Periodic Reporting for period 2 - RESEDA (RESilience to Early Developmental Adversity: can children's environment help them overcome the odds?)
Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2024-08-31
Socioeconomic inequalities with regard to children’s psychomotor development and mental health can be observed from early childhood onwards and generally tend to widen during the course of time. Mental health difficulties significantly contribute to the burden of disease, highlighting the need to identify propitious ways of preventing the occurrence of lifelong psychological difficulties. The experience of adversity early on in life is one of the best known risk factors of developmental and mental health difficulties while growing up. This seems to be especially the case when exposure to adversity is chronic and severe, or among children who cumulate different forms of disadvantage, such as those whose families live in poverty or who parents are immigrant. Known resilience factors include certain personality characteristics, however the role of the social environment is less well known. The RESEDA project examines the impact of family policies as well as neighborhood residential characteristics as potential sources of resilience for children, particularly those who experience adversity early on in life. This research is based upon data collected in the context of the ELFE study, a nationally representative cohort of 18000 children born in France in 2011. Data on access to different forms of family policies (paternity leave, early childhood education) has been collected as part of the ELFE study. Additionally, data will be matched to information describing the characteristics of neighborhoods where children live and go to school, to test the role of the social environment with regard to children's psychomotor development and mental health while taking into account multiple family and individual characteristics.
We conducted several analyses regarding the impacts of family policies on children's psychomotor development and mental health. First, we evaluated associations between children's attendance of daycare and later psychomotor development. Analyses conducted using ELFE cohort data indicate that among the 11,033 participating children, in comparison with those who were in exclusive parental care, centre-based childcare (CBC) and childminder attendance were significantly associated with lower odds of probable developmental delay. Second, we tested the association between childcare attendance and children's emotional and behavioral difficulties using data from the EU Child Cohort Network, a consortium of six European child birth cohorts. Among a total of 87,208 parent-child dyads from Denmark, France, Netherlands, Spain, and England, we tested associations between childcare attendance anytime between ages 0-4 years and children’s psychological difficulties in middle childhood and young adolescence. Compared to children who were in exclusive parental care prior to school entry, those who attended centre-based childcare had lower levels of emotional difficulties through early adolescence. Children who attended informal childcare appeared to have elevated levels of emotional difficulties between 7-9 and 10-13 years. Third, we tested associations between the father's access to a paternity leave in the first six months after the child's birth and parental mental health as well as children's language acquisition at the age of two years in the ELFE cohort. We found that fathers who take paternity leave are less likely to experience postnatal depression and their children have higher levels of language acquisition. This is especially the case among high-SES families. Fourth, among 10520 children taking part in the ELFE cohort study, we found that at age 5.5 years, there is a higher prevalence of possible developmental delay among older siblings (12.9%) than among younger siblings (9.7%). Mother's education level predicts lower developmental delay regardless of birth order. Fifth, a qualitative study in the city of Nanterre, near Paris, showed that families with young children who are socioeconomically advantaged tend to be more mobile and access playgrounds that are farther from the place where they live, while those who experience socioeconomic difficulties tend to primarily use playgrounds that are situated in proximity to their residence.
In addition to data that we initially planned to collect and include, indicators of children's exposure to noise have become available and will also be integrated in upcoming analyses.
The qualitative interviews conducted in the city of Nanterre to gain understanding of the ways in which families use different types of amenities that are made available for children and can stimulate their development, were complemented by direct observations.
Beyond ELFE cohort data which the project is based upon, we also had the opportunity to use data from the EU Child Cohort Network, which made it possible to test the planned research hypotheses in a large international dataset.
The qualitative interviews conducted in the city of Nanterre to gain understanding of the ways in which families use different types of amenities that are made available for children and can stimulate their development, were complemented by direct observations.
Beyond ELFE cohort data which the project is based upon, we also had the opportunity to use data from the EU Child Cohort Network, which made it possible to test the planned research hypotheses in a large international dataset.