Early childhood Biosocial development PDF

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Development over the life span...

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Body Changes Growth Patterns • Children become slimmer as the lower body lengthens. • Each year from age 2 through 6, wellnourished children add almost 3 inches in height and gain about 4 1⁄2 pounds in weight. • Center of gravity moves from the breastbone down to the belly button.

Body Changes Nutrition • Children need far fewer calories per pound of body weight than infants do. • Obesity is a more frequent problem than malnutrition. • Overfeeding is causing an epidemic of illnesses associated with obesity, such as heart disease and diabetes. • Children in low-income families are especially vulnerable to obesity

Body Changes: Nutrition Victory! • Well, maybe not quite yet, but he’s on his way. • This boy participates in a British effort to combat childhood obesity; mother and son exercising in Liverpool Park is part of the solution. • Harder to implement are dietary changes—many parents let children eat as much as they want. Body Changes

Nutritional deficiencies • •

Most children in developed nations consume more than enough calories. Many customs entice children to eat sweets which are a poor substitute for balanced, varied diet.

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Gender, ethnicity, and income correlate with body fat. Estimated 3 to 8% of all young children are allergic to a specific food —almost always a common, healthy one.

Body Changes

Oral health •

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Too much sugar and too little fiber cause tooth decay, which affects more than one-third of all young U.S. children. Severe early decay harms the formation of permanent teeth and the jaw and may affect speech. Parent childhood experiences and habits, income, and access create barriers to good dental care for many low-income children.

Obsessions and Allergies

Hazards of “Just Right” •

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Some children insist on eating only certain foods, prepared and presented in a particular way. This rigidity, known as the “just-right” phenomenon, would be pathological in adults but is normal in children under age 6. Among young children, a wish for continuity and sameness is normal and widespread Indulgence and patience for “just right” becomes destructive if the result is an overweight child

“Just Right” Young Children's Insistence on Routine • This chart shows the average scores of children (who are rated by their parents) on a survey indicating the child's desire to

have certain things—including food selection and preparation— done “just right.” • Such strong preferences for rigid routines tend to fade by age 6. Brain Development Size • By age 2, a child's brain weighs 75% of what it will in adulthood. • Extensive sprouting and then pruning of dendrites has already taken place. • The brain reaches 90% of adult weight by age 6. • Social understanding develops as prefrontal cortex matures and emotional control improves. Brain Development

Brain Development Speed of thought • Primary reason for faster thinking is new and extensive myelination. • Myelin is a fatty coating on the axons that speeds signals between neurons. • A gradual increase in myelination makes 5-year-olds much quicker than 3-year-olds, who are quicker than toddlers. Brain Development

Faster and Faster

• Shown here is a cross section of an axon (dark middle) coated with many layers of Schwann cells, as more and more myelin wraps

around the axon throughout childhood. • Age-related slowdowns in adulthood are caused by gradual disappearance of myelin layers Brain Development: Connecting the Hemispheres

Corpus callosum • Long, thick band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain and allows communication between them

Lateralization • •

Specialization in certain functions by each side of the brain, with one side dominant for each activity Left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and vice versa.

Brain Development Left-handed child – Handedness partly genetic – 1 in 10 children prefers left hand – Many cultures support righthandedness (difference-equals-deficit error)

Brain Development Contemporary views on left-right distinction • Distinction exaggerated • No exclusive sidedness in healthy people • Both sides of brain involved in almost every skill • Brain is flexible, especially in early life

Brain Development: Planning and Analyzing Maturation of prefrontal cortex

• Prefrontal cortex is very limited in infancy and continues to develop at least until early adulthood. • Between ages 2 and 6, neurological increases are especially notable in the areas of the cortex, where planning, thinking, social awareness, and language occur. • Neurological immaturity is another reason adults need to prevent childhood injury. Brain Development: Planning and Analyzing

Impulsiveness and preservation

• Maturation of the prefrontal cortex gradually facilitates focused attention and curbs impulsiveness. • Before such maturation, many young children jump from task to task; they cannot stay quiet. • Others act in the opposite way: In a phenomenon called perseveration, some children persevere in, or stick to, one thought or action, unable to quit. Brain Development: Planning and Analyzing From ages 2 to 6, maturation of the prefrontal cortex has several notable benefits. • •

Sleep becomes more regular. Emotions become more nuanced and responsive.

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Temper tantrums decrease or subside. Uncontrollable laughter and tears are less common.

Brain Development: Planning and Analyzing Can Nailah Pierre sit still? This is developmentally difficult, but for three reasons she probably will succeed: • Gender (girls mature earlier than boys) • Experience (she has been in church many times), and • Social context (she is one of 750 students in her school attending a special service at Nativity Catholic church). Emotions and the Brain

Three brain parts • Amygdala

– Tiny brain structure that registers emotions, particularly fear and anxiety

• Hippocampus – Brain structure that is a central processor of memory, especially memory for locations.

