The Biology of Developmental Vulnerability

Shonkoff, Jack P.; Marshall, Paul C.

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511529320.004

Cited by 25 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…16 There is a growing body of scientific evidence pointing to the potential of early intervention for the amelioration of developmental and behavioral problems in young children before such detrimental consequences occur. [17][18][19] The theoretical importance of identifying young children with developmental and behavioral problems and linking them to services has been recognized by a number of professional organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), 20,21 the Child Welfare League of America, 22 and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). 23 The AAP guidelines, first issued in 1994 and reissued in 2002, recommend that all children receive initial health and mental health screening examinations within 72 hours of entering the foster care system and that all children further receive comprehensive physical, mental health, and developmental evaluations within 30 days of placement.…”

Section: Index Termsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the Developmental and Mental Health Needs of Young Children in Foster Care

Leslie

Gordon

Lambros

et al. 2005

Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics

108

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Research over the past two decades has consistently documented the high rates of young children entering the child protective services/child welfare system with developmental and mental health problems. There is an emerging evidence base for the role of early intervention services in improving outcomes for children with developmental and mental health problems in the general population that heavily relies on accurate and appropriate screening and assessment practices. The Child Welfare League of America, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have all published guidelines concerning the importance of comprehensive assessments and appropriate referral to early intervention services for children entering out-of-home care. Recent federal legislation (P.L. 108-36) calls for increased collaboration between child welfare and public agencies to address the developmental and mental health needs of young children in foster care. This paper provides a framework for health, developmental, and mental health professionals seeking to partner with child welfare to develop and implement programs addressing these critical issues. Index termsfoster care; developmental delay; mental health; child protective services; early intervention There are more than 580,000 children 1 in the U.S. foster care system; these children represent an important and vulnerable subpopulation of youths. Especially disconcerting is the fact that a large proportion (30%) of these children are younger than 5 years of age. 2 Many children enter foster care during the early years of life when neurological development is most active and vulnerable. 3-6 Experiences before entry and while in foster care have the potential to dramatically affect a child's short-and long-term development and their emotional well-being. 7,8It is not surprising that studies have found disproportionately high rates of developmental and mental health problems among children in foster care. 9,10 These problems can have tragic and costly sequelae, including frequent placement failures, academic difficulties, increased high NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript school dropout rates, and later delinquency. 11-15 A large proportion of children enter the foster care system at ages of developmental malleability, conceptualized as ranging from 0 to 5 years. 16 There is a growing body of scientific evidence pointing to the potential of early intervention for the amelioration of developmental and behavioral problems in young children before such detrimental consequences occur. 17-19The theoretical importance of identifying young children with developmental and behavioral problems and linking them to services has been recognized by a number of professional organizations including the The importance of collaboration between social welfare agencies and health, developmental, and mental health professionals was also recently recognized by the federal government. The "Keeping Children and Families...

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Section: Index Termsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the Developmental and Mental Health Needs of Young Children in Foster Care

Leslie

Gordon

Lambros

et al. 2005

Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Not all preterm babies will have poor outcomes: the impact of prematurity and perinatal insult leads to an increased developmental vulnerability that may be mediated in part by environmental experience. [14][15][16][17] There has been increasing interest in a range of early intervention programmes of developmental care and education for preterm children and their families. Studies of the efficacy of these interventions have shown modest improvements in short term cognitive and behavioural outcomes.…”

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confidence: 99%

Randomised trial of parental support for families with very preterm children: outcome at 5 years

Johnson

Ring²,

Anderson³

et al. 2005

Archives of Disease in Childhood

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Aims: To test the effectiveness of a home based developmental education intervention in improving outcome at 5 years for very preterm infants. Methods: The Avon Premature Infant Project (APIP) is a randomised controlled trial in which the parents of 284 babies born ,33 weeks gestational age received a developmental education programme, a social support intervention, or standard care. A term reference population was also recruited. This study reports outcomes at 5 years (mean age 58 months 15 days) for 187 (66%) of these children without disability. Outcomes were assessed using the British Ability Scales II for cognitive development, the Movement ABC for motor impairment, and the Child Behavior Checklist for behavioural problems. Results: Preterm infants showed poorer cognitive performance than their term peers. Mean (SD) general conceptual ability (GCA) scores were: Portage 99.2 (15.7); parent adviser 100.3 (14.8); preterm control 101.1 (15.0); term reference 107.2 (13.4). There were no significant differences between preterm groups in GCA scores indicating no effect of either intervention. Similarly, there was no significant effect of intervention on behavioural or motor outcomes. Further analyses, in which outcome data were adjusted for social factors, did not reveal any differences between the three preterm groups or by subgroups classified by a range of perinatal variables. Conclusion: The small advantage shown at 2 years of age is no longer detectable at 5 years. These results question the effectiveness of early intervention in enhancing cognitive, behavioural, and motor function at 5 years.

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“…Understanding the factors associated with stability and change over infancy and early childhood is important as it is a period of relatively rapid change and neurobiological differentiation (Couperus and Nelson 2006, Sameroff and Fiese 2000, Shonkoff 2010, Shonkoff and Marshall 2000). Current developmental theories posit that developmental processes are dynamic and transactional across all domains (Sameroff and Fiese 2000, Shonkoff 2010, Thelen and Smith 1996), including temperament and behavior.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Behavioral Stability and Change in Children 6–36 months of Age Using Louisville Twin Study Data

et al. 2015

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The Infant Behavior Record (IBR) from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development has been used to study behavioral development since the 1960s. Matheny (1983) examined behavioral development at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months from the Louisville Twin Study (LTS). The extracted temperament scales included Task Orientation, Affect-Extraversion, and Activity. He concluded that monozygotic twins were more similar than same-sex dizygotic twins on these dimensions. Since this seminal work was published, a larger LTS sample and more advanced analytical methods are available. In the current analyses, Choleksy decomposition was applied to behavioral data (n = 1231) from twins 6 - 36 months. Different patterns of genetic continuity vs genetic innovations were identified for each IBR scale. Single common genetic and shared environmental factors explained cross-age twin similarity in the Activity scale. Multiple shared environmental factors and a single genetic factor coming on line at age 18 months contributed to Affect-Extraversion. A single shared environmental factor and multiple genetic factors explained cross-age twin similarity in Task Orientation.

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The Biology of Developmental Vulnerability

Cited by 25 publications

References 0 publications

Addressing the Developmental and Mental Health Needs of Young Children in Foster Care

Addressing the Developmental and Mental Health Needs of Young Children in Foster Care

Randomised trial of parental support for families with very preterm children: outcome at 5 years

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Behavioral Stability and Change in Children 6–36 months of Age Using Louisville Twin Study Data

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