivers participated. Significant improvements in caregiver knowledge and attitudes were observed following the HSHC campaign, including that baby teeth are important (98.8%), that decay involving primary teeth can impact on health (94.3%), and the importance of a dental

The Complex Interaction between Home Environment, Socioeconomic Status, Maternal IQ and Early Child Neurocognitive Development: A Multivariate Analysis of Data Collected in a Newborn Cohort Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca Ronfani

Full Text Available The relative role of socioeconomic status (SES, home environment and maternal intelligence, as factors affecting child cognitive development in early childhood is still unclear. The aim of this study is to analyze the association of SES, home environment and maternal IQ with child neurodevelopment at 18 months.The data were collected prospectively in the PHIME study, a newborn cohort study carried out in Italy between 2007 and 2010. Maternal nonverbal abilities (IQ were evaluated using the Standard Progressive Matrices, a version of the Raven's Progressive Matrices; a direct evaluation of the home environment was carried out with the AIRE instrument, designed using the HOME (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment model; the socioeconomic characteristics were evaluated using the SES index which takes into account parents occupation, type of employment, educational level, homeownership. The study outcome was child neurodevelopment evaluated at 18 months, with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Third Edition (BSID III. Linear regression analyses and mediation analyses were carried out to evaluate the association between the three exposures, and the scaled scores of the three main scales of BSID III (cognitive, language and motor scale, with adjustment for a wide range of potential explanatory variables.Data from 502 mother-child pairs were analyzed. Mediation analysis showed a relationship between SES and maternal IQ, with a complete mediation effect of home environment in affecting cognitive and language domains. A direct significant effect of maternal IQ on the BSID III motor development scale and the mediation effect of home environment were found.Our results show that home environment was the variable with greater influence on neurodevelopment at 18 months. The observation of how parents and children interact in the home context is crucial to adequately evaluate early child development.

Knowledge of Child Abuse and Reporting Practices among Early Care and Education Providers

Science.gov (United States)

Dinehart, Laura; Kenny, Maureen C.

2015-01-01

This study sought to assess child abuse knowledge and reporting practices of a diverse sample of early care and education (ECE) practitioners. One hundred and thirty-seven practitioners in the state of Florida completed the "Early Childhood Educators Child Abuse Questionnaire." Results revealed that only a minority of participants have…

The Future of Child Development Lab Schools: Applied Developmental Science in Action

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Barbour, Nancy, Ed.; McBride, Brent A., Ed.

2017-01-01

Child development laboratory schools are found on college and university campuses throughout the U.S. Over the last century, they have acquired a long, rich history. Originally seen as settings for the new field of child study in the early 1900s, their functions have evolved over time. These programs often play a central role in supporting…

Executive Function in Adolescence: Associations with Child and Family Risk Factors and Self-Regulation in Early Childhood

Science.gov (United States)

Berthelsen, Donna; Hayes, Nicole; White, Sonia L. J.; Williams, Kate E.

2017-01-01

Executive functions are important higher-order cognitive skills for goal-directed thought and action. These capacities contribute to successful school achievement and lifelong wellbeing. The importance of executive functions to children’s education begins in early childhood and continues throughout development. This study explores contributions of child and family factors in early childhood to the development of executive function in adolescence. Analyses draw on data from the nationally representative study, Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Participants are 4819 children in the Kindergarten Cohort who were recruited at age 4–5 years. Path analyses were employed to examine contributions of early childhood factors, including family socio-economic position (SEP), parenting behaviors, maternal mental health, and a child behavioral risk index, to the development of executive function in adolescence. The influence of children’s early self-regulatory behaviors (attentional regulation at 4–5 years and approaches to learning at 6–7 years) were also taken into account. A composite score for the outcome measure of executive function was constructed from scores on three Cogstate computerized tasks for assessing cognition and measured visual attention, visual working memory, and spatial problem-solving. Covariates included child gender, age at assessment of executive function, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, speaking a language other than English at home, and child’s receptive vocabulary skills. There were significant indirect effects involving child and family risk factors measured at 4–5 years on executive function at age 14–15 years, mediated by measures of self-regulatory behavior. Child behavioral risk, family SEP and parenting behaviors (anger, warmth, and consistency) were associated with attentional regulation at 4–5 years which, in turn, was significantly associated with approaches to learning at 6

Executive Function in Adolescence: Associations with Child and Family Risk Factors and Self-Regulation in Early Childhood

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donna Berthelsen

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Executive functions are important higher-order cognitive skills for goal-directed thought and action. These capacities contribute to successful school achievement and lifelong wellbeing. The importance of executive functions to children’s education begins in early childhood and continues throughout development. This study explores contributions of child and family factors in early childhood to the development of executive function in adolescence. Analyses draw on data from the nationally representative study, Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Participants are 4819 children in the Kindergarten Cohort who were recruited at age 4–5 years. Path analyses were employed to examine contributions of early childhood factors, including family socio-economic position (SEP, parenting behaviors, maternal mental health, and a child behavioral risk index, to the development of executive function in adolescence. The influence of children’s early self-regulatory behaviors (attentional regulation at 4–5 years and approaches to learning at 6–7 years were also taken into account. A composite score for the outcome measure of executive function was constructed from scores on three Cogstate computerized tasks for assessing cognition and measured visual attention, visual working memory, and spatial problem-solving. Covariates included child gender, age at assessment of executive function, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, speaking a language other than English at home, and child’s receptive vocabulary skills. There were significant indirect effects involving child and family risk factors measured at 4–5 years on executive function at age 14–15 years, mediated by measures of self-regulatory behavior. Child behavioral risk, family SEP and parenting behaviors (anger, warmth, and consistency were associated with attentional regulation at 4–5 years which, in turn, was significantly associated with approaches

Clinical assessment of early language development: a simplified short form of the Mandarin communicative development inventory.

Science.gov (United States)

Soli, Sigfrid D; Zheng, Yun; Meng, Zhaoli; Li, Gang

2012-09-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a practical mean for clinical evaluation of early pediatric language development by establishing developmental trajectories for receptive and expressive vocabulary growth in children between 6 and 32 months of age using a simple, time-efficient assessment tool. Simplified short form versions of the Words and Gestures and Words and Sentences vocabulary inventories in the Mandarin Communicative Development Inventory [1] were developed and used to assess early language development in developmentally normal children from 6 to 32 months of age during routine health checks. Developmental trajectories characterizing the rate of receptive and expressive vocabulary growth between 6 and 32 months of age are reported. These trajectories allow the equivalent age corresponding to a score to be determined after a brief structured interview with the child's parents that can be conducted in a busy clinical setting. The simplified short forms of the Mandarin Communicative Development Inventories can serve as a clinically useful tool to assess early child language development, providing a practical mean of objectively assessing early language development following early interventions to treat young children with hearing impairment as well as speech and language delays. Objective evidence of language development is essential for achievement of effective (re)habilitation outcomes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Intergenerational Transmission of Parental Schooling and Child Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bingley, Paul; Christensen, Kaare; Jensen, Vibeke Myrup

Understanding the causal relationship between parental schooling and child development is important to create polices raising schooling level. We use unique Danish administrative data with information on identical twins to estimate the effect of parental schooling on short-run and long-run outcomes....... By applying within twin fixed effect techniques we are able to take heritable endowments transmitted from parent to child into account. We find OLS to be consistently upward biased due to endowments. Further, paternal schooling has no causal effect on infant and early childhood health but increases children...

Microcephaly and Zika virus: Neuroradiological aspects, clinical findings and a proposed framework for early evaluation of child development.

Science.gov (United States)

Cicuto Ferreira Rocha, Nelci Adriana; de Campos, Ana Carolina; Cicuto Ferreira Rocha, Fellipe; Pereira Dos Santos Silva, Fernanda

2017-11-01

As the recent outbreak of microcephaly cases caused by Zika virus has been declared a global health emergency, providing assessment guidelines for multidisciplinary teams providing early developmental screening and stimulation to infants with microcephaly is much needed. Thus, the aim of this manuscript is to provide an overview on what is known about neuroradiological aspects and clinical findings in infants with microcephaly caused by Zika virus and to propose a framework for early evaluation of child development. The keywords "Zika virus" and "microcephaly" were searched in PubMed database for articles published from incept to May 2017. These texts were reviewed, and the ones addressing neuroradiological and clinical findings in infants were selected. Recommendations for early assessment were made based on the International Classification of Functionality Disability and Health (ICF) model. The database search yielded 599 publications and 36 were selected. The studies detected microcephaly with diffuse brain malformations and calcifications, ventriculomegaly, optic nerve hypoplasia, macular atrophy, cataracts, impaired visual and hearing function, arthrogryposis, spasticity, hyperreflexia, irritability, tremors, and seizures, but very little is known about early development. Early assessments were described based on the ICF domains (Body Function and Structures, Activities and Participation and Contextual factors). Studies published showed abnormal brain, optic, neurologic and orthopedic findings, but very little is known about other aspects of functioning in infants with microcephaly caused by Zika virus. The biopsychosocial model based on the ICF paradigm provides an adequate framework to describe the condition of the infant with microcephaly receiving rehabilitative efforts to minimize disability. Efforts towards early identification of developmental delays should be taken within the first six months of life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Parental and Child Characteristics Related to Early-Onset Disordered Eating: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Larsen, Pernille Stemann; Strandberg-Larsen, Katrine; Micali, Nadia; Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo

2015-01-01

After participating in this activity, learners should be better able to: Evaluate the evidence regarding parental and child characteristics related to early-onset disordered eating. Eating disorders are rare in children, but disordered eating is common. Understanding the phenomenology of disordered eating in childhood can aid prevention of full-blown eating disorders. The purpose of this review is to systematically extract and synthesize the evidence on parental and child characteristics related to early-onset disordered eating. Systematic searches were conducted in PubMED/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycInfo using the following search terms: eating disorder, disordered eating, problem eating, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, child, preadolescent, and early onset. Studies published from 1990 to 2013 addressing parental and child characteristics of disordered eating in children aged 6 to 12 years were eligible for inclusion. The search was restricted to studies with cross-sectional, case-control, or longitudinal designs, studies in English, and with abstracts available. Forty-four studies fit these criteria. Most studies were based on community samples with a cross-sectional design. The included studies varied considerably in size, instruments used to assess early-onset disordered eating, and parental and child characteristics investigated. Important determinants included the following: higher body weight, previously reported disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, depression, parental disordered eating, and parental comments/concerns about child's weight and eating. The findings were inconsistent for sex, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, self-esteem/worth, and parental body weight. In conclusion, characteristics related to early-onset disordered eating have mainly been explored with a cross-sectional design. Full understanding of causal pathways will require good-quality longitudinal studies designed to address the influence of parental eating

Family Income Dynamics, Early Childhood Education and Care, and Early Child Behavior Problems in Norway

Science.gov (United States)

Zachrisson, Henrik D.; Dearing, Eric

2015-01-01

The sociopolitical context of Norway includes low poverty rates and universal access to subsidized and regulated Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). In this context, the association between family income dynamics and changes in early child behavior problems was investigated, as well as whether high-quality ECEC buffers children from the…

Between practice and theory: Melanie Klein, Anna Freud and the development of child analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Donaldson, G

1996-04-01

An examination of the early history of child analysis in the writings of Melanie Klein and Anna Freud reveals how two different and opposing approaches to child analysis arose at the same time. The two methods of child analysis are rooted in a differential emphasis on psychoanalytic theory and practice. The Kleinian method derives from the application of technique while the Anna Freudian method is driven by theory. Furthermore, by holding to the Freudian theory of child development Anna Freud was forced to limit the scope of child analysis, while Klein's application of Freudian practice has led to new discoveries about the development of the infant psyche.

You Get What You Get and You Don’t Throw A Fit!: Emotion Socialization and Child Physiology Jointly Predict Early Prosocial Development

OpenAIRE

Scrimgeour, Meghan B.; Davis, Elizabeth L.; Buss, Kristin A.

2015-01-01

Prosocial behavior in early childhood is a precursor to later adaptive social functioning. This investigation leveraged mother-reported, physiological, and observational data to examine children’s prosocial development from age 2 to age 4 (N = 125). Maternal emotion socialization (ES) strategies and children’s parasympathetic regulation have each been implicated in prosocial behavior, but are rarely examined together or prospectively. Given the transactional nature of parent-child relationshi...

The effect of early child care attendance on childhood asthma and wheezing: A meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Swartz, Alicia; Collier, Tina; Young, Chelsea Anne; Cruz, Eddie; Bekmezian, Arpi; Coffman, Janet; Celedon, Juan; Alkon, Abbey; Cabana, Michael D

2018-04-09

Research evidence offers mixed results regarding the relationship between early child care attendance and childhood asthma and wheezing. A meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the current research evidence of the association between early child care attendance and the risk of childhood asthma and wheezing. Peer reviewed studies published from 1964-January 2017 were identified in MEDLINE, CINAL, and EMBASE using MeSH headings relevant to child care and asthma. Two investigators independently reviewed the selected articles from this search. All relevant articles that met our inclusion criteria were selected for further analysis. Data were extracted from studies that had sufficient data to analyze the odds of asthma or wheezing among children who attended child care. The meta-analysis of 32 studies found that (1) early child care attendance is protective against asthma in children 3-5 years of age but not for children with asthma 6 years of age or older. (2) Early child care attendance increases the risk of wheezing among children 2 years of age or younger, but not the risk of wheezing for children over 2 years of age. This meta-analysis shows that early child care attendance is not significantly associated with the risk of asthma or wheeze in children 6 years of age or older.

CDC Kerala 14: Early child care practices at home among children (2-6 y) with autism--a case control study.

Science.gov (United States)

George, Babu; Padmam, M S Razeena; Nair, M K C; Leena, M L; Russell, Paul Swamidhas Sudhakar

2014-12-01

To compare early child care practices at home as possible risk factors among children between 2 and 6 y of age with autism and a control group of normal children without any symptom of autism, presenting at the well-baby/immunization clinic. This case control study was undertaken at the autism clinic of CDC Kerala, comparing possible risk factors for autism among 143 children between 2 and 6 y with autism as per CARS criteria and a control group of 200 normal children of the same age from well-baby/immunization clinic of SAT hospital. The data was collected using a structured pre-piloted questionnaire, which included 11 questions administered by the same senior social scientist, on early child care practices at home that have been universally considered as important for child development. On multivariate analysis on early child care practices at home as possible risk factors for autism, it was observed that statistically significant high odds ratios were present for (i) no outings (OR = 3.36; 95% CI: 1.39-8.16; p 0.007); (ii) child does not play with children of same age (OR = 19.57; 95% CI: 9.50-40.32); (iii) do not tell stories/sing songs to the child (OR = 3.21; 9 % CI: 1.61-6.41); and (iv) breastfeeding duration nil/ early child care practices at home, specifically breastfeeding duration nil/ child does not play with children of same age, do not tell stories/sing songs to the child and no outings for the child are possible risk factors for autism.

Mothers’ labor market choices and child development outcomes in Chile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah A. Reynolds

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines associations between labor market participation of Chilean mothers and the cognitive, language, and socio-economic development of their children. Using a nationally-representative sample of 3-year-old children, we test if mothers’ work intensity in the two previous years is associated with child development outcomes; data were collected in 2010 when children were one year old, and again in 2012, when they were three years old. We find that children who were three years old with mothers who worked for higher fractions of their children’s lives in the previous two years perform significantly better on all tests (cognitive, language, socio-emotional than children whose mothers had worked less, while controlling for baseline test performance. These main effects did not remain significant with the inclusion of a wide range of socio-economic, demographic control variables, however. Our results were similarly null when using an IV analysis or a propensity score matching approach. We provide descriptive information on theoretical pathways by which maternal work may influence child development. Though several of these pathways (e.g. preschool, toys, maternal stress seem to be associated with both maternal work and child development outcomes, the pathways are not sufficiently strong to generate an association between maternal work and child development. We conclude that Chilean mothers’ employment in early childhood generally does not have an effect on child development.

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS): harbinger of safe motherhood and child development.

Science.gov (United States)

Lal, S

1993-01-01

Editorial comment was provided on the features that made the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program in India unique and on whether or not the system could focus on younger age groups (e.g., 2-3 years of age). As part of a worldwide effort, India's ICDS program has been directed to human resource development. Over the past 17 years, the program has expanded to include almost 50% of the country's most vulnerable and deprived population. The focus on children aimed to improve their nutrition and health by reducing the incidence of morbidity, mortality, malnutrition, and school dropouts. The concern encompassed physical, social, and psychological development. The focus on mothers stressed enabling them to better care for the health and nutrition of their children. The program included prenatal care, safe delivery, and post natal concern for lactation, breast feeding, and physical growth monitoring in the early years. The program's unique features were its voluntary membership of community health workers, integrated services, and targeted coverage of economically weaker and deprived populations during critical child development periods. Indigenous Indian resources provided the primary financial support. Nation coverage was given for universal immunization, family welfare, child and maternal health, diarrheal disease control, vitamin A supplementation, and anemia screening and treatment. The multisectoral nature of the program has been realized at the village, sector, block, and district levels with linkages within Health, Education, and Social Welfare sectors, and with the Medical Colleges and Home Science Colleges. Feedback from operations research studies and other research activities was provided at the local program level, and interactions occurred between students in training programs and health care delivery systems. The program will be expanded to include the entire country. Health and nutrition education were considered the weakest part of ICDS

Prenatal and early postnatal depression and child maltreatment among Japanese fathers.

Science.gov (United States)

Takehara, Kenji; Suto, Maiko; Kakee, Naoko; Tachibana, Yoshiyuki; Mori, Rintaro

2017-08-01

We investigated the association of paternal depression in the prenatal and early postnatal period with child maltreatment tendency at two months postpartum among Japanese fathers. This population-based longitudinal study recruited Japanese perinatal women and their partners living in Nishio City, Aichi, Japan. Of the 270 fathers who participated, 196 were included in the analysis. All data were collected via self-administrated questionnaires at four time points: 20 weeks' gestation and in the first few days, one month, and two months postpartum. Paternal depression was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Three definitions of paternal depression were coded based on participants' scores on this measure: prenatal, prior, and current. Child maltreatment tendency was evaluated using the Child Maltreatment Scale at two months postpartum. The associations of the three definitions of paternal depression and child maltreatment tendency were separately analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of prenatal, prior, and current paternal depression was 9.7%, 10.2%, and 8.8%, respectively. According to the multivariate analysis, current paternal depression was significantly associated with child maltreatment tendency at two months postpartum (adjusted odds ratio: 7.77, 95% CI: 1.83-33.02). The other two types of depression, however, were not related to child maltreatment tendency. Thus, current paternal depression increased the risk of child maltreatment tendency in the postnatal period, suggesting that early detection and treatment of paternal depression might be useful for the prevention of child maltreatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Child labour in developing countries

OpenAIRE

Dvořáková, Pavla

2014-01-01

Child labour in developing countries Abstract This bachelor thesis deals with the child labour and its occurence in developing countries. The main aim is to present the basic view of this problem. The term of child labour relies here on Convention on the Rights of the Child and conventions of International Labour Organization. There are several types of child labour, in which children appear most, including the worst forms of child labour. Every type includes description of activities perform...

The Role of Physical Education in Child Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Krotee, M. L.; Wamukhoya, E. E.

1986-01-01

Argues that a child's early exposure to movement activities promotes a positive self concept. Elaborates that physical education gives training to body and mind as well as providing enjoyment as the child matures. (BSR)

Implementing the Child Care and Development Block Grant Reauthorization: A Guide for States

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, Hannah; Schulman, Karen; Vogtman, Julie; Johnson-Staub, Christine; Blank, Helen

2015-01-01

In November 2014, with broad bipartisan support, Congress reauthorized CCDBG [Child Care and Development Block Grant] (the major federal child care program) for the first time since 1996. The new law strengthens CCDBG's dual role as a major early childhood education program and a work support for low-income families. This implementation guide is…

Reconciling parenting and smoking in the context of child development.

Science.gov (United States)

Bottorff, Joan L; Oliffe, John L; Kelly, Mary T; Johnson, Joy L; Chan, Anna

2013-08-01

In this article we explore the micro-social context of parental tobacco use in the first years of a child's life and early childhood. We conducted individual interviews with 28 mothers and fathers during the 4 years following the birth of their child. Using grounded theory methods, we identified the predominant explanatory concept in parents' accounts as the need to reconcile being a parent and smoking. Desires to become smoke-free coexisted with five types of parent-child interactions: (a) protecting the defenseless child, (b) concealing smoking and cigarettes from the mimicking child, (c) reinforcing smoking as bad with the communicative child, (d) making guilt-driven promises to the fearful child, and (e) relinquishing personal responsibility to the autonomous child. We examine the agency of the child in influencing parents' smoking practices, the importance of children's observational learning in the early years, and the reciprocal nature of parent-child interactions related to parents' smoking behavior.

Dyadic flexibility and positive affect in parent–child coregulation and the development of child behavior problems

Science.gov (United States)

LUNKENHEIMER, ERIKA S.; OLSON, SHERYL L.; HOLLENSTEIN, TOM; SAMEROFF, ARNOLD J.; WINTER, CHARLOTTE

2018-01-01

Parent–child dyadic rigidity and negative affect contribute to children’s higher levels of externalizing problems. The present longitudinal study examined whether the opposite constructs of dyadic flexibility and positive affect predicted lower levels of externalizing behavior problems across the early childhood period. Mother–child (N = 163) and father–child (n = 94) dyads engaged in a challenging block design task at home when children were 3 years old. Dynamic systems methods were used to derive dyadic positive affect and three indicators of dyadic flexibility (range, dispersion, and transitions) from observational coding. We hypothesized that the interaction between dyadic flexibility and positive affect would predict lower levels of externalizing problems at age 5.5 years as rated by mothers and teachers, controlling for stability in externalizing problems, task time, child gender, and the child’s effortful control. The hypothesis was supported in predicting teacher ratings of child externalizing from both mother–child and father–child interactions. There were also differential main effects for mothers and fathers: mother–child flexibility was detrimental and father–child flexibility was beneficial for child outcomes. Results support the inclusion of adaptive and dynamic parent–child coregulation processes in the study of children’s early disruptive behavior. PMID:23786697

Early Findings of Preventive Child Healthcare Professionals Predict Psychosocial Problems in Preadolescence : The TRAILS Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaspers, M.; de Winter, A.F.; de Meer, G.; Stewart, R.E.; Verhulst, F.C.; Ormel, J.; Reijneveld, S.A.

Objective To develop and validate a prediction model for psychosocial problems in preadolescence using data on early developmental factors from routine Preventive Child Healthcare (PCH). Study design The data come from the 1692 participants who take part in the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives

Early Findings of Preventive Child Healthcare Professionals Predict Psychosocial Problems in Preadolescence: The TRAILS Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaspers, M.; De Winter, A.F.; de Meer, G.; Stewart, R.E; Verhulst, F.C.; Ormel, J.; Reijneveld, S.A.

2010-01-01

Objective To develop and validate a prediction model for psychosocial problems in preadolescence using data on early developmental factors from routine Preventive Child Healthcare (PCH). Study design The data come from the 1692 participants who take part in the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives

Prosthetic rehabilitation in a four-year-old child with severe early childhood caries: a case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Parisotto, Thaís Manzano; de Souza-E-Silva, Cintia Maria; Steiner-Oliveira, Carolina; Nobre-dos-Santos, Marinês; Gavião, Maria Beatriz Duarte

2009-03-01

The purpose of this case report was to describe the oral rehabilitation of a 4-year-old girl presenting early childhood caries (ECC). ECC is highly prevalent in developing countries and its severity increases with age. This disease implies serious consequences for the development of the stomatognathic system and for the child's quality of life. As young children are usually anxious about dental treatment, their level of co-operation is limited, leading to a challenging situation. A 4-year-old girl was brought by her mother for dental treatment with the complaint of pain. The clinical examination revealed extensive carious coronary destructions. After preventive and curative measures, the oral rehabilitation was performed; it included the use of stainless steel crowns, resin filled celluloid crowns with previous cementation of glass post pins when necessary, an amalgam restoration, orthodontic treatment, and a partial removable prosthesis. The child has been monitored in the Pediatric Dentistry Clinic at 4-monthly intervals. The oral rehabilitation was able to reestablish the oral health in the primary arches mutilated by early childhood caries. This is important for the establishment of an adequate mixed and permanent dentition, for proper facial and maxillary growth, and to the child's psychological and social development. The full management, including preventive, psychological, and curative measures of a young child with severe ECC was found successful after 8 months of follow up. This result can encourage the clinicians to seek a cost-effective technique such as stainless steel crowns, resin filled celluloid crowns, and partial removable prosthesis to reestablish the oral functions and improve the child's psycho-social development.

Child Maltreatment and Children's Developmental Trajectories in Early- to Middle-Childhood

Science.gov (United States)

Font, Sarah A.; Berger, Lawrence M.

2014-01-01

Associations between experiencing child maltreatment and adverse developmental outcomes are widely studied, yet conclusions regarding the extent to which effects are bidirectional, and whether they are likely causal, remain elusive. This study uses the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being study, a birth cohort of 4,898 children followed from birth through age 9. Hierarchical linear modeling and structural equation modeling are employed to estimate associations of maltreatment with cognitive and social-emotional well-being. Results suggest that effects of early childhood maltreatment emerge immediately, though developmental outcomes are also affected by newly occurring maltreatment over time. Additionally, findings indicate that children's early developmental scores predict their subsequent probability of experiencing maltreatment, though to a lesser extent than early maltreatment predicts subsequent developmental outcomes. PMID:25521556

Early clinical assessment for harsh child discipline strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaffney, Kathleen F; Barndt-Maglio, Bonnie; Myers, Sue; Kollar, Shelley J

2002-01-01

To examine the relationships among four maternal variables: 1) prenatal report of discipline expectant mothers received when they were children, 2) prenatal intentions for disciplining one's own child, 3) report of intended child discipline strategies when infant is 8 months old, and 4) observed maternal role sufficiency behaviors. Replication and extension study; 3-wave prospective longitudinal design. The procedure consisted of prenatal clinic interviews in which women (N = 185) reported how their mothers handled specific child behaviors and how they intended to handle the same behaviors with their children. During a home visit when their babies were 8 months old, the mothers (n = 126) were again asked how they intended to handle these behaviors, and observations were made of maternal role sufficiency behaviors. Correlation and regression analyses were performed with data generated from an adaptation of the Ways of Handling Irritating Behavior scale, the NCAST Teaching Scale, and the HOME scale. A significant relationship was found between mothers' prenatal reports of discipline received as a child and prenatal reports of intentions for disciplining their own children. For mothers of infants, reported intentions for future child discipline strategies were predicted by their prenatal reports. Mothers with clinically at-risk scores on the NCAST Teaching Scale and HOME scale reported more intended harsh child discipline strategies than those not at-risk. Assessment for harsh, nonnurturing child discipline strategies during prenatal and well-baby health maintenance checks may assist in uncovering "red flags" for early intervention to reduce the risk of later child abuse and neglect.

