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Child development

… to develop normally, a child requires progressively more complex joint activity with one or more adults who have an irrational emotional relationship with the child. Somebody’s got to be crazy about the kid. That’s number one. First, last and always. Urie Bronfenbrenner (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2004)

2 Research in Practice Child development

Key messages

Neither nature nor nurture alone determines how a child develops. Each child’s progress is the result of a unique mix of individual genetic endowment, temperament and life experiences.

Assessing whether a child is in need requires a systematic approach to identifying the various factors that impact on children and families. Developing your ‘systems thinking’ will help you bear in mind that a number of factors may be influencing a child’s situation – and that intervening in one area can have unintended consequences in another.

Recent research has confirmed the crucial importance of attachment for a child’s healthy development. Attuned and sensitive adults are able to offer just the right amount of help, or ‘scaffolding’, to enable children to move successfully from one developmental stage to the next.

The shaping of the structure or ‘architecture’ of the brain begins before birth, so good antenatal care has an important part to play in promoting optimal brain development. The orderly process of neurodevelopment depends on a child having a healthy environment. Brain development is optimised when children are offered a range of stimulating experiences throughout early childhood.

The mental and physical health of children and carers are intertwined. Parental health has strong implications for child mental health and emotional development. Professionals working with adults need to consider the impact on any children in the family.

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Even before birth, maternal depression affects the well-being of children and up to 20 per cent of mothers are affected at some time. Chronic depression may result in hostile/intrusive or disengaged/withdrawn parenting patterns. Where depression occurs alongside other serious adversities, children are at an even greater risk for poor outcomes.

Young children’s emotions should be given the same level of attention as their physical and mental development. Emotional development begins early in life, is a critical aspect of the development of overall brain structure and has far-reaching consequences over a lifetime.

The home learning environment has a greater influence on intellectual and social development than parental occupation, education or income. Children with a positive learning environment at home achieve better in the early years and throughout primary school.

Levels of self-concept and self-esteem appear to be linked to the differences in educational development between children from lower-income families and those from better-off homes. They also influence the extent to which children believe their own actions can affect their lives, engage in anti-social behaviour and experience problems relating to their peers.


IntroductionThis briefing is aimed at frontline practitioners working in child and family social care. It covers key aspects of child development, bringing together a concise summary of research and theory with pointers for action. It also signposts you to useful resources that will help inform your practice and give you more confidence in exercising your professional judgement.

All children’s services practitioners need to have a sound understanding of child development. Knowing what is ‘normal’ supports effective assessment of need or risk, while a strong understanding of what can help support growth and development will ensure that interventions are appropriate. This briefing focuses on a child’s first 11 years, which are increasingly recognised as a critically important time for development.

The briefing focuses on research messages that are most applicable to the practice of frontline staff and those that will help inform assessment and interaction in particular. It is important to note the range of evidence-based programmes that exist. Practitioners should explore which programmes are available locally and make sure they know how to access them.

The common issues to emerge from research findings are gathered under five core themes. These are discussed alongside some practice considerations, which you can adapt and apply to the needs of your own professional practice. The five themes are:

1. Contexts for development

2. Physical development

3. Mental health and emotional development

4. Learning and cognitive development

5. Beliefs and attitudes

Child Development Chart

The briefing is accompanied by a Child Development Chart, which shows the ages at which key developmental milestones and stages typically occur. You can download the chart from www.rip.org.uk/frontline. Practitioners can also order laminated copies from Research in Practice to carry with them.

The chart describes the range of ‘typical’ development from three theoretical perspectives:

developmental (Fahlberg, 1994; Sheridan, 1997)

cognitive (Piaget, 2001)

psychosocial (Erikson, 1995).

The chart will help you assess whether there may be grounds for concern and further investigation. When using the chart, always keep in mind that the sequence of attaining development milestones is important, as well as age.

It is especially important to interpret each stage of development in relation to the specific circumstances of each individual child. In work with disabled children, milestones need to be used inclusively to identify strengths and abilities, as well as needs, in order to facilitate access to services that will promote each individual’s full potential.

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1. Contexts for developmentThe ecological approach

Neither nature nor nurture alone determines how children develop. Each child’s progress is the result of a unique mix of that child’s individual genetic endowment, their temperament and life experiences.

The ecological model first proposed by Bronfenbrenner (1979) focuses on five environmental levels, or ‘systems’, which impact on children’s development. These are illustrated in the diagram below.

Children’s development will be influenced by internal factors, such as their temperament and personality traits, as well as by their interactions with other people and their surrounding circumstances. This is a reciprocal process in which children are influenced by, and have an influence upon, the systems that make up the environment in which they live.

