Study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, reports that diverse, transnational sectors of youth, physical control and mental poverty were particularly associated with specific areas of developmental delay. The findings are based on the Multi-Browser Surveys Surveys, which is an ongoing international household survey initiative coordinated and assisted by the United Nations agency, UNICEF.
Physical discipline and mental deprivation are established risks to children’s development. However, these experiences are rarely examined in relation to each other. Our study allowed us to examine how these experiences occur in childhood internationally and whether they relate to different aspects of children’s development. This is important because recent research in neuroscience suggests that frightening experiences have different effects on the neurode development of the child in mental retardation. “
Carmel Salhi, ScD, Lead study author, Associate Professor, Department of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
A sample of 29,792 children aged 3 – 6 years and their carers, across 17 countries completed physical control measures, mental poverty and risk of developmental delay. Factors used to determine physical control included a sprain or strain on the arm, hand, or leg. Mental illness included not counting or reading with a child over the past 3 days and no books at home.
“To see if this framework has the potential to inform policy and public health interventions, we conducted the first large-scale epidemiological study using this conceptual framework,” said Dr. Salhi.
Physical control was associated with 50 percent higher odds for socioemotional delay risk, at least 2.5 times higher than the risk of any experience of brain poverty. Not counting or not reading with the child was associated with 47 percent and 62 percent higher, respectively, for the risk of mental retardation. Physical discipline posed no risk for mental delay.
These findings demonstrate that the distinction between fear and poverty in child development, established in clinical neurology, is important for public health study and interventions. In addition, a large body of evidence links both physical control and experiences of mental deprivation with poverty and social marginalization. Taken together, this suggests that redistribution policies that reduce socioeconomic pressures can have a positive impact on a range of child development outcomes within a population.
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Magazine Reference:
Salhi, C., et al. (2020) Corporate Control, Poverty, and Differential Risk of Developmental Delay across 17 countries. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology. doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.02.016.