[Pediatrician-parent interaction and early prevention : A review about the limits in addressing psychosocial risks during well-child visits].

Science.gov (United States)

Barth, Michael

2016-10-01

Pediatricians can be a door opener to early prevention for families at risk. The German well-child program is well-established, but there is a gap between the structural possibilities and the observed placements. The aim of this review is to show how pediatricians and parents talk about psychosocial risks under the very structured conditions of well-child visits. The challenges and traps of the framed interactions will be described and options for early prevention will be shown. The review is primarily based on the work of conversational and ethnomethodological studies reconstructing the pediatrician's discussion with parents about psychosocial issues in the family. Well-child visits are a highly routinized practice. Talking about family issues for both partners is a difficult task. Discussions about psychosocial issues are seldom and vague . Predominantly, they work cooperatively on reciprocal normalization of the child's development. Based on this shared orientation, pediatricians make an early, mostly general, prescription of parental tasks, supporting the child in the next developmental step. This kind of routine anticipatory counselling puts some pressure on the parents. Parents under unknown stress could be overburdened with this advice. In the script of well-child visits, there are no slots that indicate to pediatricians and parents when, which, how and for what purpose psychosocial issues can be discussed and negotiated. For implementing such slots in well-child visits, three steps are necessary: a structured and regular assessment of psychosocial issues, a trained pediatrician in motivational interviewing and a social worker guiding the family in the network of early prevention.

Gender differences? Internet use and parent-child communication about sex toward sexual attitudes among early adolescents in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Ying-Hua; Weng, Chia-Sui; Kuo, Shih-Hsien; Chou, Fan-Hao; Yang, Yi-Hsin; Chiang, Li-Chi

2015-06-01

With the progress of information technology, early adolescents are able to access sex-related information through the Internet easily. This information has been shown to have a significant influence on the sexual health of this population. In addition, parent-child communications about sex affect the sexual health of adolescents. Few empirical studies have focused on early adolescents and gender differences. This study explores gender differences between early adolescents in terms of the use of the Internet to obtain sex-related information, parent-child communication, and sex-related knowledge and attitudes. This cross-sectional and comparative study uses an analysis of covariance and a hierarchical regression for data analysis. The researchers recruited 457 sixth-grade boys (n = 204) and girls (n = 253) in southern Taiwan as participants and used a structured questionnaire to collect data. Participants exhibited significant differences in terms of Internet usage behavior, parent-child communications about sex, and sex-related knowledge and sexual attitudes. The male participants spent more time on "recreation and entertainment" activities on the Internet, whereas their female peers spent significantly more time searching for information. Regarding parent-child communications about sex, girls had better mother-child communications than boys. In addition, no gender-based difference was found for father-child communications about sex. The knowledge of physical changes occurring during puberty and of menstrual healthcare among female participants was superior to their male counterparts. Girls had a more informed sexual attitude, particularly with regard to issues of gender roles, relationships with the opposite gender, and the social aspects of sex. Sex-related knowledge and parent-child communication about sex were the two major predictors of sexual attitudes for boys and girls, respectively. To develop healthy sexual attitudes among early adolescents, nursing

Validity and Psychometric Properties of the Early Development Instrument in Canada, Australia, United States, and Jamaica

Science.gov (United States)

Janus, Magdalena; Brinkman, Sally A.; Duku, Eric K.

2011-01-01

There is an increasing support from international organizations and the research community for stepping beyond infant or child mortality as the most common child level social indicator and progressing towards an international measure of child development. The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a teacher-completed measure of children's…

Family Structure Transitions and Child Development: Instability, Selection, and Population Heterogeneity

OpenAIRE

Lee, Dohoon; McLanahan, Sara

2015-01-01

A growing literature documents the importance of family instability for child wellbeing. In this article, we use longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the impacts of family instability on children’s cognitive and socioemotional development in early and middle childhood. We extend existing research in several ways: (1) by distinguishing between the number and types of family structure changes; (2) by accounting for time-varying as well as time-constan...

Lead exposure and early child neurodevelopment among children 12-24 months in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Science.gov (United States)

Kashala-Abotnes, Espérance; Mumbere, Pépé Penghele; Mishika, Jeannette Mukanya; Ndjukendi, Ally Omba; Mpaka, Davin Beya; Bumoko, Makila-Mabe Guy; Kayembe, Tharcisse Kalula; Tshala-Katumbay, Désiré; Kazadi, Théodore Kayembe; Okitundu, Daniel Luwa E-Andjafono

2016-12-01

Childhood lead exposure remains a problem in developing countries, and little is known about its effects on early child neurodevelopment and temperament in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We, therefore, conducted this study to determine the association between lead exposure and the neurodevelopment and behaviour of children aged 12-24 months in Kinshasa, DRC. A cross-sectional study was conducted between February and June 2012, and parents of 104 children were invited to participate. Blood lead levels (BLLs) of each child were tested using the flame atomic spectrophotometry method. All children were subject to a clinical examination and assessed with two selected early child neurodevelopmental tools, the Gensini-Gavito and the baby characteristics questionnaire, to measure their neurodevelopment and temperament. Detectable BLLs ranged from 1 to 30 μg/dl with a geometric mean of 6.9 (SD 4.8) μg/dl. BLLs at 5-9 and ≥10 μg/dl were significantly associated with the child temperament (p early child neurodevelopment and temperament. Children exposed to lead were reported with more temperament difficulties at even blood lead levels <10 μg/dl, suggesting the need for preventive and intervention measures to reduce lead exposure among children in Kinshasa, DRC.

Kids in Communities Study (KiCS) study protocol: a cross-sectional mixed-methods approach to measuring community-level factors influencing early child development in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldfeld, Sharon; Villanueva, Karen; Tanton, Robert; Katz, Ilan; Brinkman, Sally; Woolcock, Geoffrey; Giles-Corti, Billie

2017-03-13

Healthy childhood development in the early years is critical for later adult health and well-being. Early childhood development (ECD) research has focused primarily on individual, family and school factors, but largely ignored community factors. The Kids in Communities Study (KiCS) will test and investigate community-level influences on child development across Australia. Cross-sectional mixed-methods study exploring community-level effects in 25 Australian local communities; selection based on community socioeconomic status (SES) and ECD using the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC), a population measure of child development, to create a local community 'diagonality type', that is, those performing better or worse (off-diagonal), or as expected (on-diagonal) on the AEDC relative to their SES. Data collection includes stakeholder interviews, parent and service provider focus groups, and surveys with general community residents and service providers, mapping of neighbourhood design and local amenities and services, analysis of policy documents, and the use of existing sociodemographic and early childhood education and care data. Quantitative data will be used to test associations between local community diagonality type, and ECD based on AEDC scores. Qualitative data will provide complementary and deeper exploration of these same associations. The Royal Children's Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee approved the study protocol (#30016). Further ethics approvals were obtained from State Education and Health departments and Catholic archdioceses where required. ECD community-level indicators will eventually be derived and made publically available. Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals, community reports, websites and policy briefs to disseminate results to researchers, and key stakeholders including policymakers, practitioners and (most importantly) the communities involved. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to

The effect of Early Head Start on child welfare system involvement: A first look at longitudinal child maltreatment outcomes☆

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Beth L.; Ayoub, Catherine; Bartlett, Jessica Dym; Von Ende, Adam; Furrer, Carrie; Chazan-Cohen, Rachel; Vallotton, Claire; Klevens, Joanne

2015-01-01

The high societal and personal costs of child maltreatment make identification of effective early prevention programs a high research priority. Early Head Start (EHS), a dual generational program serving low-income families with children prenatally through age three years, is one of the largest federally funded programs for infants and toddlers in the United States. A national randomized trial found EHS to be effective in improving parent and child outcomes, but its effectiveness in reducing child maltreatment was not assessed. The current study used administrative data from state child welfare agencies to examine the impact of EHS on documented abuse and neglect among children from seven of the original seventeen programs in the national EHS randomized controlled trial. Results indicated that children in EHS had significantly fewer child welfare encounters between the ages of five and nine years than did children in the control group, and that EHS slowed the rate of subsequent encounters. Additionally, compared to children in the control group, children in EHS were less likely to have a substantiated report of physical or sexual abuse, but more likely to have a substantiated report of neglect. These findings suggest that EHS may be effective in reducing child maltreatment among low-income children, in particular, physical and sexual abuse. PMID:26744550

Media and child development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Piotrowski, J.T.; Vossen, H.G.M.; Valkenburg, P.M.; Wright, J.D.

2015-01-01

Decades of research have shown that the relationship between media and childhood is not unidirectional but reciprocal. In this article, both directions of the media-child development relationship are presented. We discuss how child development predisposes children's media use and preferences by

Nurturing care: promoting early childhood development.

Science.gov (United States)

Britto, Pia R; Lye, Stephen J; Proulx, Kerrie; Yousafzai, Aisha K; Matthews, Stephen G; Vaivada, Tyler; Perez-Escamilla, Rafael; Rao, Nirmala; Ip, Patrick; Fernald, Lia C H; MacMillan, Harriet; Hanson, Mark; Wachs, Theodore D; Yao, Haogen; Yoshikawa, Hirokazu; Cerezo, Adrian; Leckman, James F; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A

2017-01-07

The UN Sustainable Development Goals provide a historic opportunity to implement interventions, at scale, to promote early childhood development. Although the evidence base for the importance of early childhood development has grown, the research is distributed across sectors, populations, and settings, with diversity noted in both scope and focus. We provide a comprehensive updated analysis of early childhood development interventions across the five sectors of health, nutrition, education, child protection, and social protection. Our review concludes that to make interventions successful, smart, and sustainable, they need to be implemented as multi-sectoral intervention packages anchored in nurturing care. The recommendations emphasise that intervention packages should be applied at developmentally appropriate times during the life course, target multiple risks, and build on existing delivery platforms for feasibility of scale-up. While interventions will continue to improve with the growth of developmental science, the evidence now strongly suggests that parents, caregivers, and families need to be supported in providing nurturing care and protection in order for young children to achieve their developmental potential. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Comparison of Equine-Assisted Intervention and Conventional Play-Based Early Intervention for Mother-Child Dyads with Insecure Attachment

Science.gov (United States)

Beetz, Andrea; Winkler, Nora; Julius, Henri; Uvnäs-Moberg, Kerstin; Kotrschal, Kurt

2015-01-01

Early interventions aim at promoting a good mother-child relationship as basis for a good socio-emotional development, especially in high-risk populations, and at correcting already unfavorable patterns of interaction and are common today. Insecure attachment, both of the child and of the mother, has been identified as a risk factor for early…

HOME VISIT QUALITY VARIATIONS IN TWO EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS IN RELATION TO PARENTING AND CHILD VOCABULARY OUTCOMES.

Science.gov (United States)

Roggman, Lori A; Cook, Gina A; Innocenti, Mark S; Jump Norman, Vonda; Boyce, Lisa K; Christiansen, Katie; Peterson, Carla A

2016-05-01

Home-visiting programs aiming to improve early child development have demonstrated positive outcomes, but processes within home visits to individual families are rarely documented. We examined family-level variations in the home-visiting process (N = 71) from extant video recordings of home visits in two Early Head Start programs, using an observational measure of research-based quality indicators of home-visiting practices and family engagement, the Home Visit Rating Scales (HOVRS). HOVRS scores, showing good interrater agreement and internal consistency, were significantly associated with parent- and staff-reported positive characteristics of home visiting as well as with parenting and child language outcomes tested at program exit. When home-visiting processes were higher quality during the program, home visit content was more focused on child development, families were more involved in the overall program, and most important, scores on measures of the parenting environment and children's vocabulary were higher at the end of the program. Results showed that home visit quality was indirectly associated with child language outcomes through parenting outcomes. Observation ratings of home visit quality could be useful for guiding program improvement, supporting professional development, and increasing our understanding of the links between home-visiting processes and outcomes. © 2016 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Mother-child interactions in young children with excessive physical aggression and in typically developing young children.

Science.gov (United States)

Urbain-Gauthier, Nadine; Wendland, Jaqueline

2017-07-01

Among the multiple risk factors, the emergence of conduct problems in young children may be linked to harsh parenting and child's temperamental difficulties, leading to a reciprocal early discordant relationship. Little is known about the characteristics of early parent-child interactions in young children with physical aggression. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the characteristics of mother-child interactions in dyads referred for excessive physical aggression in young children under 5 years of age compared to mother-child interactions in typically developing young children. Mother-child interactions were assessed during a free-play session in both a clinical sample ( N = 70, child mean age  = 3.5 years) and a nonclinical sample ( N = 80, child mean age  = 3.5 years) by using the Rating Scale of Interaction Style (Clark and Seifer, adapted by Molitor and Mayes). Significant differences were found between several interactive features in clinical and nonclinical dyads. In clinical dyads, mothers' behaviors were often characterized by intrusiveness and criticism toward children, and poor facilitative positioning. Children with excessive aggressive behavior often displayed poor communication, initiation of bids, and poor responsiveness toward the mother. They displayed fewer sustained bouts of play than typically developing children did. In clinical dyads, strong positive correlations were found between child responsiveness and maternal interest in engagement ( r = .41, p children with excessive aggressive behavior develop disrupted mother-infant interactions from a very young age. Several negative interactive features and correlations between child behavior and maternal behavior were found in clinical samples. The effects of these features add up and probably strengthen each other, thus leading to interactive difficulties from a very young age. More attention should be paid to early parent-child interactions in case of

Preventive child health care findings on early childhood predict peer-group social status in early adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaspers, Merlijne; de Winter, Andrea F; Veenstra, René; Ormel, Johan; Verhulst, Frank C; Reijneveld, Sijmen A

2012-12-01

A disputed social status among peers puts children and adolescents at risk for developing a wide range of problems, such as being bullied. However, there is a lack of knowledge about which early predictors could be used to identify (young) adolescents at risk for a disputed social status. The aim of this study was to assess whether preventive child health care (PCH) findings on early childhood predict neglected and rejected status in early adolescence in a large longitudinal community-based sample. Data came from 898 participants who participated in TRAILS, a longitudinal study. Information on early childhood factors was extracted from the charts of routine PCH visits registered between infancy and age of 4 years. To assess social status, peer nominations were used at age of 10-12 years. Multinomial logistic regression showed that children who had a low birth weight, motor problems, and sleep problems; children of parents with a low educational level (odds ratios [ORs] between 1.71 and 2.90); and those with fewer attention hyperactivity problems (ORs = .43) were more likely to have a neglected status in early adolescence. Boys, children of parents with a low educational level, and children with early externalizing problems were more likely to have a rejected status in early adolescence (ORs between 1.69 and 2.56). PCH findings on early childhood-on motor and social development-are predictive of a neglected and a rejected status in early adolescence. PCH is a good setting to monitor risk factors that predict the social status of young adolescents. Copyright © 2012 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integrated and Early Childhood Education: Preparation for Social Development. Theme A: Relevant Provision for Early Childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Axton, J. H. M.

Factors which influence child development are listed and briefly discussed. These factors are (1) mother's childhood, (2) mother's age, (3) care during pregnancy and delivery, (4) early neonatal factors, (5) birth interval, (6) effect of repeated infection and malnutrition on brain growth and intellectual development, and (7) home environment. The…

Child regulative temperament as a mediator of parenting in the development of depressive symptoms: a longitudinal study from early childhood to preadolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Pitzer, Martina; Esser, Guenter; Schmidt, Martin H; Hohm, Erika; Banaschewski, Tobias; Laucht, Manfred

2017-05-01

Child temperament as well as parenting behaviors have been linked to adolescent depression. Beyond their main effects, the interplay between these factors is of interest. For example, in an interactive model, a differential susceptibility of temperamental variants to parenting has been suggested. However, so far, the differential susceptibility hypothesis has mostly been studied with a focus on externalizing disorders. On the other hand, parenting may shape the child's temperament and vice versa in a transactional process. In a prospective, longitudinal at-risk sample (163 boys, 176 girls), we assessed emotional (easy-difficult) and regulative (self-control) temperament at ages 4.5, and 8 years, respectively, as well as parenting quality at age 4.5 years using the HOME inventory. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to investigate the prediction of depressive symptoms at age 11, measured by the Child Depression Inventory, including interaction terms between the temperament variable and parenting. We additionally tested whether parenting was mediated by child temperament. As previously reported, both self-control and parenting were longitudinally associated with preadolescent depressive symptoms. There were no interactive effects between temperament and parenting. However, the effects of parenting were partly mediated by self-control. Our data do not support a differential susceptibility of temperamental variants in the development of preadolescent depression. However, our results are in line with the assumption that parenting may shape young children's temperament, with positive parenting in the early childhood fostering the development of regulative temperament.

Using the infrastructure of a conditional cash transfer program to deliver a scalable integrated early child development program in Colombia: cluster randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Attanasio, Orazio P; Fernández, Camila; Fitzsimons, Emla O A; Grantham-McGregor, Sally M; Meghir, Costas; Rubio-Codina, Marta

2014-09-29

To assess the effectiveness of an integrated early child development intervention, combining stimulation and micronutrient supplementation and delivered on a large scale in Colombia, for children's development, growth, and hemoglobin levels. Cluster randomized controlled trial, using a 2 × 2 factorial design, with municipalities assigned to one of four groups: psychosocial stimulation, micronutrient supplementation, combined intervention, or control. 96 municipalities in Colombia, located across eight of its 32 departments. 1420 children aged 12-24 months and their primary carers. Psychosocial stimulation (weekly home visits with play demonstrations), micronutrient sprinkles given daily, and both combined. All delivered by female community leaders for 18 months. Cognitive, receptive and expressive language, and fine and gross motor scores on the Bayley scales of infant development-III; height, weight, and hemoglobin levels measured at the baseline and end of intervention. Stimulation improved cognitive scores (adjusted for age, sex, testers, and baseline levels of outcomes) by 0.26 of a standard deviation (P=0.002). Stimulation also increased receptive language by 0.22 of a standard deviation (P=0.032). Micronutrient supplementation had no significant effect on any outcome and there was no interaction between the interventions. No intervention affected height, weight, or hemoglobin levels. Using the infrastructure of a national welfare program we implemented the integrated early child development intervention on a large scale and showed its potential for improving children's cognitive development. We found no effect of supplementation on developmental or health outcomes. Moreover, supplementation did not interact with stimulation. The implementation model for delivering stimulation suggests that it may serve as a promising blueprint for future policy on early childhood development.Trial registration Current Controlled trials ISRCTN18991160. © Attanasio et al 2014.

Parental Schooling and Child Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bingley, Paul; Christensen, Kaare; Jensen, Vibeke Myrup

. By differencing within identical twin pair we are able to take heritable endowments transmitted from parent to child into account. For all outcomes OLS is found to be upward biased. Father schooling is found to have no causal effect on infant and early childhood health. Mother schooling increases birth weight...... and the probability of high school completion. For older cohorts, we are able to replicate the findings of Behrman & Rosenzweig (2002) that fathers’ schooling has a positive causal effect on child schooling but mothers’ does not. However, this is reversed for parents born after 1945, when mothers’ schooling has...

Normative development of the Child Behavior Checklist Dysregulation Profile from early childhood to adolescence: Associations with personality pathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Deutz, Marike H F; Vossen, Helen G M; De Haan, Amaranta D; Deković, Maja; Van Baar, Anneloes L; Prinzie, Peter

2018-05-01

The Dysregulation Profile (DP) is a broad indicator of concurrent affective, behavioral, and cognitive dysregulation, often measured with the anxious/depressed, aggressive behavior, and attention problems syndrome scales of the Child Behavior Checklist. Despite an expanding body of research on the DP, knowledge of the normative developmental course of the DP from early childhood to adolescence is lacking. Furthermore, although we know that the DP longitudinally predicts personality pathology, no research yet has examined whether next to the DP in early childhood, the rate of change of the DP across development predicts personality pathology. Therefore, using cohort-sequential latent growth modeling in a population-based sample (N = 668), we examined the normative developmental course of mother-reported DP from ages 4 to 17 years and its associations with a wide range of adolescent-reported personality pathology dimensions 3 years later. The results showed that the DP follows a nonlinear developmental course with a peak in early adolescence. The initial level of the DP at age 4 and, to a lesser extent, the rate of change in the DP predicted a range of personality pathology dimensions in late adolescence. The findings suggest that the DP is a broad developmental precursor of personality pathology in late adolescence.

Child Abuse, Early Maladaptive Schemas, and Risky Sexual Behavior in College Women

Science.gov (United States)

Roemmele, Melissa; Messman-Moore, Terri L.

2011-01-01

Previous research suggests that individuals abused as children are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior during adulthood. The present study examined early maladaptive schemas as mediators of the child abuse-risky sexual behavior relationship among 653 college women. Self-report surveys assessed three forms of child abuse: Sexual,…

Attachment relationship between a father and a child in early childhood: Experiences in relationship with a child

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tajana Brajović

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Internalized working model of attachment, which affects quality of interactions with others, can remain relatively stable throughout a person's life. Attachment relationship seems to have some universal characteristics regardless of the form of the relationship (romantic partners relationship or parent-infant relationship. We were trying to develop a questionnaire of the attachment relationship between a father and his child in early childhood, that could offer comparable results and would be relatively easy to answer and validate. The questionnaire presented in this paper was adapted from the Experiences in Close Relationships – Revised (ECR-R; Fraley, Waller and Brennan, 2000 with regard to the relationship between a father and a child. This adapted inventory is a self-report questionnaire for fathers and is used for establishing father's perceptions of anxiety and avoidance in the attachment relationship with his child in early childhood. Analysis of 32 statements adapted from the ECR-R proved a 22 item form of the questionnaire (12 items on the anxiety and 10 items on the avoidance subscale to be adequate. Principal component analysis of 22 items showed a two-component solution. Reliability of both subscales of the adapted instrument for 22 item solution proved to be acceptably high. In the future, criteria validity of the adapted instrument should be tested and some changes in the content of the existing items as well as some of the excluded items should be considered, and the revised version of the adapted ECR-R should be aplied to the representative sample of fathers. A version of the adapted ECR-R for mothers of children could also be formed.

Prioritizing research for integrated implementation of early childhood development and maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition platforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Renee; Gaffey, Michelle F; Alderman, Harold; Bassani, Diego G; Bogard, Kimber; Darmstadt, Gary L; Das, Jai K; de Graft-Johnson, Joseph E; Hamadani, Jena D; Horton, Susan; Huicho, Luis; Hussein, Julia; Lye, Stephen; Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael; Proulx, Kerrie; Marfo, Kofi; Mathews-Hanna, Vanessa; Mclean, Mireille S; Rahman, Atif; Silver, Karlee L; Singla, Daisy R; Webb, Patrick; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A

2017-06-01

Existing health and nutrition services present potential platforms for scaling up delivery of early childhood development (ECD) interventions within sensitive windows across the life course, especially in the first 1000 days from conception to age 2 years. However, there is insufficient knowledge on how to optimize implementation for such strategies in an integrated manner. In light of this knowledge gap, we aimed to systematically identify a set of integrated implementation research priorities for health, nutrition and early child development within the 2015 to 2030 timeframe of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We applied the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative method, and consulted a diverse group of global health experts to develop and score 57 research questions against five criteria: answerability, effectiveness, deliverability, impact, and effect on equity. These questions were ranked using a research priority score, and the average expert agreement score was calculated for each question. The research priority scores ranged from 61.01 to 93.52, with a median of 82.87. The average expert agreement scores ranged from 0.50 to 0.90, with a median of 0.75. The top-ranked research question were: i) "How can interventions and packages to reduce neonatal mortality be expanded to include ECD and stimulation interventions?"; ii) "How does the integration of ECD and MNCAH&N interventions affect human resource requirements and capacity development in resource-poor settings?"; and iii) "How can integrated interventions be tailored to vulnerable refugee and migrant populations to protect against poor ECD and MNCAH&N outcomes?". Most highly-ranked research priorities varied across the life course and highlighted key aspects of scaling up coverage of integrated interventions in resource-limited settings, including: workforce and capacity development, cost-effectiveness and strategies to reduce financial barriers, and quality assessment of programs

Early executive function predicts reasoning development.

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Richland, Lindsey E; Burchinal, Margaret R

2013-01-01

Analogical reasoning is a core cognitive skill that distinguishes humans from all other species and contributes to general fluid intelligence, creativity, and adaptive learning capacities. Yet its origins are not well understood. In the study reported here, we analyzed large-scale longitudinal data from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to test predictors of growth in analogical-reasoning skill from third grade to adolescence. Our results suggest an integrative resolution to the theoretical debate regarding contributory factors arising from smaller-scale, cross-sectional experiments on analogy development. Children with greater executive-function skills (both composite and inhibitory control) and vocabulary knowledge in early elementary school displayed higher scores on a verbal analogies task at age 15 years, even after adjusting for key covariates. We posit that knowledge is a prerequisite to analogy performance, but strong executive-functioning resources during early childhood are related to long-term gains in fundamental reasoning skills.

Investigating the effect of child maltreatment on early adolescent peer-on-peer sexual aggression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bramsen, Rikke Holm; Lasgaard, Mathias; Koss, Mary P

2014-01-01

: Estimates from the mediation model indicated significant indirect effects of child physical abuse on sexual aggression via peer influence and insecure-hostile masculinity. No significant total effect of child sexual abuse and child neglect on sexual aggression was found. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the present......OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between child maltreatment and severe early adolescent peer-on-peer sexual aggression, using a multiple mediator model. METHODS: The study comprised 330 male Grade 9 students with a mean age of 14.9 years (SD=0.5). RESULTS...... study identify risk factors that are potentially changeable and therefore of value in informing the design of prevention programs aiming at early adolescent peer-on-peer sexual aggression in at-risk youth....