Assessing whether a child is in need and determining the right response requires a systematic approach to identifying and analysing the different factors that impact on children and families. The Framework for the Assessment of


Children in Need and their Families (Department of Health et al, 2000), which underpins the government’s statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Government, 2013), and the Common Assessment Framework both draw from an ecological model and provide a structure for examining the complex interaction of those factors.

There is increasing evidence that the greatest threat to healthy development lies in an accumulation of adversities, rather than any single, isolated event. A child may be living in a disadvantaged area, for example, but any negative impact is likely to be magnified if the child’s family is also experiencing one or more adverse life events, such as a financial crisis or a parental mental health problem, or if there has been a move of home or school (Flouri et al, 2010).

Developing your ‘systems thinking’ will help you bear in mind that a number of factors may be influencing a child’s situation – and that intervening in one area can have unintended (helpful or unhelpful) consequences in another (Aldgate et al, 2006). So ecological assessment frameworks should not be seen as ‘tick box’ exercises that constrain good practice, but rather as a helpful starting point for making the sound professional judgements that are essential to any social work assessment.

Attachment, parenting and adult-child relationships

All children develop in ‘an environment of relationships’ (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2004). During a child’s early years, relationships with the important people in their lives, both inside and outside the family, create the trusting and secure base that is key to successful accomplishment of the tasks of development (Barlow and Scott, 2010).

‘Attunement’, ‘reciprocity’ and ‘synchrony’ are all terms used to describe the two-way, warm and harmonious interactions between an adult and child as they exchange positive emotions. As children grow and develop new skills and abilities, relationships become increasingly complex and different adult behaviours are needed to remain ‘attuned’ (Lindsey et al, 2009; Harrist and Waugh, 2002).

Recent research has confirmed the crucial importance of attachment for a child’s healthy development. We now understand secure attachment to be flexible, adaptable, multiple, influenced by culture (what ‘the ideal child’ is) and influenced by society (expectations of parenting behaviour) (Boushel et al, 2000).

Attuned and sensitive adults are able to offer at the right time just the right amount of help or ‘scaffolding’ to enable children to move successfully from one stage of development to the next (Vygotsky, 1994). (Child Development Chart: See Erikson’s theory and the developmental stages described under ‘psychosocial theory’.)

For more information about attachment and attachment styles, go to: www.optimus-education.com/attachment-theory-introduction

More information

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https://www.rip.org.uk/resources/publications/frontline-resources/frontline-child-development-chart/

Parenting interventionsThere is now a strong body of evidence to support a range of behavioural parent training programmes, such as the Webster-Stratton Incredible Years, Triple P Positive Parenting Programme, Parent Management Training, Oregon Model (PMTO) and Multisystemic Therapy. In 2012 the National Academy of Parenting Research at King’s College London (www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/depts/cap/research/napr) completed a five-year research programme, funded by the Department for Education, to identify which parenting programmes work. The aim was to help ensure practitioners are able to apply the results of evidence-based parenting research to their everyday practice. The NAPR’s Commissioning Toolkit is an online database that evaluates and rates the quality and effectiveness of parenting programmes. You can find it at: www.education.gov.uk/commissioning-toolkit

In their review of health-led parenting interventions during pregnancy and the early years, Barlow et al (2008) concluded that Interaction Guidance can be effective in improving adult-child interactions. This involves a professional videotaping up to ten minutes of ‘interaction’ between carer and baby, and then using the tape to highlight examples of positive parent-infant interaction.

Barlow and colleagues also found evidence to support the use of group-based parenting programmes to improve emotional and behavioural problems for children under the age of three, and to support one-to-one skill assessment and training in the home (or home-like setting) to improve the care-giving of parents with a learning disability. You can download their report at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-led-parenting-interventions-in-pregnancy-and-early-years

Online sources of help for parents

Early detection of developmental problems improves outcomes for both parents and children. Parents and carers need accurate and reliable information about child development to inform their understanding and decision-making. Some will look for information themselves and may turn to the internet for help about what to expect and how children develop; others may need your help.

A few years ago, doctors at the Department of Paediatrics at Imperial College, London published a review of 44 child development websites (Williams et al, 2008). They tested sites against a number of criteria, including accuracy, readability, design and navigability. These two sites were among those at the top of their list. They might provide a useful starting point to trigger further searches to help the families you work with, or for further discussion with your colleagues:

Raising Children Network at: www.raisingchildren.net.au

BabyCentre at: www.babycentre.co.uk


www.education.gov.uk/commissioning-toolkit

www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-led-parenting-interventions-in-pregnancy-and-early-years

Key considerations for practice

How can you maximise your opportunities for direct observations of adult-child interactions?

