Separation from mom, dad linked with learning troub...(pmental skills by various observable beh...),Health

Date:5/15/2008

pmental skills by various observable behaviors (e.g., if the child can cut with scissors; if he or she can tie their shoes") The results were then analyzed to produce four 4-point scales, each measuring different dimensions of healthy development, including: how well a child learns new tasks; how well he or she uses language to express ideas; how literate he or she is (e.g., can he or she read his own written name"); and the quality of his or her speech (e.g., do other people often have difficulty understanding the child")

We found that 18 percent of these urban children had been separated from their parents at any point in their childhood, Jee said. This was surprising, but not unimaginable, since poverty is often linked with volatility in homes. In fact, 7 percent of these kids had been separated two or more times.

Children who have been separated at any point scored significantly worse both on the 4-point scales measuring their ability to learn new tasks and their pre-literacy skills. Of note, their expressive language and speech scores fared better they were comparable to those of their non-separated peers.

This makes intuitive sense, Jee said. In families disrupted by separation, adults are less likely to make consistent efforts to expose kids to new ideas, or to encourage reading. Without this first educational coaching from mom or dad, kids early learning and preliteracy skills are less likely to really blossom.

Thankfully, most school districts require a physical before a child enters kindergarten, she added. Pediatricians have a unique opportunity to anticipate which children might be starting their educational careers at a disadvantage, to recommend more screening for such children, and to help see that they get the interventions they need.

Jee and her colleagues do not know yet which types of separations might have the most deleterious effects on kids early learning, since the survey did not ask specific reaso
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Contact: Becky Jones rebecca_jones@urmc.rochester.edu 585-275-8490 University of Rochester Medical Center Source:Eurekalert

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