Books, toys, parent-child interaction, and development in young Latino children.

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Tomopoulos, Suzy; Dreyer, Benard P; Tamis-LeMonda, Catherine; Flynn, Virginia; Rovira, Irene; Tineo, Wendy; Mendelsohn, Alan L

2006-01-01

To describe the interrelationships between books and toys in the home, parent-child interaction, and child development at 21 months among low-income Latino children. Latino mother-infant dyads enrolled in a level 1 nursery and infants were followed to 21 months. The subjects consisted of the control group of a larger intervention study. At 6 and 18 months, the number of books and toys in the home and the frequency of reading aloud were measured by the StimQ. At 21 months, child cognitive and language development and parent-child interaction were assessed by the Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI), the Preschool Language Scale-3 (PLS-3), and the Caregiver-Child Interaction Rating Scale, respectively. Eligibility for early intervention (EI) services was determined on the basis of the MDI and PLS-3. Data were obtained for 46 (63.0%) of 73 at 21 months. In multiple regression analysis, books provided at 18 months predicted both cognition (semipartial correlation [sr] = .49, P= .001) and receptive language (sr = .37, P= .02), whereas toys provided at both 6 and 18 months predicted 21-month receptive language (sr = .40, P= .01; sr = .32, P= .047, respectively). Reading aloud by parents > or =4 days a week was associated with decreased EI eligibility (adjusted odds ratio = 0.16, 95% confidence interval 0.03-0.99). Reading aloud and provision of toys are associated with better child cognitive and language development as well as with decreased likelihood of EI eligibility.

Child/Youth Homelessness: housing affordability, early intervention, and preventive care in Australia

OpenAIRE

Shiga, Fumiya

2009-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore the child/youth homelessness including its preventive care.This paper explores the housing support program implemented across Australia in brief at first, and then profile child/youth homelessness and housing policy. Based on that, it discusses early intervention and preventive methods followed by the conclusion.

An automated approach to measuring child movement and location in the early childhood classroom.

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Irvin, Dwight W; Crutchfield, Stephen A; Greenwood, Charles R; Kearns, William D; Buzhardt, Jay

2018-06-01

Children's movement is an important issue in child development and outcome in early childhood research, intervention, and practice. Digital sensor technologies offer improvements in naturalistic movement measurement and analysis. We conducted validity and feasibility testing of a real-time, indoor mapping and location system (Ubisense, Inc.) within a preschool classroom. Real-time indoor mapping has several implications with respect to efficiently and conveniently: (a) determining the activity areas where children are spending the most and least time per day (e.g., music); and (b) mapping a focal child's atypical real-time movements (e.g., lapping behavior). We calibrated the accuracy of Ubisense point-by-point location estimates (i.e., X and Y coordinates) against laser rangefinder measurements using several stationary points and atypical movement patterns as reference standards. Our results indicate that activity areas occupied and atypical movement patterns could be plotted with an accuracy of 30.48 cm (1 ft) using a Ubisense transponder tag attached to the participating child's shirt. The accuracy parallels findings of other researchers employing Ubisense to study atypical movement patterns in individuals at risk for dementia in an assisted living facility. The feasibility of Ubisense was tested in an approximately 90-min assessment of two children, one typically developing and one with Down syndrome, during natural classroom activities, and the results proved positive. Implications for employing Ubisense in early childhood classrooms as a data-based decision-making tool to support children's development and its potential integration with other wearable sensor technologies are discussed.

Parental and Child Characteristics Related to Early-Onset Disordered Eating

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Pernille Stemann; Strandberg-Larsen, Katrine; Micali, Nadia

2015-01-01

the following: higher body weight, previously reported disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, depression, parental disordered eating, and parental comments/concerns about child's weight and eating. The findings were inconsistent for sex, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, self-esteem/worth, and parental......-four studies fit these criteria. Most studies were based on community samples with a cross-sectional design. The included studies varied considerably in size, instruments used to assess early-onset disordered eating, and parental and child characteristics investigated. Important determinants included...

[Early Intervention and Cognitive Development: A Longitudinal Study with Psychologically Stressed Mother-Child-Dyad during Early Childhood].

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Zwönitzer, Annabel; Ziegenhain, Ute; Bovenschen, Ina; Pillhofer, Melanie; Spangler, Gottfried; Gerlach, Jennifer; Gabler, Sandra; Kindler, Heinz; Fegert, Jörg M; Künster, Anne Katrin

2016-01-01

Early intervention programs aiming at developing parents’ relationship and parenting skills and supporting young families have become increasingly established in Germany throughout the last decade. The present longitudinal study analyzed 53 children and their mothers receiving early intervention due to their psychosocially highly challenging life situations and personal circumstances. The children were examined at birth and at an age of twelve months as well as between ages two and four. The results revealed that the child’s cognitive development could be predicted by both maternal sensitivity and mother’s psychosocial stress. However, the amount, type, and intensity of early intervention did not have any effect on the child’s development. In terms of the effectiveness of early interventions the results implicate that interventions seems to be offered in an unspecific manner and does not contribute to an improvement of the child’s developmental status.

Knowledge of tense semantics in early child Romanian

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioana Stoicescu

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Previous research on the acquisition of tense semantics in child Romanian has demonstrated that typically developing Romanian-speaking three-year-old children have difficulties in the comprehension and production of the imperfect (an imperfective past, and the future (Stoicescu 2013. The present study investigates whether Romanian children have difficulties with the contrasts between the present, the perfect compus (a periphrastic past, and the future. The children obtained high scores for the present in both comprehension and production. In the comprehension of the perfect compus the children performed above chance. In the comprehension and production of the future, the results were significantly lower than chance. The study provides evidence that children have an understanding of the present-past contrasts at this early age, although not at the adult level.

Integrating Early Child Development and Violence Prevention Programs: A Systematic Review

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Efevbera, Yvette; McCoy, Dana C.; Wuermli, Alice J.; Betancourt, Theresa S.

2018-01-01

Limited evidence describes promoting development and reducing violence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a missed opportunity to protect children and promote development and human capital. This study presents a systematic literature review of integrated early childhood development plus violence prevention (ECD+VP) interventions in…

Investing in the foundation of sustainable development: pathways to scale up for early childhood development

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Richter, Linda M; Daelmans, Bernadette; Lombardi, Joan; Heymann, Jody; Boo, Florencia Lopez; Behrman, Jere R; Lu, Chunling; Lucas, Jane E; Perez-Escamilla, Rafael; Dua, Tarun; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Stenberg, Karin; Gertler, Paul; Darmstadt, Gary L

2018-01-01

Building on long-term benefits of early intervention (Paper 2 of this Series) and increasing commitment to early childhood development (Paper 1 of this Series), scaled up support for the youngest children is essential to improving health, human capital, and wellbeing across the life course. In this third paper, new analyses show that the burden of poor development is higher than estimated, taking into account additional risk factors. National programmes are needed. Greater political prioritisation is core to scale-up, as are policies that afford families time and financial resources to provide nurturing care for young children. Effective and feasible programmes to support early child development are now available. All sectors, particularly education, and social and child protection, must play a role to meet the holistic needs of young children. However, health provides a critical starting point for scaling up, given its reach to pregnant women, families, and young children. Starting at conception, interventions to promote nurturing care can feasibly build on existing health and nutrition services at limited additional cost. Failure to scale up has severe personal and social consequences. Children at elevated risk for compromised development due to stunting and poverty are likely to forgo about a quarter of average adult income per year, and the cost of inaction to gross domestic product can be double what some countries currently spend on health. Services and interventions to support early childhood development are essential to realising the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals. PMID:27717610

Early Childhood Stress and Child Age Predict Longitudinal Increases in Obesogenic Eating Among Low-Income Children.

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Miller, Alison L; Gearhardt, Ashley N; Retzloff, Lauren; Sturza, Julie; Kaciroti, Niko; Lumeng, Julie C

2018-01-31

To identify whether psychosocial stress exposure during early childhood predicts subsequent increased eating in the absence of hunger (EAH), emotional overeating, food responsiveness, and enjoyment of food. This was an observational longitudinal study. Among 207 low-income children (54.6% non-Hispanic white, 46.9% girls), early childhood stress exposure was measured by parent report and a stress exposure index calculated, with higher scores indicating more stress exposure. Eating behaviors were measured in early (mean, 4.3; standard deviation, 0.5 years) and middle (mean, 7.9; standard deviation, 0.7 years) childhood. Observed EAH was assessed by measuring kilocalories of palatable food the child consumed after a meal. Parents reported on child eating behaviors on the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Child weight and height were measured and body mass index z score (BMIz) calculated. Multivariable linear regression, adjusting for child sex, race/ethnicity, and BMIz, was used to examine the association of stress exposure with rate of change per year in each child eating behavior. Early childhood stress exposure predicted yearly increases in EAH (β = 0.14; 95% confidence interval, 0.002, 0.27) and Emotional Overeating (β = 0.14; 95% confidence interval, 0.008, 0.27). Stress exposure was not associated with Food Responsiveness (trend for decreased Enjoyment of Food; β = -0.13; 95% confidence interval, 0.002, -0.26). All child obesogenic eating behaviors increased with age (P Early stress exposure predicted increases in child eating behaviors known to associate with overweight/obesity. Psychosocial stress may confer overweight/obesity risk through eating behavior pathways. Targeting eating behaviors may be an important prevention strategy for children exposed to stress. Copyright © 2018 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Long-Term Effects of Early and Recent Maternal Employment on a Child's Academic Achievement

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Baum, Charles L.

2004-01-01

More children today are being raised in households with mothers who work for pay compared to a generation ago, when most mothers did not engage in marketplace work. This demographic change is important because it could affect children. In this article, the effects of early and recent maternal employment on a child's academic development are…

Pathways from maternal distress and child problem behavior to adolescent depressive symptoms: a prospective examination from early childhood to adolescence.

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Nilsen, Wendy; Gustavson, Kristin; Røysamb, Espen; Kjeldsen, Anne; Karevold, Evalill

2013-06-01

The main aim of this study was to identify the pathways from maternal distress and child problem behaviors (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems) across childhood and their impact on depressive symptoms during adolescence among girls and boys. Data from families of 921 Norwegian children in a 15-year longitudinal community sample were used. Using structural equation modeling, the authors explored the interplay between maternal-reported distress and child problem behaviors measured at 5 time points from early (ages 1.5, 2.5, and 4.5 years) and middle (age 8.5 years) childhood to early adolescence (age 12.5 years), and their prediction of self-reported depressive symptoms during adolescence (ages 14.5 and 16.5 years). The findings revealed paths from internalizing and externalizing problems throughout the development for corresponding problems (homotypic paths) and paths from early externalizing to subsequent internalizing problems (heterotypic paths). The findings suggest 2 pathways linking maternal-rated risk factors to self-reported adolescent depressive symptoms. There was a direct path from early externalizing problems to depressive symptoms. There was an indirect path from early maternal distress going through child problem behavior to depressive symptoms. In general, girls and boys were similar, but some gender-specific effects appeared. Problem behaviors in middle childhood had heterotypic paths to subsequent problems only for girls. The findings highlight the developmental importance of child externalizing problems, as well as the impact of maternal distress as early as age 1.5 years for the development of adolescent depressive symptoms. Findings also indicate a certain vulnerable period in middle childhood for girls. NOTE: See Supplemental Digital Content 1, at http://links.lww.com/JDBP/A45, for a video introduction to this article.

Change in depression across adolescence: The role of early anger socialization and child anger.

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O'Neal, Colleen R; Weston, Lynsey C; He, Xin; Huang, Keng-Yen; Pine, Daniel S; Kamboukos, Dimitra; Brotman, Laurie Miller

2017-08-01

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the relations of early socialization of anger with change in adolescent depression, and moderation by child anger. Using a sample of low-income, ethnic minority children at familial risk for psychopathology in the United States (n = 92; ages 3-5; 53% female; 65% African American; 27% Latina/o), early anger socialization (i.e., parent response to child anger) was tested as a predictor of change in depression from preadolescence to adolescence [i.e., age 8 (n = 63), 11 (n = 58), and 13 (n = 44)]. A videotaped parent-child interaction was coded for parental socialization of preschooler anger, and psychiatric interviews of depression were conducted three times across preadolescence and adolescence. Major depression diagnoses increased from preadolescence to adolescence. Latent growth modeling indicated parent discouragement of child anger was a significant predictor of an increase in the child's later depression from preadolescence to adolescence, and child anger intensity was a significant moderator. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. All rights reserved.

Integrating nutrition and child development interventions: scientific basis, evidence of impact, and implementation considerations.

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Black, Maureen M; Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael; Rao, Sylvia Fernandez

2015-11-01

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have contributed to unprecedented reductions in poverty and improvement in the lives of millions of men, women, and children in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, hundreds of millions of children under 5 y of age are not reaching their developmental potential. This article reviews the scientific basis for early childhood nutrition and child development interventions, the impact of integrated interventions on children's linear growth and cognitive development, and implementation strategies for integrated nutrition and child development programs. Advances in brain science have documented that the origins of adult health and well-being are grounded in early childhood, from conception through age 24 mo (first 1000 d) and extending to age 5 y (second 1000 d). Young children with adequate nutrition, nurturant caregiving, and opportunities for early learning have the best chances of thriving. Evidence from adoption, experimental, and quasi-experimental studies has shown that stunting prevention is sensitive during the first 1000 d, and sensitivity to child development interventions extends through the second 1000 d. Cognitive development responds to interventions post–1000 d with effect sizes that are inversely associated with initial age and length of program exposure. Integrated interventions need governance structures that support integrated policies and programming, with attention to training, supervision, and monitoring. The MDGs have been replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with targets for the next 15 y. Achievement of the SDGs depends on children receiving adequate nutrition, nurturant caregiving, and learning opportunities from conception through age 5.

Maternal control and early child dysregulation: Moderating roles of ethnicity and child delay status.

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Caplan, B; Baker, B L

2017-02-01

Maternal controlling behaviour has been found to influence child development, particularly in behavioural and emotional regulation. Given the higher rates of interfering parent control found in mothers of children with developmental delays (DD) and Latina mothers, their children could be at increased risk for behavioural and emotional dysregulation. While studies generally support this increased risk for children with DD, findings for Latino children are mixed and often attributed to cultural models of child rearing. The present study sought to determine the moderating roles of child DD and mother ethnicity in determining the relationships between two types of parent control (supportive directiveness and interference) and child dysregulation over time. The present study, involving 178 3-year old children with DD (n = 80) or typical development (n = 98), examined observed parent control (directive versus interfering) of Latina and Anglo mothers as it relates to change in preschool child dysregulation over 2 years. Interfering parent control was greater for children with DD and also for Latino mothers. Supportive directive parenting generally related to relatively greater decline in child behaviour and emotion dysregulation over time, while interfering parenting generally related to less decline in child behaviour dysregulation over time. In Anglo but not Latino families, these relationships tended to vary as a function of child disability. Parent directives that support, rather than deter, ongoing child activity may promote positive regulatory development. These results particularly hold for children with DD and Latino families, and have implications for parenting practices and intervention. © 2016 MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Early maternal depressive symptoms and child growth trajectories: a longitudinal analysis of a nationally representative US birth cohort

OpenAIRE

Surkan, Pamela J; Ettinger, Anna K; Hock, Rebecca S; Ahmed, Saifuddin; Strobino, Donna M; Minkovitz, Cynthia S

2014-01-01

Background: Maternal depressive symptoms are negatively associated with early child growth in developing countries; however, few studies have examined this relation in developed countries or used a longitudinal design with data past the second year of the child’s life. We investigated if and when early maternal depressive symptoms affect average growth in young children up to age 6 in a nationally representative sample of US children. Methods: Using data from 6,550 singleton births from the E...

Identifying Child-Staff Ratios That Promote Peer Skills in Child Care

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Iluz, Reli; Adi-Japha, Esther; Klein, Pnina S.

2016-01-01

Research Findings: Early child care policy and practice are grounded in a growing understanding of the importance of the first years of life. In earlier studies, associations between child-staff ratios and peer skills yielded inconsistent findings. The current study used data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study…

Using Relationships as a Tool: Early Childhood Educators' Perspectives of the Child-Caregiver Relationship in a Childcare Setting

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Brebner, Chris; Hammond, Lauren; Schaumloffel, Nicole; Lind, Christopher

2015-01-01

Children's early years are critical for development and many children access out-of-home care during this time. Services offering high-quality childcare afford an opportunity to impact positively on children's development, including acquisition of communication skills. A strong, responsive relationship between child and carer is important in…

Using a Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) approach to develop and pilot a photo grid method to gain insights into early child health and development in a socio-economic disadvantaged community.

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Lowrie, Emma; Tyrrell-Smith, Rachel

2017-01-01

This paper reports on the use of a Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) approach to develop a new research tool to involve members of the community in thinking about priorities for early child health and development in a deprived area of the UK. The CEnR approach involves researchers, professionals and members of the public working together during all stages of research and development.Researchers used a phased approach to the development of a Photo Grid tool including reviewing tools which could be used for community engagement, and testing the new tool based on feedback from workshops with local early years professionals and parents of young children.The Photo Grid tool is a flat square grid on which photo cards can be placed. Participants were asked to pace at the top of the grid the photos they considered most important for early child health and development, working down to the less important ones at the bottom. The findings showed that the resulting Photo Grid tool was a useful and successful method of engaging with the local community. The evidence for this is the high numbers of participants who completed a pilot study and who provided feedback on the method. By involving community members throughout the research process, it was possible to develop a method that would be acceptable to the local population, thus decreasing the likelihood of a lack of engagement. The success of the tool is therefore particularly encouraging as it engages "seldom heard voices," such as those with low literacy. The aim of this research was to consult with professionals and parents to develop a new research toolkit (Photo Grid), to understand community assets and priorities in relation to early child health and development in Blackpool, a socio-economic disadvantaged community. A Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) approach was used to consult with community members. This paper describes the process of using a CEnR approach in developing a Photo Grid toolkit. A phased CEnR approach

Parental Wellbeing, Parenting and Child Development in Ghanaian Families with Young Children.

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Huang, Keng-Yen; Bornheimer, Lindsay A; Dankyi, Ernestina; de-Graft Aikins, Ama

2018-03-27

Approximately one-third of early childhood pupils in Ghana are struggling with meeting basic behavioral and developmental milestones, but little is known about mechanisms or factors that contribute to poor early childhood development. With a lack of developmental research to guide intervention or education program and policy planning, this study aimed to address these research gaps by examining a developmental mechanism for early childhood development. We tested a mediational mechanism model that examined the influence of parental wellbeing on parenting and children's development. Two hundred and sixty-two Ghanaian parents whose children attended early childhood classes (nursery to 3rd grade) were recruited. Data were gathered through parent interviews and Structural Equation Modeling was utilized to examine pathways of the model. Results support the mediational model that Ghanaian parents' depression was associated with less optimal parenting, and in turn greater child externalizing behavioral problems. This study adds new evidence of cross cultural consistency in early childhood development.

Developing the Child Care Workforce: Understanding "Fight" or "Flight" Amongst Workers

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Bretherton, Tanya

2010-01-01

The early childhood education and care sector in Australia is undergoing a shift in philosophy. Changes in policy are driving the industry towards a combined early childhood education and care focus, away from one only on child care. This move has implications for the skilling of the child care workforce. This report examines workforce development…

Combating Violence against Children: Jordanian Pre-Service Early Childhood Teachers' Perceptions towards Child Abuse and Neglect

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Fayez, Merfat; Takash, Hanan Mahmoud; Al-Zboon, Eman Khleif

2014-01-01

Early childhood teachers play major roles in defying child abuse and neglect and alleviating its detrimental effects on young children. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring how Jordanian pre-service early childhood teachers define and perceive violence against children and their role in child abuse detection and prevention. Furthermore, the…

Development of the cortisol circadian rhythm in the light of stress early in life.

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Simons, Sterre S H; Beijers, Roseriet; Cillessen, Antonius H N; de Weerth, Carolina

2015-12-01

The secretion of the stress hormone cortisol follows a diurnal circadian rhythm. There are indications that this rhythm is affected by stress early in life. This paper addresses the development of the cortisol circadian rhythm between 1 and 6 years of age, and the role of maternal stress and anxiety early in the child's life on this (developing) rhythm. Participants were 193 healthy mother-child dyads from a community sample. Self-reported maternal stress and anxiety and physiological stress (saliva cortisol), were assessed prenatally (gestational week 37). Postnatally, self-reported maternal stress and anxiety were measured at 3, 6, 12, 30, and 72 months. Saliva cortisol samples from the children were collected on two days (four times each day) at 12, 30, and 72 months of age. The total amount of cortisol during the day and the cortisol decline over the day were determined to indicate children's cortisol circadian rhythm. Multilevel analyses showed that the total amount of cortisol decreased between 1 and 6 years. Furthermore, more maternal pregnancy-specific stress was related to higher total amounts of cortisol in the child. Higher levels of early postnatal maternal anxiety were associated with flatter cortisol declines in children. Higher levels of early postnatal maternal daily hassles were associated with steeper child cortisol declines over the day. These results indicated developmental change in children's cortisol secretion from 1 to 6 years and associations between maternal stress and anxiety early in children's lives and children's cortisol circadian rhythm in early childhood. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing Your Child's Self-Esteem

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... for Educators Search English Español Developing Your Child's Self-Esteem KidsHealth / For Parents / Developing Your Child's Self-Esteem ... their ability to do well at things Why Self-Esteem Matters When children feel good about themselves, it ...

Parenting disability, parenting stress and child behaviour in early inflammatory arthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zelkowitz, P; Looper, K J; Mustafa, S S; Purden, M; Baron, M

2013-03-01

Our study examines the association between the disease characteristics of inflammatory arthritis and patients' self-perception of mental health, parenting disability, parenting stress and child behaviour in early inflammatory arthritis (EIA). Patients in the early phase (more than 6 weeks, less than 18 months) of inflammatory arthritis were recruited from a larger EIA registry that recorded sociodemographic data and measures of pain, physical functioning and disease activity. Patient-perceived parenting disability, parenting stress, depression and children's behaviour problems were assessed using the Parenting Disability Index, Parenting Stress Index, Center for Epidemiologic Studies--Depression Mood Scale and Child Behavior Checklist, respectively. Pain, physical dysfunction, number of tender joints and physician global assessment of disease activity were associated with parenting disability. Self-report measures of parenting disability were associated with those of depression and parenting stress. Parenting stress was associated with children internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems while parenting disability was associated with children externalizing behaviour problems. This study suggests a possible reciprocal relationship among physical aspects of disease activity, parenting disability and parent and child distress in EIA.

Mutual influences between child emotion regulation and parent-child reciprocity support development across the first 10 years of life: Implications for developmental psychopathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Feldman, Ruth

2015-11-01

Elucidating the mechanisms by which infant birth conditions shape development across lengthy periods is critical for understanding typical and pathological development and for targeted early interventions. This study examined how newborns' regulatory capacities impact 10-year outcomes via the bidirectional influences of child emotion regulation (ER) and reciprocal parenting across early development. Guided by dynamic systems theory, 125 infants were tested at seven time points: birth, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months and 5 and 10 years. Initial regulatory conditions were measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; vagal tone) and neurobehavioral regulation (Brazelton, 1973) at birth. At each assessment between 3 months and 5 years, infant ER was microcoded from age-appropriate paradigms and mother-child reciprocity observed during social interactions. Four regulation-related outcomes were measured at 10 years: child RSA, empathy measured by mother-child conflict discussion and a lab paradigm, accident proneness, and behavior problems. An autoregressive cross-lagged structural model indicated that infant birth conditions impacted 10-year outcomes via three mechanisms. First, child ER and reciprocal parenting were individually stable across development and were each predicted by regulatory birth conditions, describing gradual maturation of ER and reciprocity over time. Second, better ER skills at one time point were related to greater reciprocity at the next time point and vice versa, and these cross-time effects defined a field of individual-context mutual influences that mediated the links between neonatal RSA and 10-year outcomes. Third, direct associations emerged between neonatal regulation and outcome, suggesting that birth conditions may establish a neurobiological milieu that promotes a more mature and resilient system. These mechanisms describe distinct "attractor" states that constrain the system's future options, emphasize the importance of defining behavior

Perceptions of the characteristics of the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth by child care providers may influence early adoption of nutrition guidelines in child care centres.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolopoulos, Hara; Farmer, Anna; Berry, Tanya R; McCargar, Linda J; Mager, Diana R

2015-04-01

In 2008, the Alberta government released the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth (ANGCY) as a resource for child care facilities to translate nutrition recommendations into practical food choices. Using a multiple case study method, early adoption of the guidelines was examined in two child care centres in Alberta, Canada. Key constructs from the Diffusion of Innovations framework were used to develop an interview protocol based on the perceived characteristics of the guidelines (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability) by child care providers. Analysis of the ANGCY was conducted by a trained qualitative researcher and validated by an external qualitative researcher. This entailed reviewing guideline content, layout, organisation, presentation, format, comprehensiveness and dissemination to understand whether characteristics of the guidelines affect the adoption process. Data were collected through direct observation, key informant interviews and documentation of field notes. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. Overall, the guidelines were perceived positively by child care providers. Child care providers found the guidelines to have a high relative advantage, be compatible with current practice, have a low level of complexity, easy to try and easy to observe changes. It is valuable to understand how child care providers perceive characteristics of guidelines as this is the first step in identifying the needs of child care providers with respect to early adoption and identifying potential educational strategies important for dissemination. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Identifying Early Childhood Personality Dimensions Using the California Child Q-Set and Prospective Associations With Behavioral and Psychosocial Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Sylia; Schalet, Benjamin D; Hicks, Brian M; Zucker, Robert A

2013-08-01

The present study used an empirical, "bottom-up" approach to delineate the structure of the California Child Q-Set (CCQ), a comprehensive set of personality descriptors, in a sample of 373 preschool-aged children. This approach yielded two broad trait dimensions, Adaptive Socialization (emotional stability, compliance, intelligence) and Anxious Inhibition (emotional/behavioral introversion). Results demonstrate the value of using empirical derivation to investigate the structure of personality in young children, speak to the importance of early-evident personality traits for adaptive development, and are consistent with a growing body of evidence indicating that personality structure in young children is similar, but not identical to, that in adults, suggesting a model of broad personality dimensions in childhood that evolve into narrower traits in adulthood.