Do you feel confident in your own observation skills? Do you have access to further training, guidance and advice from specialists if you need it?

Can you arrange for professional and specialist video feedback to help mothers, fathers and carers see their own patterns of interaction and to understand and develop attuned parenting, particularly with babies and infants?

Where adult-child relationships need strengthening:

– How can you help parents and carers choose an appropriate individual or group-based parenting programme? What programmes are available in your area?

– Are there any specific groups for fathers that will help promote their active involvement?

– What links might you be able to develop with other professionals that will help build a consistent message for parents and carers?

Economic status and social disadvantage

Poverty is one of the most prevalent and pernicious factors impacting on child development. According to government figures, 27 per cent of children in the UK were living in families with relative low income (after housing costs) in 2012-13 (DWP, 2014). Children living in poverty are more likely to do less well at school and to become teenage parents. There is also growing evidence that they have poorer physical health and a higher proportion of specific problems such as:

speech difficulties

eyesight problems

dental caries

obesity

behavioural difficulties, including, for example, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Identifying behavioural problems in early childhood is important because they can

predict poor health and well-being throughout adolescence. (Sullivan and Joshi 2008; Webster-Stratton et al, 2008; Séguin et al, 2007)

Those most at risk of experiencing poverty include children with a disability and children in workless families, Bangladeshi and Pakistani families, lone-parent families or families with three or more children. And families who could benefit most are often those who are least likely to engage with services if they perceive them as stigmatising.


How would you describe your understanding of the challenges facing local families living in poverty? What do children tell you about the barriers they face in accessing resources or participating in activities?

What do you know about where child poverty exists and who else is working with children and families at risk in your area?

How will you make use of the common assessment framework to help you understand the needs of the whole family, including financial resources and support?

What steps will you take to promote participation in universal services in your local area, such as Sure Start or children’s health promotion programmes, to avoid perceptions of stigmatisation and improve service take up/outcomes? Think particularly about those groups most at risk of experiencing poverty.

Neighbourhood and community

Children’s development is also influenced by the characteristics of their neighbourhood. These include the range, quality and accessibility of community resources and by how safe and trusting a child feels in their local community (Ketende and McDonald, 2008; Seaman et al, 2006).

Attachment to places (as well as people) that have a special meaning for children – where they like to play or just ‘hang out’ together, for example – may be especially important in providing children with a sense of belonging and security at times of stress or isolation (Jack, 2010).

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2. Physical developmentBrain architecture

The shaping of the structure or ‘architecture’ of the brain begins before birth (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2007), so good antenatal care has a significant part to play in promoting optimal brain development (Shonkoff and Phillips, 2000; Robinson, 2008).

The orderly process of neurodevelopment depends on a child having a healthy environment. Maltreatment, neglect and abuse can all impact negatively on brain volume, seriously undermining the establishment of firm foundations for future development (Glaser, 2000). Brain development can be compromised by a mother’s self-neglect, poor diet and substance misuse during pregnancy. Domestic violence frequently increases and can become more severe at this time, and foetal brain damage may be sustained by injuries from punches and kicks directed at the woman’s abdomen (Humphreys and Stanley, 2006).

One of the ‘core concepts’ developed at Harvard University is that brains are ‘built in a hierarchical fashion’ starting with the simplest circuits and moving up to more complex circuits. So high-level circuits such as language skills and higher cognitive function build on earlier sensory pathways such as those for vision and hearing. A weak foundation may have lasting effects, even if a healthy environment is restored at a later age. Although opportunities remain open throughout adolescence, change becomes more difficult.

Workless families and those living in social housing are less likely to think the area they live in is safe or an excellent place for raising children. Admissions to A&E are five per cent higher in disadvantaged areas. However, moving to another area can mean the loss of supportive school and social networks, as well as established relationships with health providers. Moving has been associated with lower uptake of childhood immunisations, for example (Pearce et al, 2008).


How can you consolidate stability and continuity in the relationships between trusted adults, children and their families?

How will you encourage parents and carers to build positive and supportive networks in their community? (These could be geographic communities, for example, based around the same housing estate, or communities of interest that share a common cultural, religious or sporting interest.)

Can you encourage children ‘to get out and about’ in their community, in the company of adults or older children, to walk to shops, libraries, parks and other resources such as children’s centres and play schemes?

Can you incorporate a record of the local landmarks that are special to a child, or ‘secret places’ where they like to play, into a scrapbook, CD or life-story book?

