Early childhood to young adulthood: An introduction to the special issue

Abstract

The identification and understanding of alterable influences on well-being are at the nexus of developmental science and social policy. These influences span the life course but child, family, and school experiences in the first two decades are particularly instrumental to health and well-being. To investigate some of these influences, we report data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study. The study investigates the life course development of 1,539 children (93% African American and 7% Hispanic) who were born in 1979-1980, grew up in the highest-poverty neighborhoods in Chicago, and attended early childhood intervention programs beginning in preschool. The goals of the study are to determine the effects of participation in the Child-Parent Center Program, document patterns of child and family well-being over time, and identify child, family, school, and community factors that can promote children’s well being. We describe major intervention findings and summarize the contributions of a variety of personal, family, and school experiences in promoting multiple domains of well-being.

School readiness in the Midwest Child-Parent Center Expansion: A propensity score analysis of year 1 impacts

“…CPC has not only shown positive effects on school performance and achievement (Reynolds and Ou, 2010), but also in crime reduction (Reynolds, Temple and Ou, 2010). The CPC program is currently undergoing scale-up in the Midwest through new federal investments and Pay for Success initiatives.…”

A conceptual framework for mapping and enhancing children’s emotional well-being

“…There is ample evidence demonstrating that the quality of interaction in children's learning environments influences the trajectories of their emotional development. For example, positive experience during school years has been shown to increase children's self-esteem, school performance, social relationships, mental health and life satisfaction throughout the lifespan (Blatchford et al, 2016;Côté-Lussier & Fitzpatrick, 2016;Craig et al, 2019;Darling-Hammond & Cook-Harvey, 2018;Diener & Chan, 2011;Felitti et al, 1998;Flouri & Buchanan, 2002;Hoyt et al, 2012;Katschnig & Hastedt, 2017;Morris et al, 2021;Reynolds & Ou, 2010;Spengler et al, 2018;Tay & Kuykendall, 2013;Thomson, 2019).…”

Implications of Musical Education in Creativity Develop

“…Different authors (Reynolds & Ou, 2010;Benitez, Díaz Abrahan, & Justel, 2017;Gorey, 2001), explain how people who had had a good musical education in their childhood, will have positive effects in their adult life.…”