12/18/2014

Do the effects of early caregiving experiences remain or fade as individuals develop? A new study has found that sensitive caregiving in the first three years of life predicts an individual’s social competence and academic achievement, not only during childhood and adolescence, but also into adulthood.

The study, by researchers at the University of Minnesota, the University of Delaware, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, appears in the journal Child Development. It was carried out in an effort to replicate and expand on findings from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which showed that early maternal sensitivity has lasting associations with children’s social and cognitive development at least through adolescence.

Source: EurekAlert! Science News

Available at: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-12/sfri-ece121114.php