For more information on the impact of child abuse and neglect on brain development, see the briefing on ‘Early brain development and maltreatment’ (2014) developed by Research in Practice (and funded by the Department for Education) as part of a series of training resources on fostering and adoption; go to http://fosteringandadoption.rip.org.uk/topics

More information


Brain development is optimised when children are offered a wide range of stimulating experiences throughout early childhood. These include:

encouraging active exploration

rehearsing skills and celebrating the achievement of new ones

protection from inappropriate disapproval, teasing or punishment

the use of rich and descriptive language

sharing reading, singing and story-telling

guiding behaviour and setting age-appropriate limits

adults who follow rather than lead play or dominate shared play (Ramey and Ramey, 2004).

(Further suggestions for helpful activities are included later in this briefing – see ‘Home learning environment’ on page 15.)


When working with expectant mothers, how do you convey the importance of antenatal care? What multi-agency practice supports this?

If mothers/parents are reluctant to engage, what other tools could you use to aid their understanding? How else can you help to overcome barriers or reluctance to engage?

How confident do you feel in this area of practice? Where could you find more support to increase your confidence/skills?

How can you assist families to provide the range of stimulating experiences and activities suggested above to build sturdy brain architecture in the early years?

What stage(s) of development have been successfully accomplished? What sort of support is needed to assist continued development to the next stage? You might find it helpful to have another look at the Child Development Chart.

Birthweight and childhood obesity

Weight is an obvious and easily measurable indicator of physical development. ‘Normal’ attainments are frequently referred to in child protection discussions and growth charts that track height and weight can be helpful. (Child Development Chart: You might like to consider these alongside the sequential stages of development defined by Sheridan and Fahlberg, and Piaget.)

Low birthweight (<5.5 lbs / 2.49 kg) is associated with poorer short and long-term health outcomes including infant death. Families with low socioeconomic status and some black and minority ethnic groups are more likely to have children with low birthweight (Coghlan et al, 2009).

Childhood obesity tracks into adulthood and is associated with risk of chronic disease. In England in 2012-13, over a fifth of children (22.2 per cent) measured in their Reception year as part of the National Child Measurement Programme were overweight or obese; for children in Year 6, the proportion was one in three (33.3 per cent) (Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2013). The percentage of

For more information about the ‘core concepts’ of early childhood development, go to the Center on the Developing Child at: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/interactive_features/coreconcepts/

The interactive Baby Brain Map developed by Zero to Three explores how a baby’s brain develops during a child’s first 36 months and what parents and carers can do to support and enrich a young child’s development. Go to: www.zerotothree.org/baby-brain-map.html

More information

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http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/interactive_features/coreconcepts/



obese children in Year 6 (18.9 per cent) was more than double that of Reception-year children (9.3 per cent). Mothers who are obese are more than four times as likely to have an obese child as normal-weight or underweight mothers.

Factors that inhibit obesity include:

breastfeeding, preferably for a minimum of four months

delaying solid foods until four months

eating breakfast (five-year-olds are more likely to be overweight if they skip it)

limiting sedentary behaviour, including TV/computer use, to two hours a day

taking part in physical activity for an hour each day (Griffiths et al, 2010; Summerbell et al, 2005).


How aware are the families you work with of the benefits of breastfeeding? Are mothers, fathers and carers aware of and using appropriate supports (eg the NCT Helpline: www.nct.org.uk/contact-us).

Can you link with other professionals, for instance through the Healthy Child Programme for guidance and advice on infant feeding?

What opportunities are there to work with schools? Is there a breakfast club, after school club or sports class to promote physical activity?

How can you establish opportunities to explore healthy eating and encourage a healthy lifestyle so that parents can replicate this in the home?

The NHS interactive healthy weight calculator at: www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx and the NHS Choices advice for parents pages on healthy weight and overweight children at: www.nhs.uk/Livewell/childhealth6-15 could help start families thinking about lifestyle changes.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has produced a complete suite of growth charts for children of all ages: www.rcpch.ac.uk/Research/UK-WHO-Growth-Charts

More information


www.nct.org.uk/contact-us

www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx

3. Mental health and emotional development

The mental and physical health of children and their carers are intertwined. Parental health has strong implications for child mental health and emotional development. For example:

Children whose main carer is in poor health are four times more likely to have a high level of behavioural difficulties than children with very healthy carers (Kelly and Bartley, 2010).

In a review of Serious Case Review reports where children had died or been seriously harmed, current or past mental illness of a parent was found in two-thirds of cases (Brandon et al, 2009).