Benefits of music training in child development: a systematic review.

OpenAIRE

María Angélica Benítez; Veronika Mariana Diaz Abrahan; Nadia Romina Justel

2018-01-01

There are evidences that establish that from early childhood musical education has a positive effect on the cognitive development of the child, as well as different musical components contribute to the development of psychomotor, emotional and social skills. The musical processing is a complex issue. From a cognitive point of view production, music perception and aspects of the musical discourse, such as timbre, intensity, pace, and tonality, are processed in different parts of the brain and ...

Regional early development and eruption of permanent teeth: case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Al Mullahi, A M; Bakathir, A; Al Jahdhami, S

2017-02-01

Early development and eruption of permanent teeth are rarely reported in scientific literature. Early eruption of permanent teeth has been reported to occur due to local factors such as trauma or dental abscesses in primary teeth, and in systemic conditions. Congenital diffuse infiltrating facial lipomatosis (CDIFL) is a rare condition that belongs to a group of lipomatosis tumours. In this disorder, the mature adipocytes invade adjacent soft and hard tissues in the facial region. Accelerated tooth eruption is one of the dental anomalies associated with CDIFL. A 3-year-old boy presented with a swelling of the lower lip localised early development and eruption of permanent teeth and dental caries involving many primary teeth. The planned treatment included biopsy of the swollen lower lip to confirm the diagnosis, surgical reduction and reconstruction of lip aesthetics. The management of the carious primary teeth included preventative and comprehensive dental care and extractions. These procedures were completed under general anaesthesia due to the child's young age and poor cooperation. The lip biopsy showed features of CDIFL such as the presence of infiltrating adipose tissue, prominent number of nerve bundles and thickened vessels. The high recurrence rate of CDIFL mandates long-term monitoring during the facial growth period of the child. Follow-up care by the paediatric dentist and maxillofacial surgeon has been required to manage all aspects of this congenital malformation. This rare disorder has many implications affecting child's facial aesthetics, psychological well being, developing occlusion and risk of dental caries. A multi-disciplinary approach is needed for management of this condition.

The Development of Early Profiles of Temperament: Characterization, Continuity, and Etiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Beekman, Charles; Neiderhiser, Jenae M; Buss, Kristin A; Loken, Eric; Moore, Ginger A; Leve, Leslie D; Ganiban, Jody M; Shaw, Daniel S; Reiss, David

2015-01-01

This study used a data-driven, person-centered approach to examine the characterization, continuity, and etiology of child temperament from infancy to toddlerhood. Data from 561 families who participated in an ongoing prospective adoption study, the Early Growth and Development Study, were used to estimate latent profiles of temperament at 9, 18, and 27 months. Results indicated that four profiles of temperament best fit the data at all three points of assessment. The characterization of profiles was stable over time, while membership in profiles changed across age. Facets of adoptive parent and birth mother personality were predictive of children's profile membership at each age, providing preliminary evidence for specific environmental and genetic influences on patterns of temperament development from infancy to toddlerhood. © 2015 The Authors. Child Development © 2015 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Early Intervention and Maltreated Children: A Current Look at the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and Part C

Science.gov (United States)

Moxley, Kathleen M.; Squires, Jane; Lindstrom, Lauren

2012-01-01

Current literature regarding the prevalence of child abuse and neglect, resulting developmental impacts on children, and early intervention services for children and families involved in the child welfare system is summarized. While early intervention eligibility referrals are mandated for this population under the Child Abuse Prevention and…

Extending Parent–Child Interaction Therapy for Early Childhood Internalizing Problems: New Advances for an Overlooked Population

Science.gov (United States)

Puliafico, Anthony C.; Kurtz, Steven M. S.; Pincus, Donna B.; Comer, Jonathan S.

2014-01-01

Although efficacious psychological treatments for internalizing disorders are now well established for school-aged children, until recently there have regrettably been limited empirical efforts to clarify indicated psychological intervention methods for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders presenting in early childhood. Young children lack many of the developmental capacities required to effectively participate in established treatments for mood and anxiety problems presenting in older children, making simple downward extensions of these treatments for the management of preschool internalizing problems misguided. In recent years, a number of research groups have successfully adapted and modified parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT), originally developed to treat externalizing problems in young children, to treat various early internalizing problems with a set of neighboring protocols. As in traditional PCIT, these extensions target child symptoms by directly reshaping parent–child interaction patterns associated with the maintenance of symptoms. The present review outlines this emerging set of novel PCIT adaptations and modifications for mood and anxiety problems in young children and reviews preliminary evidence supporting their use. Specifically, we cover (a) PCIT for early separation anxiety disorder; (b) the PCIT-CALM (Coaching Approach behavior and Leading by Modeling) Program for the full range of early anxiety disorders; (c) the group Turtle Program for behavioral inhibition; and (d) the PCIT-ED (Emotional Development) Program for preschool depression. In addition, emerging PCIT-related protocols in need of empirical attention—such as the PCIT-SM (selective mutism) Program for young children with SM—are also considered. Implications of these protocols are discussed with regard to their unique potential to address the clinical needs of young children with internalizing problems. Obstacles to broad dissemination are addressed, and we consider

Extending parent-child interaction therapy for early childhood internalizing problems: new advances for an overlooked population.

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Aubrey L; Puliafico, Anthony C; Kurtz, Steven M S; Pincus, Donna B; Comer, Jonathan S

2014-12-01

Although efficacious psychological treatments for internalizing disorders are now well established for school-aged children, until recently there have regrettably been limited empirical efforts to clarify indicated psychological intervention methods for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders presenting in early childhood. Young children lack many of the developmental capacities required to effectively participate in established treatments for mood and anxiety problems presenting in older children, making simple downward extensions of these treatments for the management of preschool internalizing problems misguided. In recent years, a number of research groups have successfully adapted and modified parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), originally developed to treat externalizing problems in young children, to treat various early internalizing problems with a set of neighboring protocols. As in traditional PCIT, these extensions target child symptoms by directly reshaping parent-child interaction patterns associated with the maintenance of symptoms. The present review outlines this emerging set of novel PCIT adaptations and modifications for mood and anxiety problems in young children and reviews preliminary evidence supporting their use. Specifically, we cover (a) PCIT for early separation anxiety disorder; (b) the PCIT-CALM (Coaching Approach behavior and Leading by Modeling) Program for the full range of early anxiety disorders; (c) the group Turtle Program for behavioral inhibition; and (d) the PCIT-ED (Emotional Development) Program for preschool depression. In addition, emerging PCIT-related protocols in need of empirical attention--such as the PCIT-SM (selective mutism) Program for young children with SM--are also considered. Implications of these protocols are discussed with regard to their unique potential to address the clinical needs of young children with internalizing problems. Obstacles to broad dissemination are addressed, and we consider

Maternal depression and child development: Evidence from São Paulo’s Western Region Cohort Study

OpenAIRE

Brentani,Alexandra; Fink,Günther

2016-01-01

Summary Introduction: While a growing body of evidence has investigated the relationship between maternal mental health and child development, evidence on children’s early life outcomes remains mixed. We analyze the empirical relationship between maternal depression and children’s development at age one using data from the São Paulo Western Region Cohort project. Method: Seven hundred and ninety-eight (798) mother-child dyads living in the Butantã-Jaguaré’ region of São Pa...

Maternal depression and child development: Evidence from São Paulo’s Western Region Cohort Study

OpenAIRE

Brentani, Alexandra; Fink, Günther

2016-01-01

Summary Introduction: While a growing body of evidence has investigated the relationship between maternal mental health and child development, evidence on children’s early life outcomes remains mixed. We analyze the empirical relationship between maternal depression and children’s development at age one using data from the São Paulo Western Region Cohort project. Method: Seven hundred and ninety-eight (798) mother-child dyads living in the Butantã-Jaguaré’ region of São Paulo were assessed ...

Early Child Disaster Mental Health Interventions: A Review of the Empirical Evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Pfefferbaum, Betty; Nitiéma, Pascal; Tucker, Phebe; Newman, Elana

2017-01-01

Background: The need to establish an evidence base for early child disaster interventions has been long recognized. Objective: This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the empirical research on early disaster mental health interventions delivered to children within the first 3 months post event. Methods: Characteristics and findings of the…

Investing in the foundation of sustainable development: pathways to scale up for early childhood development.

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, Linda M; Daelmans, Bernadette; Lombardi, Joan; Heymann, Jody; Boo, Florencia Lopez; Behrman, Jere R; Lu, Chunling; Lucas, Jane E; Perez-Escamilla, Rafael; Dua, Tarun; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Stenberg, Karin; Gertler, Paul; Darmstadt, Gary L

2017-01-07

Building on long-term benefits of early intervention (Paper 2 of this Series) and increasing commitment to early childhood development (Paper 1 of this Series), scaled up support for the youngest children is essential to improving health, human capital, and wellbeing across the life course. In this third paper, new analyses show that the burden of poor development is higher than estimated, taking into account additional risk factors. National programmes are needed. Greater political prioritisation is core to scale-up, as are policies that afford families time and financial resources to provide nurturing care for young children. Effective and feasible programmes to support early child development are now available. All sectors, particularly education, and social and child protection, must play a role to meet the holistic needs of young children. However, health provides a critical starting point for scaling up, given its reach to pregnant women, families, and young children. Starting at conception, interventions to promote nurturing care can feasibly build on existing health and nutrition services at limited additional cost. Failure to scale up has severe personal and social consequences. Children at elevated risk for compromised development due to stunting and poverty are likely to forgo about a quarter of average adult income per year, and the cost of inaction to gross domestic product can be double what some countries currently spend on health. Services and interventions to support early childhood development are essential to realising the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Clinical abnormalities, early intervention program of Down syndrome children: Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuengfoo, Adidsuda; Sakulnoom, Kim

2014-06-01

Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health is a tertiary institute of children in Thailand, where early intervention programs have been provided since 1990 by multidisciplinary approach especially in Down syndrome children. This aim of the present study is to follow the impact of early intervention on the outcome of Down syndrome children. The school attendance number of Down syndrome children was compared between regular early intervention and non-regular early intervention. The present study group consists of 210 Down syndrome children who attended early intervention programs at Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health between June 2008 and January 2012. Data include clinical features, school attendance developmental quotient (DQ) at 3 years of age using Capute Scales Cognitive Adaptive Test/Scale (CAT/CLAMS). Developmental milestones have been recorded as to the time of appearance of gross motor, fine motor, language, personal-social development compared to those non-regular intervention patients. Of 210 Down syndrome children, 117 were boys and 93 were girls. About 87% received regular intervention, 68% attended speech training. Mean DQ at 3 years of age was 65. Of the 184 children who still did follow-up at developmental department, 124 children (59%) attended school: mainstream school children 78 (63%) and special school children 46 (37%). The mean age at entrance to school was 5.8 ± 1.4 years. The school attendance was correlated with maternal education and regular early intervention attendance. Regular early intervention starts have proven to have a positive effect on development. The school attendance number of Down syndrome children receiving regular early intervention was statistically and significantly higher than the number of Down syndrome children receiving non-regular early intervention was. School attendance correlated with maternal education and attended regularly early intervention. Regular early intervention together with maternal

Oxytocin and Parent-Child Interaction in the Development of Empathy among Children at Risk for Autism

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Nicole M.; Baker, Jason K.; Messinger, Daniel S.

2016-01-01

This longitudinal study investigated whether variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and early parent-child interactions predicted later empathic behavior in 84 toddlers at high or low familial risk for ASD. Two well-studied OXTR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs53576 and rs2254298, were examined. Parent-child interaction was measured at 15 and 18 months of age during free play sessions. Empathy was measured at 24 and 30 months using a response to parental distress paradigm. While there was no direct association between parent-child interaction quality or OXTR and empathy, rs53576 moderated the relation between interaction quality and empathy. Results suggest that the interplay between OXTR and early parent-child interactions predicts individual differences in empathy in children at varying risk for atypical social development. Findings are consonant with a differential susceptibility model in which an OXTR variant may increase the social salience of interaction processes for specific allele carriers. These results increase our understanding of predictors of empathy development in young children with a wide range of social outcomes. PMID:26998571

[Social reasoning of early adolescents and parents regarding parent-child conflicts].

Science.gov (United States)

Utsumi, Shoka

2015-08-01

Few researches have delineated how adolescents and parents view conflict in familial settings in Japan. Seventh and eighth grade junior high school students (n = 63) and parents (n = 68) were asked to complete a questionnaire using four hypothetical stories to investigate their judgments and reasoning about parent-child situations. Vignettes described health management, household chores, and two situations involving personal choice (clothes and friends) situations. Participants responded differently to personal, prudential, and conventional conflict. Parental acceptance of the child's demands and discretion and the child's tendency to reject parental authority were significantly higher for personal than for conventional or prudential conflict, and for conventional than for prudential conflict. Children rejected parental authority more than adults rejected parental authority when the child's choice was central to the child's identity; on the other hand, children accepted parents' conventional demands more often than adults accepted parents' conventional demands. These results suggest that early adolescents assert their rights when they judge the situation to be in the personal domain.

A German e-learning-training in the context of early preventive intervention and child protection: preliminary findings of a pre-post evaluation.

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Bressem, Kristina; Ziegenhain, Ute; Doelitzsch, Claudia; Hofer, Alexandra; Besier, Tanja; Fegert, Joerg M; Kuenster, Anne K

2016-01-01

In recent years, a number of government-sponsored initiatives have been implemented in Germany that are focused on early preventive intervention in child protection. In response to the need for interdisciplinary training in this area, the internet-based e-learning program "Early Preventive Intervention and Child Protection" was developed for professionals in the child welfare and health care systems working with families with infants and toddlers. The program is currently undergoing evaluation for effectiveness and user satisfaction. In a pre-post design, users are requested to complete questionnaires that assess three measures of expertise: theoretical knowledge of relevant fields, the ability to correctly identify subtle signals of infant communication, and the ability to assess maternal sensitivity. This article presents the contents of the program and the pre-training results (N = 1.294 participants). Descriptive analyses as well as Pearson correlations and Bonferroni corrections of error were conducted using the statistical program SPSS v. 21.0. The findings show that a wide range of professionals are making use of the program, and that their existing theoretical knowledge about early preventive intervention, as well as their ability to identify subtle signals of infant communication, is relatively good. However, their ability to assess maternal sensitivity, which is considered a crucial indicator for the risk of child abuse, was low. The outcome of the pre-training results indicates that professionals working in the area of child protection need to develop more capability in recognizing maternal sensitivity, in order to ensure early detection of families who are at risk and thus in need of support. Finally, the number of years of professional experience did not correlate with the scores on any of the three measures, which emphasizes the importance of providing interdisciplinary training in this area for all those working in child and family services

Mourning Child Grief Support Group Curriculum: Early Childhood Edition, Kindergarten-Grade 2.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmann, Linda; Jimerson, Shane R.; Gaasch, Ann

The Mourning Child Early Childhood grief support curriculum is intended for use with early elementary-aged children, specifically children in kindergarten through grade two, who have experienced the death of someone special to them. It is designed for use by professionals who work in schools, hospitals, hospices, mental health agencies, or any…

Maternal anxiety from pregnancy to 2 years postpartum: transactional patterns of maternal early adversity and child temperament.

Science.gov (United States)

Agrati, Daniella; Browne, Dillon; Jonas, Wibke; Meaney, Michael; Atkinson, Leslie; Steiner, Meir; Fleming, Alison S

2015-10-01

The aims of this study were to examine the anxiety trajectories of women from pregnancy to 2 years postpartum and to assess the influence of their early life experiences and the temperament of the child on these trajectories. We evaluated state anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) at pregnancy and 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months postpartum and determined its course as a function of self-reported early adverse experiences (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) and the temperament of the child at 18 months (Early Child Behavior Questionnaire). Based on growth curve modeling, we found that anxiety followed a general U-shape pattern from gestation to 2 years postpartum, which was modified by early life experience of women. Greater early adversity was associated with higher gestational anxiety, followed by a marked decrease once the baby was born, and subsequent increase during the later postpartum period. The temperament of the child also modulated anxiety trajectories. Thus, mothers of children high in negative affectivity and who also experienced greater early adversity had elevated and flat anxiety trajectories, while child extraversion was associated with increasing anxiety courses approaching 2 years postpartum. These results show that maternal anxiety dynamically changes through the postpartum period with a course that is affected by previous and current experiences.

Postpartum Depression and Child Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Lynne, Ed.; Cooper, Peter J., Ed.

Only recently has the research on postpartum depression dealt with the disorder's effects on child development. This book explores the impact of postpartum depression on mother-infant interaction and child development, its treatment, and postpartum psychosis. The chapters are: (1) "The Nature of Postpartum Depressive Disorders" (Michael…

Child, family, and neighborhood associations with parent and peer interactive play during early childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Kenney, Mary Kay

2012-04-01

To examine national patterns of peer and parent interactive play opportunities that enhance early learning/socialization. Bivariate and multivariable analyses of cross-sectional data on 22,797 children aged 1-5 years from the National Survey of Children's Health 2007 were performed to determine the child, family, and neighborhood factors associated with four parent-initiated activities. Outcomes measures included time (days/week) children spent: participating in peer play; being read to; sung to/told stories; and taken on family outings. Covariates included race/ethnicity, poverty, TV watching, childcare, child and maternal physical and mental health, family factors (structure, size, language, stress, education), and neighborhood factors (amenities, support, physical condition, safety). According to adjusted regression models, minority children from lower income, non-English-speaking households with limited education, poorer maternal health and greater parenting stress were read to/told stories less than children without these characteristics, while neighborhood factors exerted less influence. In contrast, significant reductions in days/week of peer play were associated with unsupportive neighborhoods and those with the poorest physical conditions and limited amenities. Likewise, reductions in outings were associated with fewer neighborhood amenities. The findings of this study indicate that a variety of child, family, and neighborhood factors are associated with parent-initiated behaviors such as reading, storytelling, peer interactive play, and family outings. Appropriate evidence-based home visiting interventions targeting child health, parenting skills, early childhood education, and social services in at-risk communities would appear to be appropriate vehicles for addressing such parent-initiated play activities that have the potential to enhance development.

Integrating Nutrition and Child Development Interventions: Scientific Basis, Evidence of Impact, and Implementation Considerations123

Science.gov (United States)

Black, Maureen M; Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael; Fernandez Rao, Sylvia

2015-01-01

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have contributed to unprecedented reductions in poverty and improvement in the lives of millions of men, women, and children in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, hundreds of millions of children under 5 y of age are not reaching their developmental potential. This article reviews the scientific basis for early childhood nutrition and child development interventions, the impact of integrated interventions on children’s linear growth and cognitive development, and implementation strategies for integrated nutrition and child development programs. Advances in brain science have documented that the origins of adult health and well-being are grounded in early childhood, from conception through age 24 mo (first 1000 d) and extending to age 5 y (second 1000 d). Young children with adequate nutrition, nurturant caregiving, and opportunities for early learning have the best chances of thriving. Evidence from adoption, experimental, and quasi-experimental studies has shown that stunting prevention is sensitive during the first 1000 d, and sensitivity to child development interventions extends through the second 1000 d. Cognitive development responds to interventions post–1000 d with effect sizes that are inversely associated with initial age and length of program exposure. Integrated interventions need governance structures that support integrated policies and programming, with attention to training, supervision, and monitoring. The MDGs have been replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with targets for the next 15 y. Achievement of the SDGs depends on children receiving adequate nutrition, nurturant caregiving, and learning opportunities from conception through age 5. PMID:26875208

Mothers' experience of caring for a child with early onset scoliosis: A qualitative descriptive study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lauder, Bonnie; Sinclair, Peter M; Maguire, Jane

2018-04-01

This study aimed to identify and describe the experience of parents of children diagnosed with early onset scoliosis living in Australia. Chronic childhood disease has a major impact on health-related quality of life. Caring for a child with a chronic illness is well documented but the specific experiences of parents who care for children with early onset scoliosis, a rare but devastating illness, has not been explored. Numerous studies have described the interrelated psychological, financial, social, physical and logistical factors that impact the experience of the caregiver role with various diseases, but in the case of early onset scoliosis, limited studies have been conducted about the parental experience. A qualitative descriptive design was used. A snowball sampling technique assisted in the recruitment. Parents invited to the study included mothers, fathers and guardians. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analysed thematically. Data collection complied with the Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research guidelines. Twelve mothers of children with early onset scoliosis were interviewed, as only mothers consented to participate. Four major themes emerged: emotional rollercoaster ride, a lack of resources, money talks and pervasive burden. Factors that impacted on the participants' ability to confront, manage and endure caring for a child with early onset scoliosis emerged from the data. The findings suggest there are multiple factors that influence the experience of mothers' caring for a child with early onset scoliosis. The recognition and appropriate management of these factors by healthcare professionals have the potential to improve the quality of life of parents who care for a child with early onset scoliosis. Healthcare professionals have first-line contact with parents of children with early onset scoliosis and are well placed to provide parents with evidence-based education

The Development of Early Childhood Education as an Academic Discipline in Finland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eeva Hujala

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Early Childhood Education (ECE as an academic discipline has gained an academic legitimacy in Finland in 2005. In accordance with internationally established practice, Early Childhood Education as an academic field and a field of research has been set to cover the period from birth to eight years of age. The focus of ECE re- search is to analyse and define the development and upbringing of young children, including such themes as learning and teaching and the complex connection between child development to the growth environment. In recent years in Finland, the internal paradigmatic discussions within academic ECE have been both enlightened and critical. The emergence of an academic Early Childhood Education paradigm has been apparent in the discussions of early pedagogy, professional growth, leadership, management and quality and as a definer of pedagogy to support children’s learning. The challenge of academic Early Childhood Education is to introduce into the discussion ontological and epistemological issues of early childhood and thereby activate teachers and other professional educators and parents to consider personal and professional conceptions of the child, of learning and of the role of adults in the upbringing of young children from birth to eight years of age.

[Advances in early childhood development: from neurons to big scale programs].

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael; Rizzoli-Córdoba, Antonio; Alonso-Cuevas, Aranzazú; Reyes-Morales, Hortensia

Early childhood development (ECD) is the basis of countries' economic and social development and their ability to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Gestation and the first three years of life are critical for children to have adequate physical, psychosocial, emotional and cognitive development for the rest of their lives. Nurturing care and protection of children during gestation and early childhood are necessary for the development of trillions of neurons and trillions of synapses necessary for development. ECD requires access to good nutrition and health services from gestation, responsive caregiving according to the child's developmental stage, social protection and child welfare, and early stimulation and learning opportunities. Six actions are recommended to improve national ECD programs: expand political will and funding; create a supportive, evidence-based policy environment; build capacity through inter-sectoral coordination; ensure fair and transparent governance of programs and services; increase support for multidisciplinary research; and promote the development of leaders. Mexico has made significant progress under the leadership of the Health Ministry, but still faces significant challenges. The recent creation of a national inter-sectoral framework to enable ECD with support of international organizations and the participation of civil society organizations can help overcome these challenges. Copyright © 2017 Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

The impact of a Caribbean home-visiting child development program on cognitive skills

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssens, W.; Rosemberg, C.

2014-01-01

This paper provides a short-term impact evaluation of a home-visiting Early Child Development (ECD) program in the Caribbean aimed at vulnerable children from birth to three years. The analysis is based on a quasi-experimental research design including approximately four hundred children in

Child Development Program Evaluation Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiene, Richard J.

The Child Development Program Evaluation Scale (CDPES) is actually two scales in one, a licensing scale and a quality scale. Licensing predictor items have been found to predict overall compliance of child day care centers with state regulations in four states. Quality scale items have been found to predict the overall quality of child day care…

Association between Exclusive Breastfeeding and Child Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghaniyyatul Khudri

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Child development highly correlates with child’s quality. The fastest child development period is during the first three years, also called golden period. This research was aimed to discover correlation between exclussive breastfeeding and child development in Cipacing Village Jatinangor, district of Sumedang. Methods: This research was conducted using cross-sectional method in thirteen Pos Pelayanan Terpadu (Posyandu Cipacing Village in Jatinangor. One hundred and two children aged 12−24 months with their caregiver were recruited as respondents by using cluster sampling method. Hist ory of exclusive breastfeeding was assessed with questionnaire while child development status was assesed with Kuesioner Pra Skrining Perkembangan (KPSP in September 2013 after informed consent was obtained. Chi-square test analysis was performed to determine correlation between exclusive breastfeeding and child development status. Results: Overall, children in Cipacing Village had non-exclusive breastfeeding history (83.3%, and only 16.7% respondents had exclusive breastfeeding history. Meanwhile, 89.2% of children had normal development status, and 10.8% had delayed development status. Statistic analysis using chi-square test in the level of 95% confidence between exclusive breastfeeding and child development showed p=0.686 and odds ratio 2.133. Conclusions: There is no significant relationship between history of exclusive breastfeeding and child development status.

The Role of Language Skill in Child Psychopathology: Implications for Intervention in the Early Years.

Science.gov (United States)

Salmon, Karen; O'Kearney, Richard; Reese, Elaine; Fortune, Clare-Ann

2016-12-01

In this narrative review, we suggest that children's language skill should be targeted in clinical interventions for children with emotional and behavioral difficulties in the preschool years. We propose that language skill predicts childhood emotional and behavioral problems and this relationship may be mediated by children's self-regulation and emotion understanding skills. In the first sections, we review recent high-quality longitudinal studies which together demonstrate that that children's early language skill predicts: (1) emotional and behavioral problems, and this relationship is stronger than the reverse pattern; (2) self-regulation skill; this pattern may be stronger than the reverse pattern but moderated by child age. Findings also suggest that self-regulation skill mediates the relation between early language skill and children's emotional and behavioral problems. There is insufficient evidence regarding the mediating role of emotion understanding. In subsequent sections, we review evidence demonstrating that: (1) particular kinds of developmentally targeted parent-child conversations play a vital role in the development of language skill, and (2) some current clinical interventions, directly or indirectly, have a beneficial impact on children's vocabulary and narrative skills, but most approaches are ad hoc. Targeting language via parent-child conversation has the potential to improve the outcomes of current clinical interventions in the preschool years.