• Hypothalamus – Brain area that responds to the amygdala and the hippocampus to produce hormones that activate other parts of the brain and body

A Hormonal Feedback Loop Emotions and the Brain Early traumatic or stressful events Increased risk – Permanent learning and memory deficits – Later major depression, PTSD, and ADHD

Benefits

– Cognitive and memory growth with reassuring adults – Context and duration important

Improving Motor Skills Improved motor skills • Children develop all their motor skills spontaneously and diligently as they play. • By age 6, most North Americans ride tricycles; climb ladders; pump their legs on swings; and throw, catch, and kick balls. • Muscle growth, brain maturation, and guided practice advance every gross motor skill. • Practice improves dexterity and advances fine motor skills, which involve small body movements.

Gross Motor Skills Specific skills

• Brain maturation, motivation, and guided practice make gross motor skills possible. • Influence of culture and locale important.

Environmental Hazards Environmental pollutants: Air • Harm young, growing brains and bodies more than older, developed ones • Particular concerns for urban, low-SES children • Asthma and other respiratory problems

Proven harmful pollutants • • • •

Lead in the water and air Pesticides in the soil or on clothing Bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic Secondhand cigarette smoke

Same Situation, Far Apart: Finger Skills

Fine Motor Skills Fine motor skills • • • • •

Are more difficult to master Involve small hand and finger movements Often involve both sides of brain Influenced by practice and maturation On average, mature 6 months earlier in females

Artistic Expression Artistic Expression Bliss for Boys But not for moms. Finger painting develops fine motor skills, which is part of the preschool curriculum in early childhood. This boy shows why most stay-home 3-year-olds miss out on this joy. Injuries and Abuse

Avoidable injury • In almost all families of every income, ethnicity, and nation, parents want to protect their children while fostering their growth. • In every nation, more young children die from accidents than from any other specific cause. • The 2- to 6-year-olds in the U.S. are at greater risk than slightly older children. Avoidable Injury

Age-related dangers • • • • •

Falls Motor-vehicle deaths Poison Fire Drowning (#1)

Injury control (harm reduction) • • • • •

Safety surfaces Car seats Bike helmets Safety containers for medications Pool monitoring Same Situation, Far Apart: Keeping Everyone Safe Levels of Injury Prevention Two types of analysis to predict danger and prevent it • •

Accident autopsy Statistical analysis

Levels of injury prevention • • •

Primary prevention Secondary prevention Tertiary prevention (golden hour)

While the Population Grew

This chart shows dramatic evidence that prevention measures are succeeding in the United States. Over the same time period, the total population has increased by about one-third, making these results even more impressive. Source: United States Department of Transportation, 2012.

Child Maltreatment Maltreatment noticed and defined Child maltreatment •

Intentional harm to or avoidable endangerment of anyone under 18 years of age

Child abuse • Deliberate action that is harmful to a child's physical emotional, or sexual wellbeing

Child neglect • Failure to meet a child's basic physical, educational, or emotional needs

Child Maltreatment Maltreatment noticed and defined Reported maltreatment •

Harm or endangerment about which someone has notified the authorities

Substantiated maltreatment •

Harm or endangerment that has been reported, investigated, and verified

Abuse Victim? Fair-skinned Anna, age 5, told the school nurse she was sunburned because her mommy, Patricia, took her to a tanning salon. Patricia said Anna was gardening in the sun; Anna’s father and brother (shown here) said all three waited outside the salon while Patricia tanned inside. The story led to an arrest for child endangerment, a court trial, and a media frenzy. Was the media

abusive, the nurse intrusive, or the opposite? If your child is sunburned, is it your fault? Rates of Substantiated Child Maltreatment Frequency of Maltreatment •

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Reports of substantiated maltreatment increased from 1950 to 1990 but decreased thereafter. Physical and sexual abuse declined, but sexual abuse did not.

WHY? • • • •

Fewer homes with many small children Variation in level of professional scrutiny related to abuse Few children report their own abuse Maltreatment may be under-reported

Substantiated Child Maltreatment

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) PTSD • Anxiety disorder that develops as a delayed reaction to having experienced or witnessed a profoundly shocking or frightening event

Symptoms • May include flashbacks to the event, hyperactivity and hypervigilance, displaced anger, sleeplessness, nightmares between fantasy and reality

Signs of Maltreatment in Children Aged 2 to 10 Consequences of Maltreatment Effects of maltreatment are devastating and long-lasting Mistreated and neglected children •

Regard people as hostile and exploitative

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Are less friendly, more aggressive, and more isolated than other children Experience greater social deficits May experience large and enduring economic consequences

Child Maltreatment Three levels of prevention • Primary prevention: Focus on macrosystem and exoystem; stable neighborhood, family cohesion, decreasing financial instability, family isolation, and teenage parenthood • Secondary prevention: Focus on identifying and intervening; insecure attachment • Tertiary prevention: Focus on limiting harm after maltreatment Tertiary Prevention and Placement

• Permanency planning ( a child in waiting for adoption/permanent placement/transient state/take child into stable environment until parents get to where they need to be) • Foster care (foster parent/same as permanency placement/temporary guardian) • Kinship care (child is planning on going to stay with a family member) • Adoption Do you know the difference?...