Need a 10 page essay to be done on psychology

Psychology 101

10/4/2017

Impact of Environment on Child Development

My study of the whole subject of psychology has predisposed me to a lot of information that pertain the relationship between environment and its caretaker-the human being. Many scholars and writers alike have discussed the psychological aspects that are the connection therein a human surrounding and their general conduct. While the likes of Babin, B. J., & Boles, J. S. (1996) and Graham, J., & Haidt, J. (2010) have predicated their research upon the environmental influences on the general workplace and home behaviors of adults, Graham, J., & Haidt, J. (2010) on the other hand underscores the need to understand the correlation that lies in one's religious subscription and their moral standings. Further interaction with research materials on various aspects of psychology exposed me to many more pieces of literature on psychology, and especially topics that interrogate whether or not there is a relation between environment and human character. However, while there are so much research and submissions available on a myriad of elements of psychology, there seems to be very little focus on the influence an environment has on the development of a young child. Based on the same premise, I took an interest in finding out more about this area that many a scholar have not predicated their time upon.

I would, therefore, like to focus my research on establishing the possible bearing that a particular environment may have on a child's development especially mentally. I plan to achieve the objectives of my study through manipulation of two variants. In the first instance, I will interrogate the growth and development of children born and brought up in ideal environments. On the flip side of the coin, I will again try to establish the outcomes of children born and bred in compromised situations that do not conform to bare minimum standards.

It is my prediction that the early surroundings of a child have profound bearings on its general development and well-being. The World Health Organization (2014) submits that right from the infant stage; an inappropriate home environment has the potential of tampering with the stress response system of the brain alongside compromising the quality of care given to children and consequent disruption of healthy development. The little available research has established a link between adverse home settings with problems such as retarded brain development that consequently result in poor growth of language by the time kids are three years old, aggression and depression as well as impairment of cognitive development by their third birthday (World Health Organization, 2014). Additionally, the brain development of a child that happens within the first three years has a significant bearing on their likelihood of graduating from high school, teen parenthood and their employment and earnings in adulthood.

Studies on brain imaging have suggested that disadvantaged environments will have impacts on the brain development. Growing up in localities that are plagued by poverty and turmoil often leads to changes in the stress management system of the brain, thereby predisposing children to chronic diseases in their adult lives. Additionally, research undertaken on infants and young children has laid particular bare patterns associated with brain-behaviour (David, & Weinstein, 2013). These associations exist in the aspects of socioeconomic statuses, language ability, emotional development as well as learning and memory.

The discussion of impacts of the environment on child development introduces an integral element called risk factor. Scientifically, a risk factor refers to a condition that related to a specific result (Evans, Li & Whipple, 2013). An example is given in a case of two kids drawn from different economic backgrounds. More often than not, children that grow up in poverty are likely to be school dropouts unlike their well to do counterparts. In this case, therefore, poverty becomes a risk factor. In as much as not all poor children drop out of school, they are perceived to be at risk because they possess higher chances of falling victim to school dropout. Past studies have come up with a child's environmental aspects known to have outcomes in the later stages of life. These include poverty, low maternal education and maternal depression. These three factors remain to be the most reliable informers of outcomes in later life such as cognitive development, emotional and social well-being and academic performance (Evans, Li & Whipple, 2013). It has also been established that such elements of risk can also affect children even in their early developmental stages. For instance, risk vulnerability in the infancy phase has detrimental effects that lean more on a child's readiness for school than exposure in teen or adult life.

The CANDLE study in relation to my hypothesis

CANDLE (Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood) is an underway research on 1500 women and their kids from Shelby County. Mothers are enrolled into the study during their second trimester and remain, participants of the same, until their children are three years of age. The kind information collected by this research are various developmental aspects that include nutrition, health, psychosocial well-being and cognition functioning. On a general note, it is essential to take note of the fact that the women under study are similar to the larger population of mothers around Shelby County. Trends established here can, therefore, represent the reality on the ground (World Health Organization, 2014). Since that holds true, I, thus, seek to examine and interrogate the presence and effects of the three significant risks factors-low maternal education, maternal depression and poverty or low income.

Economic Stability and Family income

The financial prowess of a family has a profound impact on the development of children. Just like other risks, poverty affects the development of children in that it dictates the environments and resources made available to them during growth (Evans, Li & Whipple, 2013). Differences in parenting are reported to manifest early in the developmental stages of infants. For instance, poor mothers are likely to be less affectionate and responsive to distress signals of their young ones thereby signaling harsh parenting (Evans, Li & Whipple, 2013). The unresponsive nature of poor parents, coupled with less stimulatory experiences that is a result of lack of learning materials for low income parented children add to the grave reality of maladjustments and lower cognitive scores compared to those from well to families.

Relationship between well-educated parents and ideal home environments

Parent's level of education has a significant impact on the development of children. Other studies of child outcomes have submitted that maternal education is more important than family income. An increase in mother education translates to better home environments for children's development. Educated mothers help a grand deal children hailing from young, disadvantaged or single parent families.

Maternal depression

According to Glover, (2014) the child bearing's most common complication is the maternal postpartum depression. While most mothers will experience brief depression sessions within the first weeks after giving birth, 10 to 15 percent of first-time mothers suffer significant miseries that span up to six months or more. The disorder precipitates feelings of guilt, sleep disturbances and loss of interest in routine activities. Depressed mothers, therefore, are unlikely to provide the much-needed care for their infants (Thompson, 2014) and their limited interactions are often negative.

References

David, T. G., & Weinstein, C. S. (Eds.). (2013). Spaces for children: The built environment and child development. Springer Science & Business Media.

Evans, G. W., Li, D., & Whipple, S. S. (2013). Cumulative risk and child development. Psychological Bulletin, 139(6), 1342.

Glover, V. (2014). Maternal depression, anxiety and stress during pregnancy and child outcome; what needs to be done. Best practice & research Clinical obstetrics & gynaecology, 28(1), 25-35.

Thompson, R. A. (2014). Stress and child development. The Future of Children, 24(1), 41-59.

World Health Organization. (2014). Social determinants of mental health. World Health Organization.