Report of educational experience: integral development of the child

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandre Freitas Marchiori

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Summary The study was conducted at the Centre Municipal Education Child (CMEI "Sinclair Phillips," located in the city of Vitoria / ES, in the quarter Caratoíra. It is worth emphasizing the importance of believing in the potential and the knowledge that each child brings from an early age, because it is a development and be in full in terms of broadening their knowledge from the opportunities given to it, aiming to form a citizen critical. It is for the purchase of motor skills, promote health, cognitive development (intellectual, literacy and transmission of knowledge and culture / art historically constituted. The creativity and autonomy of the child always been the guiding objectives of the proposed work. He had the following objectives: to consolidate the Body of Culture Movement, working with social learning; provide social inclusion, developing the creativity; lead and supporting construction of autonomy; stimulate the initiative and diversity; provoke awareness of social rules; literacy; provide access the arts; articulate knowledge lived / worked in the school; chance rescue experiences of childhood, and transmit the culture children. The classes are not based in a single perspective, but allowed diverse forms of work, taking the child and its development as the focus of work. Another point of support was the adoption of Culture, Body Movement and Critical-emancipatory to develop intervention and that enabled a rich and varied work. The results are perceived in the day-to-day life of children, demonstrated by the actions of acceptance of others, recognition of the rules of coexistence, the materialization of learning: reading, writing and interpretation of some children's stories - this includes its production / living standalone of children, beyond access to culture and arts offered during the school year. Key Words: Children's Education, Physical Education, school practice, teaching.

Early life programming as a target for prevention of child and adolescent mental disorders

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

This paper concerns future policy development and programs of research for the prevention of mental disorders based on research emerging from fetal and early life programming. The current review offers an overview of findings on pregnancy exposures such as maternal mental health, lifestyle factors, and potential teratogenic and neurotoxic exposures on child outcomes. Outcomes of interest are common child and adolescent mental disorders including hyperactive, behavioral and emotional disorders. This literature suggests that the preconception and perinatal periods offer important opportunities for the prevention of deleterious fetal exposures. As such, the perinatal period is a critical period where future mental health prevention efforts should be focused and prevention models developed. Interventions grounded in evidence-based recommendations for the perinatal period could take the form of public health, universal and more targeted interventions. If successful, such interventions are likely to have lifelong effects on (mental) health. PMID:24559477

Behavioural Development of Early Adolescents by Dint of Positive School Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Jayalekshmi, N. B.; Dharma Raja, B. William

2011-01-01

Early adolescence is the period where the transition from child to adult takes place gradually. A major physical and cognitive change during this period is accompanied by social and emotional development. The growth spurt in this period makes them stronger and plays an important role in developing self identities. The journey through this crucial…

Can teacher-child relationships alter the effects of early socioeconomic status on achievement in middle childhood?

Science.gov (United States)

McCormick, Meghan P; O'Connor, Erin E; Parham Horn, E

2017-10-01

Using data from the NICHD SECCYD (N=1053), we used two-level hierarchical linear models with site fixed effects to examine whether teacher-child closeness and conflict moderated associations between two indicators of early socioeconomic status (maternal education and family income) and standardized measures of children's math and reading achievement at 54months, 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades. Children whose mothers had lower levels of education and conflictual relationships with teachers exhibited lower reading achievement, on average, across elementary school. At the same time, children with less educated mothers who experienced increases in teacher-child closeness and decreases in teacher-child conflict exhibited improvements in reading achievement across elementary school. Finally, low teacher-child closeness elevated the risk for poor math achievement posed by low family income. Implications for intervention design and development are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do multiple micronutrient interventions improve child health, growth, and development?

Science.gov (United States)

Ramakrishnan, Usha; Goldenberg, Tamar; Allen, Lindsay H

2011-11-01

Micronutrient deficiencies are common and often co-occur in many developing countries. Several studies have examined the benefits of providing multiple micronutrient (MMN) interventions during pregnancy and childhood, but the implications for programs remain unclear. The key objective of this review is to summarize what is known about the efficacy of MMN interventions during early childhood on functional outcomes, namely, child health, survival, growth, and development, to guide policy and identify gaps for future research. We identified review articles including meta-analyses and intervention studies that evaluated the benefits of MMN interventions (3 or more micronutrients) in children (growth. Two studies found no effects on child mortality. The findings for respiratory illness and diarrhea are mixed, although suggestive of benefit when provided as fortified foods. There is evidence from several controlled trials (>25) and 2 meta-analyses that MMN interventions improve hemoglobin concentrations and reduce anemia, but the effects were small compared to providing only iron or iron with folic acid. Two recent meta-analyses and several intervention trials also indicated that MMN interventions improve linear growth compared to providing a placebo or single nutrients. Much less is known about the effects on MMN interventions during early childhood on motor and mental development. In summary, MMN interventions may result in improved outcomes for children in settings where micronutrient deficiencies are widespread.

Maternal Thyroid Function in Early Pregnancy and Neuropsychological Performance of the Child at 5 Years of Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersen, Stine Linding; Andersen, Stig; Liew, Zeyan; Vestergaard, Peter; Olsen, Jørn

2018-02-01

Abnormal maternal thyroid function in pregnancy may impair fetal brain development, but more evidence is needed to refine and corroborate the hypothesis. To estimate the association between maternal thyroid function in early pregnancy and neuropsychological performance of the child at 5 years of age. Follow-up study. A cohort of 1153 women and their children sampled from the Danish National Birth Cohort. Maternal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (fT4) were measured in stored biobank sera from early pregnancy. Child neuropsychological test results (Wechsler Intelligence Scale/Test of Everyday Attention), test of motor function (Movement Assessment Battery), and results of parent and teacher reports (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function/Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). Altogether 145 children (12.6%) were born to mothers with abnormal thyroid function in the early pregnancy. High maternal TSH and low fT4 were associated with lower child verbal intelligence quotient (adjusted mean difference TSH ≥ 10 mIU/L vs 0.1 to 2.49 mIU/L, -8.9 [95% confidence interval (CI), -15 to -2.4]; fT4 function was also associated with adverse motor function and teacher-reported problems of executive function and behavior, and these associations were dominated by exposure to maternal hypothyroxinemia. Maternal thyroid hormone abnormalities were associated with adverse neuropsychological function of the child at 5 years of age. For intelligence, marked hypothyroidism was important, whereas for motor function and executive and behavior problems, maternal hypothyroxinemia was predominant. Copyright © 2017 Endocrine Society

Caregiver behavior change for child survival and development in low- and middle-income countries: an examination of the evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Elder, John P; Pequegnat, Willo; Ahmed, Saifuddin; Bachman, Gretchen; Bullock, Merry; Carlo, Waldemar A; Chandra-Mouli, Venkatraman; Fox, Nathan A; Harkness, Sara; Huebner, Gillian; Lombardi, Joan; Murry, Velma McBride; Moran, Allisyn; Norton, Maureen; Mulik, Jennifer; Parks, Will; Raikes, Helen H; Smyser, Joseph; Sugg, Caroline; Sweat, Michael; Ulkuer, Nurper

2014-01-01

In June of 2012, representatives from more than 80 countries promulgated a Child Survival Call to Action, which called for reducing child mortality to 20 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births in every country by 2035. To address the problem of ending preventable child deaths, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations Children's Fund convened, on June 3-4, 2013, an Evidence Summit on Enhancing Child Survival and Development in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries by Achieving Population-Level Behavior Change. Six evidence review teams were established on different topics related to child survival and healthy development to identify the relevant evidence-based interventions and to prepare reports. This article was developed by the evidence review team responsible for identifying the research literature on caregiver change for child survival and development. This article is organized into childhood developmental periods and cross-cutting issues that affect child survival and healthy early development across all these periods. On the basis of this review, the authors present evidence-based recommendations for programs focused on caregivers to increase child survival and promote healthy development. Last, promising directions for future research to change caregivers' behaviors are given.

Benefits of music training in child development: a systematic review.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Angélica Benítez

2018-01-01

Full Text Available There are evidences that establish that from early childhood musical education has a positive effect on the cognitive development of the child, as well as different musical components contribute to the development of psychomotor, emotional and social skills. The musical processing is a complex issue. From a cognitive point of view production, music perception and aspects of the musical discourse, such as timbre, intensity, pace, and tonality, are processed in different parts of the brain and their structure may vary from one person to another, depending on their musical experience. Throughout this review, we will present the background related to the benefits of musical training in cognitive development of children during early childhood, emphasizing differences that involves receptive training compared to active, extending the effects to the field of music therapy and the use of techniques with therapeutic purposes.

Losing Sight of the Child? Human Capital Theory and Its Role for Early Childhood Education and Care Policies in Finland and England since the Mid-1990s

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Campbell-Barr, Verity; Nygård, Mikael

2014-01-01

The international interest in early childhood education and care (ECEC) by supranational organisations, including the European Union, has grown considerably due to its dual function of sustaining parental employment and fostering child development. Focussing primarily on child development debates around ECEC, this article argues that human capital…

From BookStart to BookSmart : about the importance of an early start with parent-child reading

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, Heleen van den

2015-01-01

BookStart has been developed to enhance parent-child verbal interactions in early childhood by promoting book sharing. Parents receive a voucher for a baby book and free access to baby books in the library. In a large-scale research, we found that if parents complied with the BookStart suggestion to

Expert meeting on Child Growth and Micronutrient Deficiencies--New Initiatives for Developing Countries to Achieve Millennium Development Goals: executive summary report.

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Usfar, Avita A; Achadi, Endang L; Martorell, Reynaldo; Hadi, Hamam; Thaha, Razak; Jus'at, Idrus; Atmarita; Martianto, Drajat; Ridwan, Hardinsyah; Soekirman

2009-01-01

Undernutrition in early childhood has long-term physical and intellectual consequences. Improving child growth should start before the age of two years and be an integrated effort between all sectors, covering all aspects such as diet and nutrient intake, disease reduction, optimum child care, and improved environmental sanitation. To discuss these issues, the Indonesian Danone Institute Foundation organized an expert meeting on Child Growth and Micronutrient Deficiencies: New Initiatives for Developing Countries to Achieve Millennium Development Goals. The objective of the meeting was to have a retrospective view on child growth: lessons learned from programs to overcome under-nutrition in the developed countries and to relate the situation to the Indonesian context, as well as to discuss implications for future programs. Recommendations derived from the meeting include focus intervention on the window of opportunity group, re-activation of the Integrated Health Post at the village level, improvement of infant and young child feeding, expand food fortification intervention programs, strengthen supplementation programs with multi-micronutrient, and strengthening public and private partnership on food related programs.

Child malnutrition and the Millennium Development Goals: much haste but less speed?

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Oruamabo, Raphael S

2015-02-01

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide a framework for measuring the progress of nations. Several of these goals relate to child malnutrition, which remains an important contributor to child morbidity and mortality, accounting for approximately 45% of child deaths globally. A high proportion of undernourished children still live in Africa and parts of Asia, and the uneven rate of reduction in the prevalence of various types of child malnutrition among different income groups worldwide is worrying. Attempts to reduce child malnutrition should therefore begin from the grassroots by improving primary healthcare services in developing countries with particular focus on basic requirements. Adequate nutrition should be provided from birth, through infancy, preschool and early childhood to adolescence. The overall strategy should be one of careful and meticulous planning involving all development sectors with an emphasis on a bottom-up approach within a stable and disciplined polity; the MDGs will be only be useful if they are seen not as narrow objectives with unidirectional interventions but as multifaceted and co-ordinated. The setting of deadlines, whether 2015 or 2035, should not be emphasised so as to avoid hasty decision making. The top priority should be the implementation of the essential social services of basic education, primary healthcare, nutrition, reproductive health care, water and sanitation in partnership with the developed economies. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Child Sexual Abuse in Early-Childhood Care and Education Settings

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Briggs, Freda

2014-01-01

When the author was adviser to the Australian Minister for Education for writing the national Safe Schools Framework (2003), meetings were held with early-childhood care and education administrators from all state, Catholic and independent sectors. Their unexpected message was that educators were facing new problems, those of child sexual abuse in…

Explicating how parent-child communication increases Latino and European American early adolescents' intentions to intervene in a friend's substance Use.

Science.gov (United States)

Kam, Jennifer A; Yang, Sijia

2014-08-01

This study used primary socialization theory and a focus theory of normative conduct to examine whether anti-substance-use norms mediated targeted parent-child communication against substance (alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana) use's effects on Latino and European American early adolescents' intentions to intervene in a friend's substance use. Further, this study investigated whether familism interacted with targeted parent-child communication to predict anti-substance-use norms, and whether this mediated moderation model functioned differently for Latino and European American early adolescents. Self-reported longitudinal survey data were collected from 6th-8th grade students (N = 627), attending rural IL public schools. Multigroup mediated moderation analyses revealed that as Latino and European American early adolescents engaged in targeted mother-child communication against substance use, they were more likely to develop anti-substance-use parent injunctive norms, and in turn, more likely to report anti-substance-use personal norms. Thus, they were more likely to report that if their friend used substances, they would talk to their friend, seek help from others, and end the friendship. They were, however, less likely to ignore the friend's substance use. Familism was not a significant moderator, and the hypothesized effects did not differ for Latino and European American early adolescents. The results suggest that parents of Latino and European American adolescents may discourage substance use by engaging in targeted parent-child communication, which may indirectly benefit their children's friends, as well.

Do Effects of Early Child Care Extend to Age 15 Years? Results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

Science.gov (United States)

Vandell, Deborah Lowe; Belsky, Jay; Burchinal, Margaret; Steinberg, Laurence; Vandergrift, Nathan

2010-01-01

Relations between nonrelative child care (birth to 4 1/2 years) and functioning at age 15 were examined (N = 1,364). Both quality and quantity of child care were linked to adolescent functioning. Effects were similar in size as those observed at younger ages. Higher quality care predicted higher cognitive-academic achievement at age 15, with…

Community-based interventions to optimize early childhood development in low resource settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Maulik, P K; Darmstadt, G L

2009-08-01

Interventions targeting the early childhood period (0 to 3 years) help to improve neuro-cognitive functioning throughout life. Some of the more low cost, low resource-intensive community practices for this age-group are play, reading, music and tactile stimulation. This research was conducted to summarize the evidence regarding the effectiveness of such strategies on child development, with particular focus on techniques that may be transferable to developing countries and to children at risk of developing secondary impairments. PubMed, PsycInfo, Embase, ERIC, CINAHL and Cochrane were searched for studies involving the above strategies for early intervention. Reference lists of these studies were scanned and other studies were incorporated based on snow-balling. Overall, 76 articles corresponding to 53 studies, 24 of which were randomized controlled trials, were identified. Sixteen of those studies were from low- and middle-income countries. Play and reading were the two commonest interventions and showed positive impact on intellectual development of the child. Music was evaluated primarily in intensive care settings. Kangaroo Mother Care, and to a lesser extent massage, also showed beneficial effects. Improvement in parent-child interaction was common to all the interventions. Play and reading were effective interventions for early childhood interventions in low- and middle-income countries. More research is needed to judge the effectiveness of music. Kangaroo Mother Care is effective for low birth weight babies in resource poor settings, but further research is needed in community settings. Massage is useful, but needs more rigorous research prior to being advocated for community-level interventions.

Independent Contributions of Early Positive Parenting and Mother-Son Coercion on Emerging Social Development.

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Akcinar, Berna; Shaw, Daniel S

2018-06-01

In the current study, we explored associations between parent-child coercion and positive parenting in the toddler period in relation to children's social-behavioral development during the school-age period. The data were drawn from the Pitt Mother & Child Project, a sample of 310 low-income, ethnically diverse boys. Drawing on tenets of both attachment and social learning theory, it was hypothesized that coercive mother-son interaction would lead to reductions in positive maternal parenting in the toddler period, and that both positive parenting and mother-son coercion in the toddler period would contribute to children's conduct problems at school entry and lower social skills and peer rejection in middle childhood. The results were largely confirmed, such that mother-son coercive interaction at 18 months was related to decreases in positive parenting at 24 months. Additionally, mother-son coercive interaction and positive parenting at 24 months were linked to child conduct problems at age 5, which in turn predicted child social skills and peer rejection during middle childhood. In addition to indirect effects through child conduct problems, mother-son coercion continued to be independently related to school-age peer rejection. The findings are discussed with respect to the importance of early coercive interactions in the growth of child social-behavioral development from early to middle childhood.

Maternal depression and personality traits in association with child neuropsychological and behavioral development in preschool years: Mother-child cohort (Rhea Study) in Crete, Greece.

Science.gov (United States)

Koutra, Katerina; Roumeliotaki, Theano; Kyriklaki, Andriani; Kampouri, Mariza; Sarri, Katerina; Vassilaki, Maria; Bitsios, Panos; Kogevinas, Manolis; Chatzi, Leda

2017-08-01

Poor perinatal maternal mental health has been linked with negative outcomes on early child development; however, the importance of maternal personality has been neglected thus far. We aimed to examine the effects of antenatal and postnatal maternal mental health, including assessment of maternal personality characteristics, on child neuropsychological and behavioral development at preschool years in a population based mother-child cohort (Rhea Study) in Crete, Greece. Self-reported measures of maternal depression (EPDS), trait anxiety (STAI-Trait) and personality traits (EPQ-R) were assessed in a sample of 288 women at 28-32 weeks of gestation. A larger sample of 642 mothers completed the EPDS scale at 8 weeks postpartum. Children's neuropsychological (MSCA) and behavioral (ADHDT and SDQ) development were assessed at 4 years of age. Linear regression analyses were used to estimate the associations between the exposures and outcomes of interest after adjustment for potential confounders. Regarding child neuropsychological development, increased postnatal depressive symptoms were associated with child's perceptual performance, whereas increased maternal psychoticism was linked with child's motor ability at 4 years of age. Furthermore, elevated levels of maternal depression during pregnancy and postpartum, and the predisposing personality characteristics of trait anxiety and neuroticism, were associated with children's behavioral difficulties. A clinical diagnostic instrument for maternal mental health was not used and assessment of children's behavior was based on maternal report. These findings suggest that poor perinatal maternal mental health and an adverse personality profile may be associated with impaired child neuropsychological and behavioral development at preschool years. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Maternal Verbal Responsiveness and Directiveness: Consistency, Stability, and Relations to Child Early Linguistic Development

Science.gov (United States)

Paavola-Ruotsalainen, Leila; Lehtosaari, Jaana; Palomäki, Josefina; Tervo, Immi

2018-01-01

Maternal responsive and directive speech to children at ages 0;10 and 2;0 was investigated by applying a procedure frst introduced by Flynn and Masur (2007) to a new language community (Finnish). The issues examined were consistency and stability over time, and also the role of responsiveness and directiveness in child linguistic development at…

Timing of high-quality child care and cognitive, language, and preacademic development.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weilin; Farkas, George; Duncan, Greg J; Burchinal, Margaret R; Vandell, Deborah Lowe

2013-08-01

The effects of high- versus low-quality child care during 2 developmental periods (infant-toddlerhood and preschool) were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Propensity score matching was used to account for differences in families who used different combinations of child care quality during the 2 developmental periods. Findings indicated that cognitive, language, and preacademic skills prior to school entry were highest among children who experienced high-quality care in both the infant-toddler and preschool periods, somewhat lower among children who experienced high-quality child care during only 1 of these periods, and lowest among children who experienced low-quality care during both periods. Irrespective of the care received during infancy-toddlerhood, high-quality preschool care was related to better language and preacademic outcomes at the end of the preschool period; high-quality infant-toddler care, irrespective of preschool care, was related to better memory skills at the end of the preschool period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Parenting and Child Characteristics in the Prediction of Shame in Early and Middle Childhood

Science.gov (United States)

Mills, Rosemary S. L.; Arbeau, Kimberley A.; Lall, Debra I. K.; De Jaeger, Amy E.

2010-01-01

We examined individual differences in shame responding in early childhood and predictive relations with shame proneness in middle childhood. Child shame responding, parental shaming, and child temperamental inhibition were assessed at Time 1 (n = 225, aged 3-4 years), shame responding was reassessed at Time 2 (n = 199, aged 5-7 years), and shame…

Evaluation of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale in an Australian preschool child population.

Science.gov (United States)

Arrow, P; Klobas, E

2015-09-01

Early childhood caries has significant impacts on children and their families. The Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) is an instrument for capturing the complex dimensions of preschool children's oral health. This study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the instrument among Australian preschool children. Parents/children dyads (n = 286) participating in a treatment trial on early childhood caries completed the scale at baseline, and 33 parents repeated the questionnaire 2-3 weeks later. The validity and reliability of the ECOHIS was determined using tests for convergent and discriminant validity, internal reliability of the instrument and test-retest reliability. Scale impacts were strongly correlated with global oral health ratings (Spearman's correlations; r = 0.51, total score; r = 0.43, child impact; and r = 0.49, family impact; p child and the family domains, respectively. Test-retest reliability was 0.92, 0.89 and 0.78 for the total, child and family domains, respectively. The scale demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability for assessing the impact of early childhood caries among Australian preschool children. © 2015 Australian Dental Association.

Parental psychopathology and the early developing child: The Generation R Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.P. Lambregtse-van den Berg (Mijke)

2006-01-01

textabstractUp to now research tradition particularly focused on the influence of maternal psychopathology on the early developing infant. There are two main reasons to focus on paternal psychopathology during pregnancy. Firstly, fathers contribute 50% of their children’s genes and depression and

The Role of Parenting Styles and Socio-Economic Status in Parents' Knowledge of Child Development

Science.gov (United States)

September, Shiron Jade; Rich, Edna Grace; Roman, Nicolette Vanessa

2016-01-01

Early childhood development (ECD) has been recognised to be the most important contributor to long-term social and emotional development. Therefore, positive parenting is paramount to foster quality parent-child interaction. Previous research shows that for parents to adopt a positive parenting style, some degree of parental knowledge is required.…

Caregiver Behavior Change for Child Survival and Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: An Examination of the Evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Elder, John P.; Pequegnat, Willo; Ahmed, Saifuddin; Bachman, Gretchen; Bullock, Merry; Carlo, Waldemar A.; Chandra-Mouli, Venkatraman; Fox, Nathan A.; Harkness, Sara; Huebner, Gillian; Lombardi, Joan; Murry, Velma McBride; Moran, Allisyn; Norton, Maureen; Mulik, Jennifer; Parks, Will; Raikes, Helen H.; Smyser, Joseph; Sugg, Caroline; Sweat, Michael

2014-01-01

In June of 2012, representatives from more than 80 countries promulgated a Child Survival Call to Action, which called for reducing child mortality to 20 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births in every country by 2035. To address the problem of ending preventable child deaths, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations Children's Fund convened, on June 3–4, 2013, an Evidence Summit on Enhancing Child Survival and Development in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries by Achieving Population-Level Behavior Change. Six evidence review teams were established on different topics related to child survival and healthy development to identify the relevant evidence-based interventions and to prepare reports. This article was developed by the evidence review team responsible for identifying the research literature on caregiver change for child survival and development. This article is organized into childhood developmental periods and cross-cutting issues that affect child survival and healthy early development across all these periods. On the basis of this review, the authors present evidence-based recommendations for programs focused on caregivers to increase child survival and promote healthy development. Last, promising directions for future research to change caregivers' behaviors are given. PMID:25315597

Early intervention services of children with physical disabilities: complexity of child and family needs.

Science.gov (United States)

Ziviani, Jenny; Darlington, Yvonne; Feeney, Rachel; Rodger, Sylvia; Watter, Pauline

2014-04-01

To gain insight into the special issues confronting parents when accessing early intervention for children with physical disabilities where child and/or family characteristics indicate complex needs within the unique Australian context. Qualitative interviews with families receiving early intervention for their children with physical disabilities (N=10). Families with complex circumstances such as having children with high support needs, those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and single-parent families were recruited to the study. Families where parents had mental or health issues, parents/other family members had an identified disability, and/or where families lived in regional or rural locations were also purposively sampled. Participants highlighted issues around (i) the nature of early intervention services provided; (ii) the ways in which services were structured; and (ii) managing their child's needs/planning into the future. Parents stressed the importance of having access to a variety of early intervention services aside from therapy. They also emphasised the need for greater clarity about what to expect from services, the intensity of therapy, other services they could access and how long they would be able to receive these. Despite their complex circumstances and needs, participants' experiences of accessing early intervention services were largely consistent with the broader research literature. Of the parents interviewed, those with health problems and single mothers expressed most apprehension about managing their child's needs and planning for the future. © 2013 Occupational Therapy Australia.

FPG Child Development Institute

Science.gov (United States)

... shows how implicit racial biases are adversely affecting African American students--especially boys... read more Emphasis Areas ... Development, Teaching, and Learning The Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute will partner with Zero to Three ...

Early and Forced Child Marriages in Rural Western Nepal

OpenAIRE

Pitambar Acharya; Benjamin Welsh

2017-01-01

After reviewing the state of early and forced child marriage (ECM) globally and nationally within Nepal, this research assessed the determinants, consequences and preventive measures of ECM in rural municipalities in Nepal today. This mixed method surveyed 167 households taking 15 % sample from the clusters of three wards of Badhaiyatal Rural Municipality in Bardiya and Dullu Municipality in Dailekh of Western Nepal. Besides household survey, six Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), 16 Key Informa...

Infant attachment insecurity and dissociative symptomatology: findings from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Haltigan, John D; Roisman, Glenn I

2015-01-01

Based on data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,149), the current article provides the first large-sample investigation of associations between different forms of infant attachment insecurity and dissociative symptomatology from childhood through midadolescence as measured by scales based on the mother, teacher, and youth self-report versions of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessments. Findings did not replicate the previously reported and highly cited evidence that infant attachment disorganization is associated with dissociative symptomatology. In contrast, correlations of small magnitude were observed between infant avoidance and dissociative symptomatology, as assessed by teachers and mothers (but not self-report). Results were not moderated by contextual risk. Limitations of the study included the absence of measures of maltreatment and interpersonal trauma, leaving open the possibility that infant attachment disorganization is a diathesis for later dissociation in the context of severe and/or chronic trauma. Nevertheless, the present results strongly indicate the need for additional research exploring the possible role of environmental factors in the development of dissociative symptomatology. © 2014 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Building the Leadership Capacity of Early Childhood Directors: An Evaluation of a Leadership Development Model

Science.gov (United States)

Talan, Teri N.; Bloom, Paula J.; Kelton, Robyn E.

