Table of Contents
Early childhood development: Impact of national human development, family poverty, parenting practices and access to early childhood education
In a study by Tran et al. (2017) child development, household economic status, psychological factors such as caregiving practices and early childhood education, demographic characteristics were examined to describe and quantify the relationships between family poverty and low child development. This study postulates that family poverty affects early childhood development via biological and psychosocial factors.
The study involving early childhood development data collected for children aged 36 to 59 months between 5,000 and 40,000 households in 44 low-and-middle income countries. The data used for this study were collected through face-to-face interviews conducted during home visits by national data collection teams.
127 our experts are availableright now
The article for this study is organized in sections with substantial information on the links between family poverty and inequalities in childhood development in low-and middle-income countries. Although, the article was difficult to read it provided beneficial information in the form of tables, graphs, charts, and lists to facilitate the information comprehension.
Overall, this study suggests that poverty within and between countries is associated significantly with considerable inequalities in early childhood development. It also emphasizes the importance of parent engagement in specific activities to provide their children with cognitive stimulation that could potentially reduce the effects of poverty and that could improve children’s development in their subsequent stages in life. For instance, the data shows that mothers engaged in more activities than fathers in every country participating in this study. The study also indicates that care for child development at home is highly positively associated with early childhood development.
Family adversity and inhibitory control for economically disadvantaged children: preschool relations and associations with school readiness
In this study performed by Brown et al. (2013) the relations associating aspects of family adversity to inhibitory control and school readiness in economically disadvantaged children attending Head Start preschool are examined. The researchers were particularly interested in a component of cognitive control known as inhibitory control, which is the ability to stop an impulsive reflexive response as it explains the deficits on children school readiness. School readiness includes a set of emotional, behavioral, and cognitive skills required to function successfully in elementary school. This article suggests that among the factors affecting inhibition control and school readiness include but are not limited to, family income, family instability and chaos.
The article suggests that given the abundance of research suggesting that income poverty predicts both inhibitory control and school readiness, the goal for this study was to determine the importance of inhibitory control as a mediator between environmental adversity and school readiness.
The participants in this study were 120 children and who attended a Head Start program in Pennsylvania, and their caregivers. A Head Start program usually serves 3-to-5-year-old children from low-income families. This preschool was chosen because of its relatively large program size. As for demographics, 70% were African American, 10% Latino/Hispanic American, 10% Asian American, and 10% Caucasian/European American. 75% of the families participating in this study had an income below the federal poverty line.
For this study, 90% of families at preschool participated via recruitment at the time of preschool enrollment. The study was conducted in two parts. The first involved an initial interview with primary caregivers and was conducted at the preschool by research assistants to collect information about demographics, family instability and chaos.
The second part of the study included assessments of the child’s verbal ability, inhibitory control, and school readiness administered at the preschool by trained researcher assistants. Child assessments were conducted in the fall, winter, and spring. Verbal ability was assessed in the fall, school readiness in the fall and spring, and inhibitory control in at all three times.
Although the results in the study revealed a change in the inhibitory control and school readiness over the preschool year, how family adversity for economically disadvantaged children contributes to child differences in inhibitory control is still unclear. Future research should be guided by the principle that income is insufficient for accounting for diversity in the development of inhibitory control for economically disadvantaged children.The study was difficult to read due to the vast technical vocabulary.
Are all risks equal? Early experiences of poverty-related risk and children’s functioning
This study by Roy and Raver (2014) examines how exposure to deep poverty and poverty-related risks in preschool is related to children’s future difficulties in school. The data for this research was obtained from a longitudinal sample of 602 children enrolled in a Head Start preschool program from urban neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantaged families.
For this research, deep poverty and other risk factors were considered. Other factors are residence in a single-parent household, residential crowding, caregiver depression, and stressful life events.
This study suggests that children who experienced an accumulation rather than the type of risk in the early elementary years had a worse school performance than children with low number of risks. The study also suggests that poverty and risks are not distributed equally across racial and ethnic groups in the United States as African American and Latino are in a higher risk than White and Asian children.
The study revealed that the highest proportion of families “at risk” across indicators are poor (43%) and single (61%). Other proportions obtained are: large household (23%), depressed (23%) and high life stress (16%).
Some limitations to this study are that the risk factors presented do not fully capture the spectrum of stressors that many low-income family faces on a daily basis, and that this study does not examine how risk profiles change over time or how individuals may transition between profiles.
This information in this article was not very hard to understand as it was presented in a way I was able to identify some developmental risks children are exposed when experiencing poverty.
Conclusion
Poverty has an astonishing effect in the development of children. Some of the factors playing avital role in children living in disadvantaged families are lack of education, conflicts, lack of food, and behavioral and psychological issues.
Children who live in poverty are less likely to perform well at school. I have learned many things from my topic, all by which I find highly important to my professional and personal life. In a world that we live in now, we should know how children respond to poverty and the best ways to help them.
References
- Tran, T. D., Luchters, S., & Fisher, J. (2017). Early childhood development: Impact of national human development, family poverty, parenting practices and access to early childhood education. Child: Care, Health and Development, 43(3), 415–426. https://ezproxy.wou.edu:4285/10.1111/cch.12395Roy, A. L., & Raver, C. C. (2014). Are all risks equal? Early experiences of poverty-related risk and children’s functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 28(3), 391–400.
- https://ezproxy.wou.edu:4285/10.1037/a0036683Brown, E. D., Ackerman, B. P., & Moore, C. A. (2013). Family adversity and inhibitory control for economically disadvantaged children: Preschool relations and associations with school readiness. Journal of Family Psychology, 27(3), 443–452. https://ezproxy.wou.edu:4285/10.1037/a0032886
