Early Childhood Archives - Page 4 of 6 - National Wraparound Initiative (NWI)

Research Shows Benefits of Online Parent Training for Young Children with ADHD

October 16, 2017 | Emily Taylor

Research published recently in The Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology found positive benefits of online parent training on behavior therapy for children with ADHD. The study included 47 families in Pennsylvania with children 3-5 years old who met diagnostic criteria for ADHD. Families were randomly assigned to in-person parent education, online parent education or the wait-list control group. The study results showed that online training was similarly effective to the in-person training.

Read more about the research»

How ‘Sesame Street’ is helping kids learn to cope with trauma

October 6, 2017 | Emily Taylor

Sesame Street in Communities has released a new set of free materials designed to help young children and their families deal with trauma. The online resources include videos of the beloved Sesame Street Muppets focused on coping strategies and strengthening children’s natural resilience. The launch was timed with the release of new analysis of the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health indicating that nearly half of American children experience adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). While these experiences have been shown to have a negative impact during childhood and into adulthood, responsive care can help minimize that impact.

Read the NPR article on the Sesame Street in Communities resources»

Access the Sesame Street materials on coping with trauma»

Research: Quality of Early Family Relationships Affects Children’s Mental Health

June 22, 2017 | Emily Taylor

Researchers from the Academy of Finland conducted a seven-year longitudinal study to investigate the impact that the transition to parenthood has on families and what effect early family relationships have on children’s emotional development. The study included 710 Finnish families during pregnancy, when the children were two months, and again at one year and middle childhood. Researchers identified various family types and found that problematic family types were tied to different emotional regulation problems in middle childhood.

Read more about the study»

Research on Impact of Pre-Kindergarten

April 25, 2017 | Emily Taylor

The Brookings Institution recently published a report on the current research on the impact of pre-kindergarten and found “uniformly positive evidence of impact on kindergarten readiness”. According to the report, 42 states plus the District of Columbia now have early education programs serving 30 percent of the nation’s 4-year-olds and 5 percent of 3-year-olds. The report identifies the need for further research into the best ways to implement pre-kindergarten programs.

Read the report»

New Research Finds Unique Fingerprint-Like Pattern in Human Brain

February 28, 2017 | Emily Taylor

A study by researchers from the University of Oslo in Norway published recently in Nature Neuroscience, found unique, fingerprint-like patterns in the human brain. These unique network patterns develop during childhood and adolescence. Children and adolescents with mental illness symptoms were found to have a delay in the way these brain network patterns developed.

Read more about the research on brain network maturation»

New American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement

January 5, 2017 | Emily Taylor

“Addressing Early Childhood Emotional and Behavioral Problems” is a new American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement that outlines effective evidence-based interventions in child care. It covers some of the problems frequently seen in young children including reactive attachment disorder; disruptive behavior disorders; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and anxiety and mood disorders. Lead author, Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Tulane University School of Medicine, points to evidence supporting therapy for young children, over treatment with psychotropic medications.

Read about the new American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement»

Viewpoint in Favor of Universal Home Visits

January 3, 2017 | Emily Taylor

In this viewpoint piece, Martha Davis, MSS, a senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shares her experiences as a home visitor and outlines the benefits of such programs in supporting families.

Read about universal home visits»

Perinatal mental health interventions deliver many economic and societal benefits

December 20, 2016 | Emily Taylor

Recent research funded by NHS England reviewed evidence on interventions designed to reduce mental health problems during the perinatal period to assess the interventions’ net benefit. The results support the investment in these early interventions as valuable for improved outcomes for mothers and children, as well as health and social care savings and overall societal benefit.

Read the article about research on net benefits of perinatal mental health interventions»

NIH-funded study reveals long-term emotional effects of poor sleep

August 5, 2016 | Emily Taylor

According to recent research, children who experience inadequate or disrupted sleep are more likely to develop depression and anxiety disorders later in life.

Read about the research on the impact of lack of sleep on children»

New Recommendation: Limit Exposure to ‘virtual violence’ in children’s lives

August 1, 2016 | Emily Taylor

New guidelines from American Academy of Pediatrics recommend limiting children’s exposure to “virtual violence” in video games and media. One recommendation is to “protect children under age six from all virtual violence, because they cannot always distinguish fantasy from reality”.

Read the article on guidelines for limiting kids’ exposure to virtual violence»