2014-01-01

While there is consensus among policymakers and practitioners about the importance of strong leadership in early childhood education, there is scant research on effective models of leadership development for administrators of early childhood programs, particularly those working in the child care sector. This is cause for concern because the…

Maternal Psychopathology and Early Child Temperament Predict Young Children's Salivary Cortisol 3 Years Later

Science.gov (United States)

Dougherty, Lea R.; Smith, Victoria C.; Olino, Thomas M.; Dyson, Margaret W.; Bufferd, Sara J.; Rose, Suzanne A.; Klein, Daniel N.

2013-01-01

Neuroendocrine dysfunction is hypothesized to be an early emerging vulnerability marker for depression. We tested whether the main and interactive effects of maternal psychopathology and early child temperamental vulnerability for depression assessed at age three predicted offspring's basal cortisol function at age 6 years. 228 (122 males)…

Clinical impact of early diagnosis of autism on the prognosis and parent-child relationships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elder JH

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Jennifer Harrison Elder,1 Consuelo Maun Kreider,2 Susan N Brasher,3 Margaret Ansell4 1Department of Family and Community Health Nursing Science, 2Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 3Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 4Health Science Center Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA Abstract: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD refers to a lifelong condition that usually appears in late infancy or early childhood, and is characterized by social and communication deficits that impede optimal functioning. Despite widespread research and greater public awareness, ASD has an unclear etiology and no known cure, making it difficult to acquire accurate and timely diagnoses. In addition, once an ASD diagnosis is made, parents find it challenging to navigate the healthcare system and determine which interventions are most effective and appropriate for their child. A growing body of evidence supports the value of early diagnosis and treatment with evidence-based interventions, which can significantly improve the quality of life of individuals with ASD as well as of their carers and families. Particularly noteworthy are early interventions that occur in natural surroundings and can be modified to address age-related goals throughout the lifespan. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to: 1 provide readers with a brief background related to ASD; 2 describe commonly used screening instruments and tools for early diagnosis; 3 describe early interventions that have empirical support; and 4 discuss how the parent–child and family relationships can be affected through this process. This information can provide professionals with information they can use to assist families who make critical and potentially life-changing decisions for children with ASD. Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, ASD, early diagnosis, early intervention, parent–child relationship

Effect of socioeconomic status disparity on child language and neural outcome: how early is early?

Science.gov (United States)

Hurt, Hallam; Betancourt, Laura M

2016-01-01

It is not news that poverty adversely affects child outcome. The literature is replete with reports of deleterious effects on developmental outcome, cognitive function, and school performance in children and youth. Causative factors include poor nutrition, exposure to toxins, inadequate parenting, lack of cognitive stimulation, unstable social support, genetics, and toxic environments. Less is known regarding how early in life adverse effects may be detected. This review proposes to elucidate "how early is early" through discussion of seminal articles related to the effect of socioeconomic status on language outcome and a discussion of the emerging literature on effects of socioeconomic status disparity on brain structure in very young children. Given the young ages at which such outcomes are detected, the critical need for early targeted interventions for our youngest is underscored. Further, the fiscal reasonableness of initiating quality interventions supports these initiatives. As early life adversity produces lasting and deleterious effects on developmental outcome and brain structure, increased focus on programs and policies directed to reducing the impact of socioeconomic disparities is essential.

Banking Time in Head Start: Early Efficacy of an Intervention Designed to Promote Supportive Teacher-Child Relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Driscoll, Katherine C.; Pianta, Robert C.

2010-01-01

Research Findings: This exploratory study encompassed a collaboration to implement and evaluate the early efficacy of Banking Time, a dyadic intervention designed to promote supportive teacher-child relationships. Banking Time is a set of one-on-one meetings between a teacher and a child consisting of child-led play and teacher facilitation…

The role of early life growth development, the FTO gene and exclusive breastfeeding on child BMI trajectories.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yan Yan; Lye, Stephen; Briollais, Laurent

2017-10-01

Recent studies have implicated the FTO gene in child and adult obesity. A longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding (EXBF) has been shown to reduce body mass index (BMI) and the risk of being overweight in the general population and among FTO gene carriers. However, it remains unclear whether the preventive effect of EXBF could be explained by its impact on early life growth development, e.g. ages at adiposity peak (AP) and adiposity rebound (AR) and BMI velocities in the first years of life, which are major determinants of overweight and obesity later in life. We studied 5590 children from the British Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort and modelled their longitudinal BMI profiles with mixed effects models from birth to 16 years of age, as well as their ages at AP, AR and BMI velocities in relation to the FTO gene variant and EXBF. A longer duration of EXBF (i.e. at least 5 months) has substantial impact on BMI growth trajectories among children carrying the FTO adverse variant by modulating the age at AP, age at AR and BMI velocities. EXBF acts antagonistically to the FTO rs9939609 risk allele and by the age of 15, the predicted reduction in BMI after 5 months of EXBF is 0.56 kg/m2 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.11-1.01; P = 0.003] and 1.14 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.67-1.62; P < 0.0001) in boys and girls, respectively. EXBF influences early life growth development and thus plays a critical role in preventing the risks of overweight and obesity even when those are exacerbated by genetic factors. © The Author 2017; all rights reserved. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association

Maternal Sensitivity and Child Secure Base Use in Early Childhood: Studies in Different Cultural Contexts

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Posada, German; Trumbell, Jill; Noblega, Magaly; Plata, Sandra; Peña, Paola; Carbonell, Olga A.; Lu, Ting

2016-01-01

This study tested whether maternal sensitivity and child security are related during early childhood and whether such an association is found in different cultural and social contexts. Mother-child dyads (N = 237) from four different countries (Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and the United States) were observed in naturalistic settings when children were…

Neonatal Morbidity at Term, Early Child Development, and School Performance: A Population Study.

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Bentley, Jason P; Schneuer, Francisco J; Lain, Samantha J; Martin, Andrew J; Gordon, Adrienne; Nassar, Natasha

2018-02-01

Investigate the association between severe neonatal morbidity (SNM) and child development and school performance among term infants. The study population included term infants without major congenital conditions born between 2000 and 2007 in New South Wales, Australia, with a linked record of developmental assessment at ages 4 to 6 years in 2009 or 2012 ( n = 144 535) or school performance at ages 7 to 9 years from 2009 to 2014 ( n = 253 447). Developmental outcomes included special needs or being vulnerable and/or at risk in 1 of 5 developmental domains. School performance outcomes were test exemption, or performing <-1 SD on reading or numeracy tests. Binary generalized estimating equations were used to estimate associations between SNM and outcomes, adjusting for sociodemographic, perinatal, and assessment and/or test characteristics. Overall, 2.1% of infants experienced SNM. The adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for SNM and physical health was 1.18 (1.08-1.29), 1.14 (1.02-1.26) for language and cognitive skills, and 1.14 (1.06-1.24) and 1.13 (1.05-1.21) for scoring <-1 SD in reading and numeracy, respectively. SNM was most strongly associated with special needs 1.34 (1.15-1.55) and test exemption 1.50 (1.25-1.81). SNM infants born at 37 to 38 weeks' gestation and who were small for gestational age had the greatest likelihood of poorer outcomes. Term infants with SNM have greater odds of poor neurodevelopment in childhood. These findings provide population-based information for families and can inform clinical counseling and guidelines for follow-up and early intervention. Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Your Child's Development: Newborn

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... Your Child's Development: Newborn Print en español El desarrollo de su hijo: recién nacido From the moment ... when touched on the sole of the foot Social and Emotional Development soothed by a parent's voice ...

The beginnings of the Southern Child/Pediatric Neurology Society.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyken, Paul Richard; Bodensteiner, John B

2015-04-01

The founding and early development of the Southern Pediatric Neurology Society was in many ways parallel to that of the Child Neurology Society. The organization started out as the Southern Child Neurology Society but the name was changed at the time of incorporation so as to avoid confusion of identity and purpose with the larger Child Neurology Society. Although there are archives of early days and the later development of the Southern Pediatric Neurology Society, the details have never been set down in a narrative explaining the events that led to the development of the organization. In this paper, we try to produce a written record of the history of the founding and early development of the Southern Pediatric Neurology Society. © The Author(s) 2014.

Maternal depression and child development: Evidence from São Paulo's Western Region Cohort Study.

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Brentani, Alexandra; Fink, Günther

2016-09-01

While a growing body of evidence has investigated the relationship between maternal mental health and child development, evidence on children's early life outcomes remains mixed. We analyze the empirical relationship between maternal depression and children's development at age one using data from the São Paulo Western Region Cohort project. Seven hundred and ninety-eight (798) mother-child dyads living in the Butantã-Jaguaré' region of São Paulo were assessed through a home visit between January and March 2015. Maternal mental health was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Mothers were classified as "possibly depressed" if their EPDS score was between 10 and 13 and as "likely depressed" if their EPDS score was > 13. The child outcomes analyzed were height, weight, and overall development as assessed by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). Height and weight were age-normalized using WHO growth standards. Stunting was defined as height-for-age z-score (HAZ) Obesity was defined as body mass index z-score (BMIZ) > 2. Adjusted and unadjusted linear regression models were used to assess the associations between Edinburgh scores and child outcomes. No association was found between maternal depression variables and children's height, weight, stunting, and obesity. Positive associations were found between possible depression and ASQ (delta = 0.33; 95CI 0.11-0.54; p-valuedepression and any of the outcomes analyzed. The results from this study suggest that symptoms of maternal depression are not associated with delays in child development in the study setting analyzed. Further research will be needed to understand this lack of association: while it is possible that caregivers' mental health did not affect caregiving behavior, it is possible that the effect of maternal depression can vary according to timing, persistence, and intensity. It is also possible that the EPDS instrument may fail to identify mothers with clinical depression, or

Pathways to Conscience: Early Mother-Child Mutually Responsive Orientation and Children's Moral Emotion, Conduct, and Cognition

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Kochanska, Grazyna; Forman, David R.; Aksan, Nazan; Dunbar, Stephen B.

2005-01-01

Background: Associations between early mother-child mutually responsive orientation (MRO) and children's conscience have been previously established, but the mechanisms accounting for those links are not understood. We examined three such mediational mechanisms: (a) the child's enhanced enjoyment of interactions with the mother, (b) increased…

Child and adolescent psychiatry leadership in public mental health, child welfare, and developmental disabilities agencies.

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Zachik, Albert A; Naylor, Michael W; Klaehn, Robert L

2010-01-01

Child and adolescent psychiatrists are in a unique position to provide administrative and clinical leadership to public agencies. In mental health, services for children and adolescents in early childhood, school, child welfare, and juvenile justice settings, transition-aged youth programs, workforce development, family and youth leadership programs, and use of Medicaid waivers for home- and community-based service system development are described. In child welfare, collaboration between an academic child psychiatry department and a state child welfare department is described. In developmental disabilities, the role of the child and adolescent psychiatrist administrator is described providing administrative leadership, clinical consultation, quality review, and oversight of health and behavioral health plans for persons with developmental disabilities.

Using Intervention Mapping for child development and wellbeing programs in early childhood education and care settings.

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O'Connor, Amanda; Blewitt, Claire; Nolan, Andrea; Skouteris, Helen

2018-06-01

Supporting children's social and emotional learning benefits all elements of children's development and has been associated with positive mental health and wellbeing, development of values and life skills. However, literature relating to the creation of interventions designed for use within the early childhood education and care settings to support children's social and emotional skills and learning is lacking. Intervention Mapping (IM) is a systematic intervention development framework, utilising principles centred on participatory co-design methods, multiple theoretical approaches and existing literature to enable effective decision-making during the development process. Early childhood pedagogical programs are also shaped by these principles; however, educators tend to draw on implicit knowledge when working with families. IM offers this sector the opportunity to formally incorporate theoretical, evidence-based research into the development of early childhood education and care social and emotional interventions. Emerging literature indicates IM is useful for designing health and wellbeing interventions for children within early childhood education and care settings. Considering the similar underlying principles of IM, existing applications within early childhood education and care and development of interventions beyond health behaviour change, it is recommended IM be utilised to design early childhood education and care interventions focusing on supporting children's social and emotional development. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Family Income Dynamics, Early Childhood Education and Care, and Early Child Behavior Problems in Norway

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Zachrisson, Henrik Daae; Dearing, Eric

2014-01-01

The sociopolitical context of Norway includes low poverty rates and universal access to subsidized and regulated Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). In this context, the association between family income dynamics and changes in early child behavior problems was investigated, as well as whether high quality ECEC buffers children from the effects of income dynamics. In a population-based sample (N = 75,296), within-family changes in income-to-needs predicted changes in externalizing and internalizing problems (from age 18 to 36 months), particularly for lower-income children. For internalizing problems, ECEC buffered the effect of income-to-needs changes. These findings lend further support to the potential benefits of ECEC for children from lower-income families. PMID:25345342

Parenting Supports for Early Vocabulary Development: Specific Effects of Sensitivity and Stimulation through Infancy

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Vallotton, Claire; Mastergeorge, Ann; Foster, Tricia; Decker, Kalli B.; Ayoub, Catherine

2016-01-01

Growing recognition of disparities in early childhood language environments prompt examination of parent-child interactions which support vocabulary. Research links parental sensitivity and cognitive stimulation to child language, but has not explicitly contrasted their effects, nor examined how effects may change over time. We examined maternal sensitivity and stimulation throughout infancy using two observational methods – ratings of parents’ interaction qualities, and coding of discrete parenting behaviors - to assess the relative importance of these qualities to child vocabulary over time, and determine whether mothers make related changes in response to children’s development. Participants were 146 infants and mothers, assessed when infants were 14, 24, and 36 months. At 14 months, sensitivity had a stronger effect on vocabulary than did stimulation, but the effect of stimulation grew throughout toddlerhood. Mothers’ cognitive stimulation grew over time, whereas sensitivity remained stable. While discrete parenting behaviors changed with child age, there was no evidence of trade-offs between sensitive and stimulating behaviors, and no evidence that sensitivity moderated the effect of stimulation on child vocabulary. Findings demonstrate specificity of timing in the link between parenting qualities and child vocabulary which could inform early parent interventions, and supports a reconceptualization of the nature and measurement of parental sensitivity. PMID:28111526

Structural development of child's artistic expression

OpenAIRE

Sanja Filipović; Milica Vojvodić

2017-01-01

Abstract Structural development implies control and capability of the expression usage in terms of independent creative expression and making. Understanding of structural development of child's artistic expression as a phenomenon (which is suitable to child's age) has some implications on methodical acts considering artistic education of children and youngsters. Therefore, it is of unexceptional importance to know these laws as well as methodical acts which encourage the structural develop...

Screening for potential child maltreatment in parents of a newborn baby: The predictive validity of an Instrument for early identification of Parents At Risk for child Abuse and Neglect (IPARAN).

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van der Put, Claudia E; Bouwmeester-Landweer, Merian B R; Landsmeer-Beker, Eleonore A; Wit, Jan M; Dekker, Friedo W; Kousemaker, N Pieter J; Baartman, Herman E M

2017-08-01

For preventive purposes it is important to be able to identify families with a high risk of child maltreatment at an early stage. Therefore we developed an actuarial instrument for screening families with a newborn baby, the Instrument for identification of Parents At Risk for child Abuse and Neglect (IPARAN). The aim of this study was to assess the predictive validity of the IPARAN and to examine whether combining actuarial and clinical methods leads to an improvement of the predictive validity. We examined the predictive validity by calculating several performance indicators (i.e., sensitivity, specificity and the Area Under the receiver operating characteristic Curve [AUC]) in a sample of 4692 Dutch families with newborns. The outcome measure was a report of child maltreatment at Child Protection Services during a follow-up of 3 years. For 17 children (.4%) a report of maltreatment was registered. The predictive validity of the IPARAN was significantly better than chance (AUC=.700, 95% CI [.567-.832]), in contrast to a low value for clinical judgement of nurses of the Youth Health Care Centers (AUC=.591, 95% CI [.422-.759]). The combination of the IPARAN and clinical judgement resulted in the highest predictive validity (AUC=.720, 95% CI [.593-.847]), however, the difference between the methods did not reach statistical significance. The good predictive validity of the IPARAN in combination with clinical judgment of the nurse enables professionals to assess risks at an early stage and to make referrals to early intervention programs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Development of child mental health services in Lithuania: achievements and obstacles].

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Pūras, Dainius

2002-01-01

In 1990, political, economic and social changes in Lithuania introduced the possibility to develop for the first time in nations's history an effective and modern system of child mental health services. During the period between 1990 and 1995 a new model of services was developed in the Department of Social pediatrics and child psychiatry of Vilnius University. The model included development of child and adolescent psychiatric services, as well as early intervention services for infants and preschool children with developmental disabilities. The emphasis, following recommendations of WHO and existing international standards, was made on deinstitutionalization and development of family-oriented and community-based services, which have been ignored by previous system. In the first half of 90's of 20th century, new training programs for professionals were introduced, more than 50 methods of assessment, treatment and rehabilitation, new for Lithuanian clinical practice, were implemented, and a new model of services, including primary, secondary and tertiary level of prevention, was introduced in demonstration sites. However, during next phase of development, in 1997-2001, serious obstacles for replicating new approaches across the country, have been identified, which threatened successful implementation of the new model of services into everyday clinical practice. Analysis of obstacles, which are blocking development of new approaches in the field of child mental health, is presented in the article. The main obstacles, identified during analysis of socioeconomic context, planning and utilization of resources, running of the system of services and evaluation of outcomes, are as follows: lack of intersectorial cooperation between health, education and social welfare systems; strong tradition of discrimination of psychosocial interventions in funding schemes of health services; societal attitudes, which tend to discriminate and stigmatize marginal groups, including

The malleability of infant motor development: cautions based on studies of child-rearing practices in Yucatan.

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Solomons, H C

1978-11-01

Tests with the Bayley Motor Scale were given to 288 infants, equally divided by sex, in Yucatan, Mexico. These were 2 to 54 weeks in age and came from three sociocultural levels. In comparison to USA infants, early acceleration of motor development was followed by a marked downward trend. This phenomenon, if observed in a single child, may indicate progressive neurologic disease. Child-rearing practices would appear to account for the difference in pattern of test performance.

The Development of Multiple Intelligence Capabilities for Early Childhood Development Center, Local Administration Organization in Chaiyaphum Province

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Siphai, Sunan; Supandee, Terdsak; Raksapuk, Chunpit; Poopayang, Piangkhae; Kratoorerk, Sangsan

2017-01-01

The aim of this research is to promote multiple intelligence capabilities for Early Childhood Care Center of a Sub-district Administration Organization in Chaiyaphum Province. The sample applied were 61 children aging between 3 and 5 years old at Child Development Center, Tambon Ban Kok, Amphoe Chaturus, Chaiyaphum Province, who were selected…

The cross-lagged relationship between father absence and child problem behaviour in the early years.

Science.gov (United States)

Flouri, E; Narayanan, M K; Midouhas, E

2015-11-01

Father absence has negative consequences for children's behaviour. Yet research has not examined how father absence and child behaviour may influence each other. This study models the cross-lagged relationship between father absence (non-residence) and child problem behaviour in the early years. We used data from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study, at children's ages 3, 5 and 7 years (Sweeps 2-4). The sample was 15,293 families in which both biological parents were co-resident at Sweep 1, when the child was aged 9 months. Child problem behaviour was assessed using the clinical cut-offs of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). We also investigated gender differences in the association between father absence and problem behaviour. Father absence at age 3 predicted a higher probability of the child scoring above cut-off for total difficulties at age 5, as did father absence at age 5 for total difficulties at age 7. There were no significant effects for total difficulties on father absence. Similar father absence effects were found for individual SDQ subscales. Using these subscales, we found few child behaviour effects, mostly during the preschool years: children's severe externalizing and social (but not emotional) problems were associated with a greater probability of the father being absent in the next sweep. All cross-lagged relationships were similar for boys and girls. Father absence seems to be mainly the cause rather than the outcome of child problem behaviour in young UK families, and to affect boys and girls similarly. There were some child (mostly externalizing) behaviour effects on father absence, particularly in the early years. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The cross‐lagged relationship between father absence and child problem behaviour in the early years

Science.gov (United States)

Narayanan, M. K.; Midouhas, E.

2015-01-01

Abstract Background Father absence has negative consequences for children's behaviour. Yet research has not examined how father absence and child behaviour may influence each other. This study models the cross‐lagged relationship between father absence (non‐residence) and child problem behaviour in the early years. Methods We used data from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study, at children's ages 3, 5 and 7 years (Sweeps 2–4). The sample was 15 293 families in which both biological parents were co‐resident at Sweep 1, when the child was aged 9 months. Child problem behaviour was assessed using the clinical cut‐offs of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). We also investigated gender differences in the association between father absence and problem behaviour. Results Father absence at age 3 predicted a higher probability of the child scoring above cut‐off for total difficulties at age 5, as did father absence at age 5 for total difficulties at age 7. There were no significant effects for total difficulties on father absence. Similar father absence effects were found for individual SDQ subscales. Using these subscales, we found few child behaviour effects, mostly during the preschool years: children's severe externalizing and social (but not emotional) problems were associated with a greater probability of the father being absent in the next sweep. All cross‐lagged relationships were similar for boys and girls. Conclusions Father absence seems to be mainly the cause rather than the outcome of child problem behaviour in young UK families, and to affect boys and girls similarly. There were some child (mostly externalizing) behaviour effects on father absence, particularly in the early years. PMID:25708874

[Early Vojta- or Bobath-physiotherapy: what is the effect on mother-child relationship?].

Science.gov (United States)

Ludewig, A; Mähler, C

1999-01-01

The present study is discussing the question of possible negative effects of early physiotherapy on the mother-child-relationship. Mothers and children in Vojta-physiotherapy are compared with mother-child-pairs in Bobath-therapy on the basis of the hypothesis that Vojta-treatment is more apt to stress the mother-child-relationship. Indicators here were the physical and emotional stress in mothers as well as their attitudes towards their children, expressed in a questionnaire. Results indicate the special stress of the Vojta-technique at the beginning of the therapy while with ongoing treatment no differences between Vojta- and Bobath-therapy were found. Generally it is claimed that psychological information and support should be provided for the concerned families.

Development of Management, Child Development Centers Organization rule Local Government in Udon thani

OpenAIRE

Suriya Sukram; Chaiyot Ruangsuwan

2017-01-01

This research aims to study the composition and indications 1. The Child Development Centre under the local governments in UdonThani province 2. Study the current state and the desired operating child care centers under the jurisdiction of local governments in UdonThani province. 3. Develop the child development centers under the local governments in UdonThani province. The operation is divided. Phase one of the elements and indicators, the Child Development Center. By synthesi...

Early child health in an informal settlement in the Peruvian Amazon.

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Lee, Gwenyth O; Paredes Olortegui, Maribel; Salmón-Mulanovich, Gabriela; Peñataro Yori, Pablo; Kosek, Margaret

2016-10-12

Informal settlements are common throughout the developing world. In Peru, land occupations, commonly "invasions" in Spanish, are a means by which the extremely poor attempt to obtain access to land. Here, we examine difference in child health between two communities in the Peruvian Amazon, one well-established and one newly formed by 'invasion', as captured incidentally by a prospective epidemiological cohort study. Between 2002 and 2006 a study designed to describe the epidemiology of pediatric enteric infections and child growth in a community-based setting enrolled 442 children in Santa Clara de Nanay, a community adjacent to the city of Iquitos, in Loreto, Peru. In early 2003, a land occupation, commonly called an "invasion" in Spanish, was organized by members of the Santa Clara community, and approximately 20 % of participating study families began occupying privately owned agricultural land adjacent to Santa Clara, thus forming the new community of La Union. Parents in families that chose to invade reported less education than parents in families that chose not to. Children in the new community experienced a higher incidence of diarrheal disease and non-specific fevers, although fewer helminth infections, than children who remained in the established community. At the time of the invasion, there were no differences in anthropometric status between the two groups; however children in the new community experienced greater progressive growth faltering over the course of the longitudinal study. Growth faltering in early childhood represents an enduring loss of human potential. Therefore, our data suggests the human cost of land invasion may be disproportionately borne by the youngest individuals. Innovative policy strategies may be needed to protect this vulnerable group.

Early adversity and learning: implications for typical and atypical behavioral development.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, Jamie L; van den Bos, Wouter; Roeber, Barbara J; Rudolph, Karen D; Davidson, Richard J; Pollak, Seth D

2017-07-01

Children who experience early adversity often develop emotion regulatory problems, but little is known about the mechanisms that mediate this relation. We tested whether general associative learning processes contribute to associations between adversity, in the form of child maltreatment, and negative behavioral outcomes. Eighty-one participants between 12 and 17 years of age were recruited for this study and completed a probabilistic learning Task. Forty-one of these participants had been exposed to physical abuse, a form of early adversity. Forty additional participants without any known history of maltreatment served as a comparison group. All participants (and their parents) also completed portions of the Youth Life Stress Interview to understand adolescent's behavior. We calculated measures of associative learning, and also constructed mathematical models of learning. We found that adolescents exposed to high levels of adversity early in their lives had lower levels of associative learning than comparison adolescents. In addition, we found that impaired associative learning partially explained the higher levels of behavioral problems among youth who suffered early adversity. Using mathematical models, we also found that two components of learning were specifically affected in children exposed to adversity: choice variability and biases in their beliefs about the likelihood of rewards in the environment. Participants who had been exposed to early adversity were less able than their peers to correctly learn which stimuli were likely to result in reward, even after repeated feedback. These individuals also used information about known rewards in their environments less often. In addition, individuals exposed to adversity made decisions early in the learning process as if rewards were less consistent and occurred more at random. These data suggest one mechanism through which early life experience shapes behavioral development. © 2017 Association for Child and

Early Parenting and the Development of Externalizing Behavior Problems: Longitudinal Mediation Through Children's Executive Function.

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Sulik, Michael J; Blair, Clancy; Mills-Koonce, Roger; Berry, Daniel; Greenberg, Mark

2015-01-01

Path analysis was used to investigate the longitudinal associations among parenting and children's executive function and externalizing behavior problems from 36 to 90 months of age in the Family Life Project (N = 1,115), a study of child development in the context of rural poverty. While controlling for stability in the constructs, semistructured observations of parenting prospectively predicted performance on a battery of executive function tasks and primary caregivers' reports of externalizing behavior. Furthermore, the association between early parenting and later externalizing behavior was longitudinally mediated by executive function, providing support for a process model in which sensitive parenting promotes children's self-regulation, which in turn reduces children's externalizing behavior. © 2015 The Authors. Child Development © 2015 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Early-Life Parent-Child Relationships and Adult Children's Support of Unpartnered Parents in Later Life.

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Lin, I-Fen; Wu, Hsueh-Sheng

2018-02-08

The proportion of older adults who are unpartnered has increased significantly over the past 25 years. Unpartnered older adults often rely on their adult children for support. Most previous studies have focused on proximal factors associated with adult children's support of their parents, while few have examined distal factors, such as parent-child relationships formed during childhood. This study fills the gap by investigating the direct and indirect associations between early-life parent-child relationships and adult children's upward transfers to unpartnered parents. Data came from two supplements to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, in which respondents were asked about their relationships with mothers and fathers before age 17 and their transfers of time and money to parents in 2013. Path models were estimated for unpartnered mother-adult child dyads and father-adult child dyads separately. For adult children of unpartnered mothers, psychological closeness has a direct, positive association with time transfer, while physical violence has an indirect association with time transfer through adult children's marital status. For adult children of unpartnered fathers, psychological closeness has neither a direct nor an indirect association with time or money transfer, but physical violence has a direct, negative association with time transfer. Early-life parent-child relationships play a pivotal role in influencing adult children's caregiving behavior, both directly and indirectly. Our findings suggest that by improving their relationships with children early in life, parents may be able to increase the amount of time transfer that they receive in late life. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Early child health in Lahore, Pakistan: IV. Child care practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaman, S; Jalil, F; Karlberg, J

1993-08-01

Child care practices and hygiene measures were studied at 6 months of age in a longitudinally followed cohort of 1476 infants born between September 1984 to March 1987 in four socio-economically different areas in and around Lahore, Pakistan. Although, 76-98% of the mothers looked after their infants during health and 96-98% during a diarrhoeal illness, child care practices and hygiene measures differed significantly between the four areas. During a diarrhoeal episode, the mothers from the upper middle class took timely medical help, fed ample food and Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) to the sick infants and provided uncontaminated food to them in clean surroundings. The mothers from the village and the periurban slum took their sick child, mostly after the second day of illness, to a doctor, but preferred home remedies. Fourteen percent of the mothers in the village and 6% in the periurban slum did not seek any medical help at all. One-third of the families, from these two areas, fed food to children 12 hours after cooking; the surroundings of the child were dirty with large numbers of flies present throughout the year, though the food was commonly kept covered with a lid. We constructed a simple measure of the surroundings of the child, rated as dirty, medium or clean; it was found to be associated to both parental illiteracy and child growth, but not with housing standard. The main conclusion is that any attempt to improve child-care practices and the hygienic environment for the child, should focus on maternal literacy and simple health messages.

The Impact of Visual Communication on the Intersubjective Development of Early Parent?Child Interaction with 18- to 24-Month-Old Deaf Toddlers

Science.gov (United States)

Loots, Gerrit; Devise, Isabel; Jacquet, Wolfgang

2005-01-01

This article presents a study that examined the impact of visual communication on the quality of the early interaction between deaf and hearing mothers and fathers and their deaf children aged between 18 and 24 months. Three communication mode groups of parent?deaf child dyads that differed by the use of signing and visual?tactile communication…

Your Child's Development: 2 Months

Science.gov (United States)

... Child's Development: 2 Months Print en español El desarrollo de su hijo: 2 meses Your baby develops ... pose) fists remain unclenched half of the time Social and Emotional Development comforts himself or herself, maybe ...

Bidirectional Links and Concurrent Development of Parent-Child Relationships and Boys’ Offending Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Keijsers, Loes; Loeber, Rolf; Branje, Susan; Meeus, Wim

2012-01-01

This study examined different types of longitudinal associations (i.e., directional links and overlapping developmental changes) between children’s delinquency and the quality of parent-child relationships from middle childhood to late adolescence. We used 10-wave interview data of 503 boys, their primary caregivers, and their teachers. Our first aim was to unravel the direction of effects between parent-child relationships and children’s offending. Cross-lagged panel models revealed bidirectional links over time between poorer quality parent-child relationships and boys’ offending across late childhood (age 7–10), early adolescence (age 10–13) and middle adolescence (age 13–16). Second, we examined the associations between mean changes in delinquency, on the one hand, and mean changes in relationship quality, on the other hand. Although parent-child relationships improved during childhood, their quality decreased in early adolescence and remained stable in middle adolescence. Delinquency increased only in middle adolescence. In 5 out of 6 models, the slope factors of relationship quality and offending were strongly correlated, indicating that stronger increases in delinquency were associated with stronger decreases in parent-child relationship quality across childhood, early adolescence, and middle adolescence. The discussion focuses on the theoretical implications of these two types of longitudinal associations. PMID:21842967

The impact of visual communication on the intersubjective development of early parent-child interaction with 18- to 24-month-old deaf toddlers.

Science.gov (United States)

Loots, Gerrit; Devisé, Isabel; Jacquet, Wolfgang

2005-01-01

This article presents a study that examined the impact of visual communication on the quality of the early interaction between deaf and hearing mothers and fathers and their deaf children aged between 18 and 24 months. Three communication mode groups of parent-deaf child dyads that differed by the use of signing and visual-tactile communication strategies were involved: (a) hearing parents communicating with their deaf child in an auditory/oral way, (b) hearing parents using total communication, and (c) deaf parents using sign language. Based on Loots and colleagues' intersubjective developmental theory, parent-deaf child interaction was analyzed according to the occurrence of intersubjectivity during free play with a standard set of toys. The data analyses indicated that the use of sign language in a sequential visual way of communication enabled the deaf parents to involve their 18- to 24-month-old deaf infants in symbolic intersubjectivity, whereas hearing parents who hold on to oral-only communication were excluded from involvement in symbolic intersubjectivity with their deaf infants. Hearing parents using total communication were more similar to deaf parents, but they still differed from deaf parents in exchanging and sharing symbolic and linguistic meaning with their deaf child.

Employer Child Care Resources: A Guide to Developing Effective Child Care Programs and Policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Women's Bureau (DOL), Washington, DC.

Increasing numbers of employers are responding to employee child care needs by revising their benefit packages, work schedules, and recruitment plans to include child care options. This guide details ways to develop effective child care programs and policies. Section 1 of the guide describes employees' growing child care needs and employers'…

Problematising child-headed households:The need for children’s participation in early childhood interventions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jace Pillay

2016-06-01

Full Text Available There is insufficient literature and research that has problematised the use of the phenomenon of child-headed households (CHHs, that is, to find out if it is an acceptable term to use, if it is really a problem, and whether it needs solutions. Hence, the purpose of this study was to problematise the use of the term CHH, taking the theories of Freire and Foucault into consideration. This generic qualitative study consisted of a sample of 16 experts who worked with children from CHH. Data were collected through a questionnaire and individual telephonic interviews with the experts identified. The findings indicate that, for several reasons, the current use of the term CHH is acceptable and is a problem that has to be taken seriously by the relevant stakeholders. In light of the findings, the author emphasises the importance of recognising the capacity of children from CHH to actively participate in early childhood interventions geared to improve their social environments. Keywords: child; child-headed; early childhood interventions; households; problematize; rights; social justice; vulnerable children

Maternal depression and child development: Evidence from São Paulo’s Western Region Cohort Study

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Alexandra Brentani

Full Text Available Summary Introduction: While a growing body of evidence has investigated the relationship between maternal mental health and child development, evidence on children’s early life outcomes remains mixed. We analyze the empirical relationship between maternal depression and children’s development at age one using data from the São Paulo Western Region Cohort project. Method: Seven hundred and ninety-eight (798 mother-child dyads living in the Butantã-Jaguaré’ region of São Paulo were assessed through a home visit between January and March 2015. Maternal mental health was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS. Mothers were classified as “possibly depressed” if their EPDS score was between 10 and 13 and as “likely depressed” if their EPDS score was > 13. The child outcomes analyzed were height, weight, and overall development as assessed by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ. Height and weight were age-normalized using WHO growth standards. Stunting was defined as height-for-age z-score (HAZ 2. Adjusted and unadjusted linear regression models were used to assess the associations between Edinburgh scores and child outcomes. Results: No association was found between maternal depression variables and children’s height, weight, stunting, and obesity. Positive associations were found between possible depression and ASQ (delta = 0.33; 95CI 0.11-0.54; p-value<0.01; no associations were found between likely depression and any of the outcomes analyzed. Conclusion: The results from this study suggest that symptoms of maternal depression are not associated with delays in child development in the study setting analyzed. Further research will be needed to understand this lack of association: while it is possible that caregivers’ mental health did not affect caregiving behavior, it is possible that the effect of maternal depression can vary according to timing, persistence, and intensity. It is also possible that

Relationships between Early Child Factors and School Readiness Skills in Young Children with Hearing Loss

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Harrington, Marjorie; DesJardin, Jean L.; Shea, Lynn C.

2010-01-01

The goal of this longitudinal study is to examine the relationships between early child factors (i.e., age at identification, enrollment in early intervention, oral language skills) and school readiness skills (i.e., conceptual knowledge) in a group of young children with hearing loss (HL). Standardized language, cognition, and conceptual…

Important Evidence Highlights the Meaning of Teacher-Child Relationships for Child Development. Commentary on: "Formations of Attachment Relationships towards Teachers Lead to Conclusions for Public Child Care"

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Sagi-Schwartz, Abraham

2016-01-01

In this commentary, Sagi-Schwartz evaluates the article by Beckh and Becker-Stoll (2016) on attachment relationships with non-parental caregivers and how it may contribute to public child care. Beckh and Becker-Stoll first describe important background about research on early parent-child relationships, and how their nature and quality might…

Child is father of the man: child abuse and development of future psychopathology.

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Lecic-Tosevski, D; Draganic-Gajic, S; Pejovic-Milovancevic, M; Popovic-Deusic, S; Christodoulou, N; Botbol, M

2014-01-01

Available epidemiological data indicate that the abuse of children within families is a very common phenomenon, and is still on the rise. Among others, abuse includes direct physical and emotional violence to the child, as well as the indirect emotional trauma of witnessing interparental violence. These early trauma experienced within the context of the family can influence the development of the child's personality as well as predispose towards the development of mental disorders in adulthood. There are some important factors influencing the occurrence of abuse, or the conditions predisposing it: certain parental personality traits appear to be instrumental, and the presence of individual psychopathology of parents is also connected with different forms of family dysfunction as a system, representing a variable which is interpolated in the quality of parenthood as the most important factor that determines long-term consequences on children and possible future psychopathology. The complex but tangible effects of parents' personality traits on the psychological development of children may contribute to the transgenerational transmission of abuse and violence. The phenomenon of domestic violence and abuse can be described from the perspective of the psychological and systemic theoretical postulates. According to systemic theory and practice, dysfunctional communication in the family is a significant predictor for domestic violence. Characteristics of dysfunctional communication include low levels of verbal expressiveness and emotional responsiveness, low tolerance to criticism and its interpretation as a threat or intimidation, and consequently increased anxiety and subsequent escalation of an argument into violence. Overall it seems that there may be a complex connection between parental personality and family interaction patterns, leading to dysfunctional communication which further amplifies the detrimental characteristics of family dynamics, and eventually

Early childhood development in Africa: interrogating constraints of prevailing knowledge bases.

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Pence, Alan R; Marfo, Kofi

2008-04-01

The past two decades have been characterized by renewed attention to the importance of early childhood development (ECD) policies and services in the world's richest and most industrialized countries. During the same period, we have witnessed unprecedented efforts to place ECD policies on the national development planning agenda of the economically less advantaged countries of the Majority World. This paper is premised on the concern that the purposes that have led bilateral and multilateral international agencies to promote and support ECD services in Africa may also be paving the way for uncritical adoption of program and service delivery models grounded in value systems and knowledge bases that may not be appropriate for the continent. We present two critiques to highlight the dangers of ignoring the sociocultural contexts of the knowledge bases that inform ECD policies and practices. We describe one capacity-building effort, under the auspices of the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU), to promote culturally relevant knowledge and prepare leadership personnel for Africa's emerging ECD movement. Finally, based on an exercise designed for an ECDVU cohort to engage and reflect on critiques of mainstream research and theorizing on child development, we share insights that are suggestive of the ways in which African perspectives can contribute to and enrich a global knowledge base on child development.

Neurobehaviour between birth and 40 weeks' gestation in infants born parental psychological wellbeing: predictors of brain development and child outcomes.

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Spittle, Alicia J; Thompson, Deanne K; Brown, Nisha C; Treyvaud, Karli; Cheong, Jeanie L Y; Lee, Katherine J; Pace, Carmen C; Olsen, Joy; Allinson, Leesa G; Morgan, Angela T; Seal, Marc; Eeles, Abbey; Judd, Fiona; Doyle, Lex W; Anderson, Peter J

2014-04-24

Infants born long term neurodevelopmental problems compared with term born peers. The predictive value of neurobehavioural examinations at term equivalent age in very preterm infants has been reported for subsequent impairment. Yet there is little knowledge surrounding earlier neurobehavioural development in preterm infants prior to term equivalent age, and how it relates to perinatal factors, cerebral structure, and later developmental outcomes. In addition, maternal psychological wellbeing has been associated with child development. Given the high rate of psychological distress reported by parents of preterm children, it is vital we understand maternal and paternal wellbeing in the early weeks and months after preterm birth and how this influences the parent-child relationship and children's outcomes. Therefore this study aims to examine how 1) early neurobehaviour and 2) parental mental health relate to developmental outcomes for infants born preterm compared with infants born at term. This prospective cohort study will describe the neurobehaviour of 150 infants born at term equivalent age, and explore how early neurobehavioural deficits relate to brain growth or injury determined by magnetic resonance imaging, perinatal factors, parental mental health and later developmental outcomes measured using standardised assessment tools at term, one and two years' corrected age. A control group of 150 healthy term-born infants will also be recruited for comparison of outcomes. To examine the effects of parental mental health on developmental outcomes, both parents of preterm and term-born infants will complete standardised questionnaires related to symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress at regular intervals from the first week of their child's birth until their child's second birthday. The parent-child relationship will be assessed at one and two years' corrected age. Detailing the trajectory of infant neurobehaviour and parental psychological

Navigating Structural Violence with Indigenous Families: The Contested Terrain of Early Childhood Intervention and the Child Welfare System in Canada

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Alison Gerlach

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Internationally, the welfare of Indigenous children continues to be severely compromised by their involvement with child welfare authorities. In this context, there are calls for greater investment in early childhood programs to support family preservation and children’s well-being. This article reports on the findings from a critical qualitative inquiry undertaken with Aboriginal Infant Development Programs (AIDPs in Canada. The findings highlight how AIDP workers’ relational approaches countered Indigenous mothers’ experiences of feeling "like a bad parent" as a result of their involvement with the child welfare system and how workers navigated an increasingly close relationship with this system. We draw on the concept of structural violence to discuss the impact of the child welfare system on Indigenous families and AIDPs.

Court-Appointed Special Advocate Strong Beginnings: Raising Awareness across Early Childhood and Child Welfare Systems

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Corr, Catherine; Danner, Natalie

2014-01-01

Abuse or neglect and disability often go hand in hand. Unfortunately, most professionals who work with maltreated young children are not aware of early childhood and disability-related resources and services available. In order to raise awareness across early childhood and child welfare systems, a five-week advanced training for volunteer child…

Parenting behavior is associated with the early neurobehavioral development of very preterm children.

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Treyvaud, Karli; Anderson, Vicki A; Howard, Kelly; Bear, Merilyn; Hunt, Rod W; Doyle, Lex W; Inder, Terrie E; Woodward, Lianne; Anderson, Peter J

2009-02-01

There is an increasing focus on social and environmental factors that promote and support the early development of highly vulnerable children such as those born very preterm. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between parenting behavior, parent-child synchrony, and neurobehavioral development in very preterm children at 24 months of age. Participants were 152 very preterm children (Cognitive and motor development was assessed by using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II, and the Infant Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment was used to assess socioemotional development (social-emotional competence and internalizing and externalizing behavior). fter controlling for social risk, most parenting domains were associated with cognitive development, with parent-child synchrony emerging as the most predictive. Greater parent-child synchrony was also associated with greater social-emotional competence, as was parenting that was positive, warm, and sensitive. Parents who displayed higher levels of negative affect were more likely to rate their children as withdrawn, anxious, and inhibited, but, unexpectedly, higher negative affect was also associated with more optimal psychomotor development. Parenting was not associated with externalizing behaviors at this age. Specific parenting behaviors, particularly parent-child synchrony, were associated with neurobehavioral development. These findings have implications for the development of targeted parent-based interventions to promote positive outcomes across different developmental domains during the first 2 years of life for very preterm children.

External-environmental and internal-health early life predictors of adolescent development.

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Hartman, Sarah; Li, Zhi; Nettle, Daniel; Belsky, Jay

2017-12-01

A wealth of evidence documents associations between various aspects of the rearing environment and later development. Two evolutionary-inspired models advance explanations for why and how such early experiences shape later functioning: (a) the external-prediction model, which highlights the role of the early environment (e.g., parenting) in regulating children's development, and (b) the internal-prediction model, which emphasizes internal state (i.e., health) as the critical regulator. Thus, by using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the current project draws from both models by investigating whether the effect of the early environment on later adolescent functioning is subject to an indirect effect by internal-health variables. Results showed a significant indirect effect of internal health on the relation between the early environment and adolescent behavior. Specifically, early environmental adversity during the first 5 years of life predicted lower quality health during childhood, which then led to problematic adolescent functioning and earlier age of menarche for girls. In addition, for girls, early adversity predicted lower quality health that forecasted earlier age of menarche leading to increased adolescent risk taking. The discussion highlights the importance of integrating both internal and external models to further understand the developmental processes that effect adolescent behavior.

The Influence of Maternal and Household Resources, and Parental Psychosocial Child Stimulation on Early Childhood Development: A Cross-Sectional Study of Children 36–59 Months in Honduras

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Urke, Helga Bjørnøy; Contreras, Mariela; Matanda, Dennis Juma

2018-01-01

Optimal early childhood development (ECD) is currently jeopardized for more than 250 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries. The Sustainable Development Goals has called for a renewed emphasis on children’s wellbeing, encompassing a holistic approach that ensures nurturing care to facilitate optimal child development. In vulnerable contexts, the extent of a family’s available resources can influence a child’s potential of reaching its optimal development. Few studies have examined these relationships in low- and middle-income countries using nationally representative samples. The present paper explored the relationships between maternal and paternal psychosocial stimulation of the child as well as maternal and household resources and ECD among 2729 children 36–59 months old in Honduras. Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 2011–2012 was used. Adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that maternal psychosocial stimulation was positively and significantly associated with ECD in the full, rural, and lowest wealth quintile samples. These findings underscore the importance of maternal engagement in facilitating ECD but also highlight the role of context when designing tailored interventions to improve ECD. PMID:29735895

The Influence of Maternal and Household Resources, and Parental Psychosocial Child Stimulation on Early Childhood Development: A Cross-Sectional Study of Children 36⁻59 Months in Honduras.

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Urke, Helga Bjørnøy; Contreras, Mariela; Matanda, Dennis Juma

2018-05-07

Optimal early childhood development (ECD) is currently jeopardized for more than 250 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries. The Sustainable Development Goals has called for a renewed emphasis on children’s wellbeing, encompassing a holistic approach that ensures nurturing care to facilitate optimal child development. In vulnerable contexts, the extent of a family’s available resources can influence a child’s potential of reaching its optimal development. Few studies have examined these relationships in low- and middle-income countries using nationally representative samples. The present paper explored the relationships between maternal and paternal psychosocial stimulation of the child as well as maternal and household resources and ECD among 2729 children 36⁻59 months old in Honduras. Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 2011⁻2012 was used. Adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that maternal psychosocial stimulation was positively and significantly associated with ECD in the full, rural, and lowest wealth quintile samples. These findings underscore the importance of maternal engagement in facilitating ECD but also highlight the role of context when designing tailored interventions to improve ECD.

The Influence of Maternal and Household Resources, and Parental Psychosocial Child Stimulation on Early Childhood Development: A Cross-Sectional Study of Children 36–59 Months in Honduras

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Helga Bjørnøy Urke

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Optimal early childhood development (ECD is currently jeopardized for more than 250 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries. The Sustainable Development Goals has called for a renewed emphasis on children’s wellbeing, encompassing a holistic approach that ensures nurturing care to facilitate optimal child development. In vulnerable contexts, the extent of a family’s available resources can influence a child’s potential of reaching its optimal development. Few studies have examined these relationships in low- and middle-income countries using nationally representative samples. The present paper explored the relationships between maternal and paternal psychosocial stimulation of the child as well as maternal and household resources and ECD among 2729 children 36–59 months old in Honduras. Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 2011–2012 was used. Adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that maternal psychosocial stimulation was positively and significantly associated with ECD in the full, rural, and lowest wealth quintile samples. These findings underscore the importance of maternal engagement in facilitating ECD but also highlight the role of context when designing tailored interventions to improve ECD.

Parenting and the Development of Effortful Control from Early Childhood to Early Adolescence: A Transactional Developmental Model

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Capaldi, Deborah M.; Kerr, David C. R.; Bertrand, Maria; Pears, Katherine C.; Owen, Lee

2016-01-01

Poor effortful control is a key temperamental factor underlying behavioral problems. The bidirectional association of child effortful control with both positive parenting and negative discipline was examined from ages approximately 3 to 13–14 years, involving 5 time points, and using data from parents and children in the Oregon Youth Study-Three Generational Study (N = 318 children from 150 families). Based on a dynamic developmental systems approach, it was hypothesized that there would be concurrent associations between parenting and child effortful control and bidirectional effects across time from each aspect of parenting to effortful control and from effortful control to each aspect of parenting. It was also hypothesized that associations would be more robust in early childhood, from ages 3 to 7 years, and would diminish as indicated by significantly weaker effects at the older ages, 11–12 to 13–14 years. Longitudinal feedback or mediated effects were also tested. Findings supported (a) stability in each construct over multiple developmental periods; (b) concurrent associations, which were significantly weaker at the older ages; (c) bidirectional effects, consistent with the interpretation that at younger ages children’s effortful control influenced parenting, whereas at older child ages, parenting influenced effortful control; and (d) a transactional effect, such that maternal parenting in late childhood was a mechanism explaining children’s development of effortful control from midchildhood to early adolescence. PMID:27427809

Participation in the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children is not associated with early childhood socioemotional development: Results from a longitudinal cohort study

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Abigail Arons, MPAff

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Socioemotional development in early childhood has long-term impacts on health status and social outcomes, and racial and socioeconomic disparities in socioemotional skills emerge early in life. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC is an early childhood nutrition intervention with the potential to ameliorate these disparities. Our objective was to assess the impact of WIC on early socioemotional development in a longitudinal study. We examined the association between WIC participation and scores on the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA in 327 predominantly African American mother–child dyads who were participants in the longitudinal Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development in Early Life (CANDLE Study (Memphis, TN. To account for selection bias, we used within-child fixed effects to model the variability in each child's BITSEA scores over two measurement occasions (ages 12 and 24 months. Final models were adjusted for time-varying characteristics including child age, maternal stress, mental health, child abuse potential, marital status, and food stamp participation. In fully adjusted models, we found no statistically significant effect of WIC on change in socioemotional development (β = 0.22 [SD = 0.39] and β = −0.58 [SD = 0.79] for BITSEA Competence and Problem subdomains, respectively. Using rigorous methods and a longitudinal study design, we found no significant association between WIC and socioemotional development in a high needs population. This finding suggests that early childhood interventions that more specifically target socioemotional development are necessary if we are to reduce racial disparities in socioemotional skills and prevent poor social and health outcomes across the life course.

The attitudes of family physicians toward a child with delayed growth and development.

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Aker, Servet; Şahin, Mustafa Kürşat; Kınalı, Ömer; Şimşek Karadağ, Elif; Korkmaz, Tuğba

2017-09-01

Aim The purpose of this study was to assess the attitude of family physicians toward a child with delayed growth and development. Primary healthcare professionals play a key role in monitoring growth and development, the best indicator of the child's health status. If delayed growth and development can be detected early, then it is usually possible to restore functioning. This descriptive study was performed in Samsun, Turkey, in May and June 2015. In total, 325 family physicians were included. The study consisted of two parts. In the first session of the research, the story of an 18-month-old child with delayed growth and development was presented using visual materials. An interview between the child's mother and a member of primary healthcare staff was then enacted by two of the authors using role-playing. Subsequently, participants were given the opportunity to ask the mother and member of primary healthcare staff questions about the case. During the sessions, two observers observed the participants, took notes and compared these after the presentation. In the second part of the study, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of three open-ended questions. Findings When asking questions of the mother, family physicians generally used accusatory and judgmental language. One of the questions most commonly put to the mother was 'Do you think you are a good mother?' Family physicians were keen to provide instruction for the patient and relatives. Family physicians to a large extent thought that the problem of a child with delayed growth and development can be resolved through education. Family physicians' manner of establishing relations with the patient and relatives is inappropriate. We therefore think that they should receive on-going in-service training on the subject.

Growth recovery and faltering through early adolescence in low- and middle-income countries: Determinants and implications for cognitive development.

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Georgiadis, Andreas; Benny, Liza; Duc, Le Thuc; Galab, Sheikh; Reddy, Prudhvikar; Woldehanna, Tassew

2017-04-01

Child chronic undernutrition, as measured by stunting, is prevalent in low- and middle-income countries and is among the major threats to child development. While stunting and its implications for cognitive development have been considered irreversible beyond early childhood there is a lack of consensus in the literature on this, as there is some evidence of recovery from stunting and that this recovery may be associated with improvements in cognition. Less is known however, about the drivers of growth recovery and the aspects of recovery linked to cognitive development. In this paper we investigate the factors associated with growth recovery and faltering through age 12 years and the implications of the incidence, timing, and persistence of post-infancy recovery from stunting for cognitive development using longitudinal data from Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam. We find that the factors most systematically associated with accelerated growth both before and after early childhood and across countries include mother's height, household living standards and shocks, community wages, food prices, and garbage collection. Our results suggest that post-infancy recovery from stunting is more likely to be systematically associated with higher achievement scores across countries when it is persistent and that associations between growth trajectories and cognitive achievement in middle childhood do not persist through early adolescence across countries. Overall, our findings indicate that growth after early childhood is responsive to changes in the household and community environments and that growth promotion after early childhood may yield improvements in child cognitive development. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Parental Depressive Symptoms and Marital Intimacy at 4.5 Years: Joint Contributions to Mother-Child and Father-Child Interaction at 6.5 Years

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Engle, Jennifer M.; McElwain, Nancy L.

2013-01-01

Using data from a subset of 606 families who participated in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we assessed emotional intimacy in the marriage as a buffer of the negative effects of parental depression on the quality of parent-child interaction. Maternal and paternal…

Early cognitive development in children born to women with epilepsy: a prospective report.

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Bromley, Rebecca L; Mawer, George; Love, Jenna; Kelly, James; Purdy, Laura; McEwan, Lauren; Briggs, Maria; Clayton-Smith, Jill; Shi, Xin; Sin, Xin; Baker, Gus A

2010-10-01

In this prospective study the early cognitive development of children born to women with epilepsy (n = 198) was assessed and compared to a group of children representative of the general population (n = 230). The children were assessed when younger than the age of 2 years using the Griffiths Mental Development Scales, either in their local participating hospital or in their home. The assessments were completed by an assessor who was blinded to whether the child's mother had epilepsy and to antiepileptic drug type. Children exposed to sodium valproate had a statistically significant increased risk of delayed early development in comparison to the control children. Linear regression analysis showed a statistically significant effect of sodium valproate exposure on the child's overall developmental level that was not accounted for by confounding variables. Delayed early development is also noted for children within an ad hoc group of less commonly utilized antiepileptic drugs, although conclusions cannot be drawn due to the size of this group (n = 13). Children exposed to either carbamazepine or lamotrigine in utero did not differ significantly in their overall developmental ability. Differences noted in specific developmental areas for these two groups were not statistically significant after the control for confounders such as socioeconomic status and maternal IQ. Women with epilepsy should be informed of the risks posed to their potential offspring prior to pregnancy to allow for informed decisions regarding treatment. Children exposed in utero to antiepileptic drugs should be monitored throughout childhood to allow for early intervention when necessary. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2010 International League Against Epilepsy.

Longitudinal linkages among parent-child acculturation discrepancy, parenting, parent-child sense of alienation, and adolescent adjustment in Chinese immigrant families.

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Kim, Su Yeong; Chen, Qi; Wang, Yijie; Shen, Yishan; Orozco-Lapray, Diana

2013-05-01

Parent-child acculturation discrepancy is a risk factor in the development of children in immigrant families. Using a longitudinal sample of Chinese immigrant families, the authors of the current study examined how unsupportive parenting and parent-child sense of alienation sequentially mediate the relationship between parent-child acculturation discrepancy and child adjustment during early and middle adolescence. Acculturation discrepancy scores were created using multilevel modeling to take into account the interdependence among family members. Structural equation models showed that during early adolescence, parent-child American orientation discrepancy is related to parents' use of unsupportive parenting practices; parents' use of unsupportive parenting is related to increased sense of alienation between parents and children, which in turn is related to more depressive symptoms and lower academic performance in Chinese American adolescents. These patterns of negative adjustment established in early adolescence persist into middle adolescence. This mediating effect is more apparent among father-adolescent dyads than among mother-adolescent dyads. In contrast, parent-child Chinese orientation discrepancy does not demonstrate a significant direct or indirect effect on adolescent adjustment, either concurrently or longitudinally. The current findings suggest that during early adolescence, children are more susceptible to the negative effects of parent-child acculturation discrepancy; they also underscore the importance of fathering in Chinese immigrant families.

Your Child's Development: 6 Months

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... Child's Development: 6 Months Print en español El desarrollo de su hijo: 6 meses Notice your baby ... both ways (back to front, front to back) Social and Emotional Development recognizes and responds happily to ...

Your Child's Development: 15 Months

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... Child's Development: 15 Months Print en español El desarrollo de su hijo: 15 meses Toddlers this age ... stacks three blocks scribbles with crayon on paper Social and Emotional Development begins to show preference for ...

Your Child's Development: 9 Months

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... Child's Development: 9 Months Print en español El desarrollo de su hijo: 9 meses Nine-month-olds ... item in each hand at the same time Social and Emotional Development might be fearful of strangers ...

45 CFR 1304.23 - Child nutrition.

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2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Child nutrition. 1304.23 Section 1304.23 Public... AGENCIES Early Childhood Development and Health Services § 1304.23 Child nutrition. (a) Identification of... into account staff and family discussions concerning: (1) Any relevant nutrition-related assessment...

The impact of a child's special health care needs on maternal work participation during early motherhood.

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Hauge, Lars Johan; Kornstad, Tom; Nes, Ragnhild Bang; Kristensen, Petter; Irgens, Lorentz M; Eskedal, Leif T; Landolt, Markus A; Vollrath, Margarete E

2013-07-01

Many women temporarily reduce work hours or stop working when caring for small children. However, mothers of children with special health care needs may face particular challenges balancing childrearing responsibilities and employment demands. This study examines how the work participation among mothers of children with special health care needs compares with that of mothers in general during early motherhood, focusing in particular on the extent of the child's additional health care needs. By linkage of the population-based Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study with national registers on employment, child health care needs, and social background factors, 41,255 mothers employed prior to childbirth were followed until child age 3 years to investigate associations between the child's care needs and mother's dropping out of employment. In total, 16.3% of the formerly employed mothers were no longer employed at child age 3 years. Mothers of children with mild care needs did not differ from mothers in general, whereas mothers of children with moderate [Risk Ratio (RR) 1.45; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17, 1.80] and severe care needs [RR 2.19; 95% CI 1.67, 2.87] were at substantial risk of not being employed at follow-up. The impact of the child's health care needs remained strong also after adjusting for several factors associated with employment in general. Extensive childhood health care needs are associated with reduced short-term employment prospects and remain a substantial influence on mothers' work participation during early motherhood, irrespective of other important characteristics associated with maternal employment. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

How Moroccan Mothers and Fathers View Child Development and Their Role in Their Children's Education

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Zellman, Gail L.; Perlman, Michal; Karam, Rita

2014-01-01

Despite the documented importance of parental engagement in early learning, little is known about how parents in the Middle East and North Africa understand child development. To inform the literature, a small-scale study involving four focus groups was conducted with parents of children aged six years and under living in Casablanca. The purpose…

The development of psychoanalytic parent–infant/child ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The development of psychoanalytic parent–infant/child psychotherapy in South Africa: Adaptive responses to ... on different services currently offered in the South African parent–infant/child psychotherapy field. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Commentary: An Asian Americanist Perspective on Child Development.

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Lee, Richard M; Y J Kim, Adam; Zhou, Xiang

2016-07-01

In this commentary, we put forth an Asian Americanist perspective on child development that frames, expands upon, and at times challenges the contextual, conceptual, and methodological ideas put forward by Kiang et al., Mistry et al., and Yoshikawa et al. (this volume). This Asian Americanist perspective draws upon scholarship in Asian American Studies and critical race theory to bridge the historical, conceptual, and methodological contributions of the three articles. We also aim to challenge current and future generations of scholars studying Asian American child development to look at Asian American youth and families as autonomous, self-determining agents who are capable of challenging, resisting, and affecting change in a racialized society. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

The Role of Early Maladaptive Schemas in the Appearance of Psychological Symptomatology in Adult Women Victims of Child Abuse.

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Estévez, Ana; Jauregui, Paula; Ozerinjauregi, Nagore; Herrero-Fernández, David

2017-01-01

Child abuse affects people's ways of thinking, feeling, and observing the world, resulting in dysfunctional beliefs and maladaptive schemas. Thus, consequences of child abuse may persist during adulthood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the psychological consequences (anxiety, phobic anxiety, depression, and hopelessness) of different types of maltreatment (physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and physical and emotional neglect) and to study the role of early maladaptive schemas in the onset of symptomatology in adult female victims of child abuse. The sample consisted of 75 women referred by associations for treatment of abuse and maltreatment in childhood. Sexual abuse was the type of maltreatment that was most strongly related to most dysfunctional symptomatology, followed by emotional abuse and physical abuse, whereas physical neglect was the least related. Also, early maladaptive schemas were found to correlate with child abuse and dysfunctional symptomatology. Finally, early maladaptive schemas mediated the relationship between sexual abuse and dysfunctional symptomatology when the effect of other types of abuse was controlled. These results may provide important guidance for clinical intervention.

Maternal depressive symptoms are negatively associated with child growth and development: Evidence from rural India.

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Nguyen, Phuong Hong; Friedman, Jed; Kak, Mohini; Menon, Purnima; Alderman, Harold

2018-05-17

Maternal depression has been suggested as a risk factor for both poor child growth and development in many low- and middle-income countries, but the validity of many studies is hindered by small sample sizes, varying cut-offs used in depression diagnostics, and incomplete control of confounding factors. This study examines the association between maternal depressive symptoms (MDSs) and child physical growth and cognitive development in Madhya Pradesh, India, where poverty, malnutrition, and poor mental health coexist. Data were from a baseline household survey (n = 2,934) of a randomized controlled trial assessing an early childhood development programme. Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted, adjusting for socio-economic factors to avoid confounding the association of mental health and child outcomes. MDS (measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale) was categorized as low, medium, and high in 47%, 42%, and 10% of mothers, respectively. The prevalence of child developmental delay ranged from 16% to 27% for various development domains. Compared with children of mothers with low MDS, those of high MDS mothers had lower height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height z-scores (0.22, 0.21, and 0.15, respectively), a higher rate of stunting and underweight (~1.5 times), and higher rate of developmental delay (partial adjusted odds ratio ranged from 1.3-1.8 for different development domains and fully adjusted odds ratio = 1.4 for fine motor). Our results-that MDS is significantly associated with both child undernutrition and development delay-add to the call for practical interventions to address maternal depression to simultaneously address multiple outcomes for both women and children. © 2018 The Authors. Maternal & Child Nutrition Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Families First: the development of a new mentalization-based group intervention for first-time parents to promote child development and family health.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalland, Mirjam; Fagerlund, Åse; von Koskull, Malin; Pajulo, Marjaterttu

2016-01-01

The aim of the present study was to describe the development of Families First, a new mentalization-based group intervention model for supporting early parenthood. The general aim of the intervention was to support well-functioning models of parenting and prevent transmission of negative parenting models over generations, and thus promote child development and overall family health. In the Finnish society, great concern has aroused during the last decade regarding the well-being and mental health of children and adolescents. Increased number of divorces, poverty, substance abuse, and mental health problems among parents enhance the risk for child neglect and abuse. New effective, preventive, and health-promoting intervention tools are greatly needed to support families with young children. At present, the Families First intervention is being implemented in primary social and healthcare units all over Finland. This article will provide a theoretical understanding of the importance of parental mentalization for the development of the parent-child relationship and the development of the child as well as proposed mechanisms of actions in order to enhance mentalizing capacity. The cultural context will be described. The article will also provide a description of the scientific evaluation protocol of the intervention model. Finally, possible limitations and challenges of the intervention model are discussed.

Family Structure Transitions and Child Development: Instability, Selection, and Population Heterogeneity.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Dohoon; McLanahan, Sara

2015-08-01

A growing literature documents the importance of family instability for child wellbeing. In this article, we use longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the impacts of family instability on children's cognitive and socioemotional development in early and middle childhood. We extend existing research in several ways: (1) by distinguishing between the number and types of family structure changes; (2) by accounting for time-varying as well as time-constant confounding; and (3) by assessing racial/ethnic and gender differences in family instability effects. Our results indicate that family instability has a causal effect on children's development, but the effect depends on the type of change, the outcome assessed, and the population examined. Generally speaking, transitions out of a two-parent family are more negative for children's development than transitions into a two-parent family. The effect of family instability is stronger for children's socioemotional development than for their cognitive achievement. For socioemotional development, transitions out of a two-parent family are more negative for white children, whereas transitions into a two-parent family are more negative for Hispanic children. These findings suggest that future research should pay more attention to the type of family structure transition and to population heterogeneity.

Maternal perception regarding child care and development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirna Albuquerque Frota

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate the perception of mothers regarding the care and development of their children. Methods: This was a descriptive and qualitative study, conducted in a Basic Health Unit (UBS in Fortaleza-CE, Brazil, in the period from July to October, 2008. The subjects were twenty mothers who accompanied their children in childcare consultation and met with favorable clinical conditions. Data collection techniques used free observation and semistructured interview consisting of questions involving the perception of child development and care. Results: By means of data analysis the following categories emerged: “Smile and play: mother’s perception regarding the development of the child”; “Take care: emphasis on breastfeeding and body hygiene”. The main source of nonverbal communication that the child has to convey affection and love is the smile, being an essential activity to child development. We verified that the care with breastfeeding and body hygiene suggest behavioral indicators of maternal sensitivity. Final considerations: The childcare consultation held in UBS is essential, because it allows integration of ideas and actions shared with the professional-parent dyad, thus providing the arousal of new experiences in care and the influence on child development.

Clinical impact of early diagnosis of autism on the prognosis and parent-child relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Elder, Jennifer Harrison; Kreider, Consuelo Maun; Brasher, Susan N; Ansell, Margaret

2017-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a lifelong condition that usually appears in late infancy or early childhood, and is characterized by social and communication deficits that impede optimal functioning. Despite widespread research and greater public awareness, ASD has an unclear etiology and no known cure, making it difficult to acquire accurate and timely diagnoses. In addition, once an ASD diagnosis is made, parents find it challenging to navigate the healthcare system and determine which interventions are most effective and appropriate for their child. A growing body of evidence supports the value of early diagnosis and treatment with evidence-based interventions, which can significantly improve the quality of life of individuals with ASD as well as of their carers and families. Particularly noteworthy are early interventions that occur in natural surroundings and can be modified to address age-related goals throughout the lifespan. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to: 1) provide readers with a brief background related to ASD; 2) describe commonly used screening instruments and tools for early diagnosis; 3) describe early interventions that have empirical support; and 4) discuss how the parent-child and family relationships can be affected through this process. This information can provide professionals with information they can use to assist families who make critical and potentially life-changing decisions for children with ASD.

Parent and Child Education Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Townley, Kim F.; And Others

The Parent and Child Education Program (PACE) is a pilot program, developed in Kentucky, to provide adult, early childhood and parent education. PACE targets families that have one or both parents without a high school diploma or equivalency certificate and one child three or four years of age. Parents and children ride the bus to school together,…

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARENT-CHILD PLAY SCALE FOR USE IN CHILDREN WITH FEEDING DISORDERS.

Science.gov (United States)

Chatoor, Irene; Hommel, Susanne; Sechi, Cristina; Lucarelli, Loredana

2018-03-01

The Parent-Child Play Scale was developed as a scale that complements the Parent-Child Feeding Scale, created by I. Chatoor et al. (1997), to evaluate mother-infant/toddler interactions in two different caregiving contexts of a young child's everyday life, specifically play and feeding. This Play Scale can be used with infants and toddlers ranging in age from 1 month to 3 years and provides reliable global ratings of mother-child interactions during 10 min of videotaped free-play in a laboratory setting. The scale consists of 32 mother and infant/toddler interactive behaviors which are rated by trained observers from videotaped observations. Four subscales are derived: Dyadic Reciprocity, Maternal Unresponsiveness to Infant's/Toddler's Cues, Dyadic Conflict, and Maternal Intrusiveness. Construct validity and interrater and test-retest reliability of the Play Scale have been demonstrated. This Play Scale discriminates between children with and without feeding disorders as well as between children with different subtypes of feeding disorders as defined by the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood, Revised (DC:0-3R) (Feeding Disorder of State Regulation, Feeding Disorder of Caregiver-Infant Reciprocity, and Infantile Anorexia). It can be used for research or clinical practice in the diagnosis and treatment of early feeding problems, to assess the pervasiveness of mother-infant/toddler difficulties and to monitor changes following therapy. © 2018 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

45 CFR 1304.20 - Child health and developmental services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... whether the child is up-to-date on a schedule of age appropriate preventive and primary health care which... GRANTEE AND DELEGATE AGENCIES Early Childhood Development and Health Services § 1304.20 Child health and... 1304.20(a)(2), and 45 CFR 1304.20(b)(1), “entry” means the first day that Early Head Start or Head...

The Impact of an Unconditional Cash Transfer on Early Child Development: The Zambia Child Grant Program

Science.gov (United States)

Seidenfeld, David; Prencipe, Leah; Handa, Sudhanshu; Hawkinson, Laura

2015-01-01

Little research has been conducted on unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) despite their growing prevalence in Africa, including South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, and Uganda. In this study, researchers implemented a randomized control trial with over 2,500 households to investigate the impact of Africa's child grant program on…

Application of the Intervention Mapping protocol to develop Keys, a family child care home intervention to prevent early childhood obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, Courtney M; Ward, Dianne S; Vaughn, Amber; Benjamin Neelon, Sara E; Long Vidal, Lenita J; Omar, Sakinah; Namenek Brouwer, Rebecca J; Østbye, Truls

2015-12-10

Many families rely on child care outside the home, making these settings important influences on child development. Nearly 1.5 million children in the U.S. spend time in family child care homes (FCCHs), where providers care for children in their own residences. There is some evidence that children in FCCHs are heavier than those cared for in centers. However, few interventions have targeted FCCHs for obesity prevention. This paper will describe the application of the Intervention Mapping (IM) framework to the development of a childhood obesity prevention intervention for FCCHs Following the IM protocol, six steps were completed in the planning and development of an intervention targeting FCCHs: needs assessment, formulation of change objectives matrices, selection of theory-based methods and strategies, creation of intervention components and materials, adoption and implementation planning, and evaluation planning Application of the IM process resulted in the creation of the Keys to Healthy Family Child Care Homes program (Keys), which includes three modules: Healthy You, Healthy Home, and Healthy Business. Delivery of each module includes a workshop, educational binder and tool-kit resources, and four coaching contacts. Social Cognitive Theory and Self-Determination Theory helped guide development of change objective matrices, selection of behavior change strategies, and identification of outcome measures. The Keys program is currently being evaluated through a cluster-randomized controlled trial The IM process, while time-consuming, enabled rigorous and systematic development of intervention components that are directly tied to behavior change theory and may increase the potential for behavior change within the FCCHs.

Parent-Child Mathematical Interactions: Examining Self-Report and Direct Observation

Science.gov (United States)

Missall, Kristen N.; Hojnoski, Robin L.; Moreano, Ginna

2017-01-01

Variability in children's early-learning home environments points to the need to better understand specific mechanisms of early mathematical development. We used a sample of 66 parent-preschool child dyads to describe parent-reported mathematical activities in the home and observed parent-child mathematical activities in a semi-structured play…

Role of neighbourhoods in child growth and development: does 'place' matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Avan, Bilal Iqbal; Kirkwood, Betty

2010-07-01

It is estimated that at least 200 million children--mostly from developing countries--suffer from developmental delays. The study aims to contribute to an understanding of the contextual environment in which a child grows and develops in such setup; and in particular to evaluate the relative contributions of socio-economic status and rural-urban neighbourhoods on growth and psychomotor development. A cross-sectional study was conducted from May to November 2002 in 15 rural and 11 urban communities of Sindh, Pakistan. 1,244 children aged less than 3 years were assessed via home visits using Bayley's Infant Developmental Scale for psychomotor development, anthropometry and a socio-economic and demographic questionnaire. A socio-economic index was created using principal component analysis, and the study hypotheses explored through hierarchical linear modelling. We found that sub-optimal growth and development were prevalent among the study's children. Overall the mean psychomotor development (PD) index was 96.0 (SD 16.7), with 23% assessed as having delayed development, and undernourished with 39.8% stunted, 30.9% underweight and 18.1% wasted. Lower socio-economic status and living in a rural rather than urban neighbourhood were all found to have strong associations with lower psychomotor scores and with undernutrition. Rural-urban differences in undernutrition were explained by the lower socio-economic status of families in rural areas. By contrast, rural-urban differences in psychomotor scores remained strong even after controlling for differences in socio-economic status. It was estimated that rural residence accounted for 28% of cases of delayed psychomotor development among study children. Improvements in socio-economic status are vital to achieve optimal growth and development during early childhood. The study draws attention to the importance of taking heed of contextual needs, especially relating to differences between rural and urban neighbourhoods, in the

Your Child's Development: 1 Year (12 Months)

Science.gov (United States)

... produce a desired effect, such as dropping a toy over a ledge so that you can pick it up will look at a book and turn the pages When to Talk to Your Doctor Every child develops at his or her own pace, but certain signs could indicate a delay in development. Talk to your doctor if your child shows ...

Relations between Parenting and Externalizing and Internalizing Problem Behaviour in Early Adolescence: Child Behaviour as Moderator and Predictor

Science.gov (United States)

Reitz, E.; Dekovic, M.; Meijer, A. M.

2006-01-01

In this longitudinal study we investigated relations between parenting and externalizing and internalizing problem behaviour during early adolescence. First, we examined parenting effects on problem behaviour, including child behaviour as a moderator. Second, we examined child behaviour as predictor of parenting, also including moderator effects.…

Risk assessment of parents' concerns at 18 months in preventive child health care predicted child abuse and neglect

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Staal, I.I.E.; Hermanns, J.M.A.; Schrijvers, A.J.P.; van Stel, H.F.

2013-01-01

Objective: As child maltreatment has a major impact, prevention and early detection of parenting problems are of great importance. We have developed a structured interview which uses parents’ concerns for a joint needs assessment by parents and a child health care nurse, followed by a professional

33 CFR 55.11 - How are child development center fees established?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false How are child development center... HOMELAND SECURITY PERSONNEL CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES General § 55.11 How are child development center fees established? (a) Fees for the provision of services at child development centers shall be set by...

Early and Forced Child Marriage on Girls' Education, in Migori County, Kenya: Constraints, Prospects and Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Ganira, Lilian K.; Inda, Nancy A.; Odundo, Paul A.; Akondo, Joseph Ochieng; Ngaruiya, Boniface

2015-01-01

Early and forced marriage infringes rights of women and girls globally, undermining initiatives to raise involvement in education, reduce maternal mortality, increase employment and enterprise levels. Parental and Communal involvement in Early and Forced Child Marriage negatively influence Girls' Education, which hinders their participation in…

Parental Schooling and Child Development: Learning from Twin Parents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bingley, Paul; Christensen, Kaare; Jensen, Vibeke Myrup

. By differencing within identical twin pair we are able to take heritable endowments transmitted from parent to child into account. For all outcomes OLS is found to be upward biased. Father schooling is found to have no causal effect on infant and early childhood health. Mother schooling increases birth weight...... and the probability of high school completion. For older cohorts, we are able to replicate the findings of Behrman & Rosenzweig (2002) that fathers' schooling has a positive causal effect on child schooling but mothers' does not. However, this is reversed for parents born after 1945, when mothers' schooling has...

45 CFR 1306.30 - Provisions of comprehensive child development services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Provisions of comprehensive child development... Start Program Options § 1306.30 Provisions of comprehensive child development services. (a) All Head Start grantees must provide comprehensive child development services, as defined in the Head Start...

The impact of postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms on child development: a population-based, 2-year follow-up study.

Science.gov (United States)

Garthus-Niegel, S; Ayers, S; Martini, J; von Soest, T; Eberhard-Gran, M

2017-01-01

Against the background of very limited evidence, the present study aimed to prospectively examine the impact of maternal postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms on four important areas of child development, i.e. gross motor, fine motor, communication and social-emotional development. This study is part of the large, population-based Akershus Birth Cohort. Data from the hospital's birth record as well as questionnaire data from 8 weeks and 2 years postpartum were used (n = 1472). The domains of child development that were significantly correlated with PTSD symptoms were entered into regression analyses. Interaction analyses were run to test whether the influence of postpartum PTSD symptoms on child development was moderated by child sex or infant temperament. Postpartum PTSD symptoms had a prospective relationship with poor child social-emotional development 2 years later. This relationship remained significant even when adjusting for confounders such as maternal depression and anxiety or infant temperament. Both child sex and infant temperament moderated the association between maternal PTSD symptoms and child social-emotional development, i.e. with increasing maternal PTSD symptom load, boys and children with a difficult temperament were shown to have comparatively higher levels of social-emotional problems. Examining four different domains of child development, we found a prospective impact of postpartum PTSD symptoms on children's social-emotional development at 2 years of age. Our findings suggest that both boys and children with an early difficult temperament may be particularly susceptible to the adverse impact of postpartum PTSD symptoms. Additional studies are needed to further investigate the mechanisms at work.

Insights on the Child Development Movement in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Senn, Milton J. E.

1975-01-01

This monograph presents an oral history of selected aspects of the child development movement, based on interviews with prominent researchers since the 1920's. Topics include reactions to major figures and influences, the relationship of child development to pediatrics and child psychiatry, and the relevance of research to child care practices.…

Positive valence bias and parent-child relationship security moderate the association between early institutional caregiving and internalizing symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Vantieghem, Michelle R; Gabard-Durnam, Laurel; Goff, Bonnie; Flannery, Jessica; Humphreys, Kathryn L; Telzer, Eva H; Caldera, Christina; Louie, Jennifer Y; Shapiro, Mor; Bolger, Niall; Tottenham, Nim

2017-05-01

Institutional caregiving is associated with significant deviations from species-expected caregiving, altering the normative sequence of attachment formation and placing children at risk for long-term emotional difficulties. However, little is known about factors that can promote resilience following early institutional caregiving. In the current study, we investigated how adaptations in affective processing (i.e., positive valence bias) and family-level protective factors (i.e., secure parent-child relationships) moderate risk for internalizing symptoms in previously institutionalized (PI) youth. Children and adolescents with and without a history of institutional care performed a laboratory-based affective processing task and self-reported measures of parent-child relationship security. PI youth were more likely than comparison youth to show positive valence biases when interpreting ambiguous facial expressions. Both positive valence bias and parent-child relationship security moderated the association between institutional care and parent-reported internalizing symptoms, such that greater positive valence bias and more secure parent-child relationships predicted fewer symptoms in PI youth. However, when both factors were tested concurrently, parent-child relationship security more strongly moderated the link between PI status and internalizing symptoms. These findings suggest that both individual-level adaptations in affective processing and family-level factors of secure parent-child relationships may ameliorate risk for internalizing psychopathology following early institutional caregiving.