The practice implications are clear: all services should be more child and family centred, and adult services should be more sensitive to their clients as mothers, fathers and carers and alert to the needs of children. Professionals working with adults need to consider the impact of planning and assessment on any children in the family. And if you are working with children and adult services are involved, then you should ensure they understand the impact of their work on the children.

Infant mental health

The mental health problems of young children often go unrecognised until they become severe. Early recognition of infant mental ill health is, therefore, particularly important to the prevention and the promotion of mental health (Cole et al, 2008; Maxwell et al, 2008).

Recent reports (Puckering and McQuarrie, 2007; Woodcock Ross et al, 2009) have highlighted the need for those working in infant mental health inter-agency networks to have a comprehensive understanding of, and specialist training in, child mental health, including infant mental ill health. Social workers practising in this area need to move beyond seeing infant difficulties as solely the result of parents’ problematic behaviour, and recognise and support the individual infant’s own welfare needs.

It is important that those delivering universal services have access to specialist expertise from child and adolescent mental health teams – for case consultation and supervision during assessment and planning processes, as well as for referral if necessary.


Consider how confident you feel about helping infants with emotional or mental health problems, or children with significant aggression or hyperactivity? What would increase your confidence?

Are you clear about referral pathways to other professionals and how best to access specialised infant mental health services when needed?

Are there any training needs that you should take to supervision for discussion with your manager?

Maternal depression

Even before birth, maternal depression affects the well-being of children (Araneda et al, 2010) and up to 20 per cent of mothers are affected at some time.

Chronic depression may result in hostile/intrusive or disengaged/withdrawn parenting patterns. Children experiencing these impoverished relationships may suffer lasting effects on their brain architecture and stress response systems (Iwaniec et al, 2007). Intimate partner violence, poor health and problems with alcohol or drug misuse are more likely among mothers with chronic depression (Balbernie, 2009; Maxwell et al, 2008).

Where depression occurs in tandem with other serious adversities, symptoms are less amenable to standard treatments and children are at an even greater risk for poor outcomes (DCSF, 2010a; Horwath, 2010).

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Perhaps because these largely ‘unseen’ abilities are developing at the same time as other highly visible skills (such as mobility and language) emotional development can receive less recognition (Blair, 2002).

Emotional regulation is the ability to express and manage emotions appropriately. This includes being able to inhibit impulsive behaviour and, in an emotionally charged situation, being able to calm down sufficiently to employ problem-solving strategies.

Difficulties with emotional regulation may be expressed by internalising or externalising behaviour problems. Internalising behaviour may include:

social withdrawal or isolation

expressing little or no emotion

showing signs of depression, dependence or fearfulness

excessive anxiety, worrying, crying or difficulty coping.

Externalising behaviour problems may be characterised by:

outbursts of emotional expression

anger and aggression

selfishness

oppositional behaviours.

Children who have developed a good range of emotional regulation skills are usually able to:

adjust well to new people and new situations

tolerate frustrations

control negative emotions

consider the needs and preferences of others – ie empathy.

Developing empathy makes a considerable difference to the way children perceive the world and is critical in learning to control aggression. Bullying and other challenging behaviours are often associated with a lack of empathy and children who have been abused or witnessed abuse may ‘shut down their empathic responses’ in order to cope (Kaiser and Rasminsky, 2006). Differences in

The government issued its revised and streamlined Working Together guidance in 2013. But the earlier guidance (DCSF, 2010a) includes a still-valuable section ‘Lessons from research’ (pp258-283), which explores the evidence relating to the impact of parental problems on children, including the mental illness of a parent or carer (pp 265-269). Go to: www.education.gov.uk/publications/eorderingdownload/00305-2010dom-en-v3.pdf

More information


What are the indicators of maternal depression? Do you regularly check for such indicators in your work with mothers?

How familiar are you with local sources of advice, guidance and support, both for mothers and your own practice?

If you’re working with a family and you think there are signs of maternal depression, how would you provide simultaneous interventions in each of the following aspects:

– relief for the mother’s depressive symptoms

– support for the mother’s parenting behaviour

– addressing the negative impacts experienced by the child or children?

Emotional regulation

Young children’s emotions should be given the same level of attention as their physical and mental development. (Child Development Chart: See Piaget’s stages of development described under ‘cognitive theory’.)

Emotional development:

begins early in life

is a critical aspect of the development of overall brain structure

has far-reaching consequences over a lifetime (Hildyard and Wolfe, 2002).


www.education.gov.uk/publications/eorderingdownload/00305-2010dom-en-v3.pdf


4. Learning and cognitive development

Home learning environment

The home learning environment has a greater influence on intellectual and social development than parental occupation, education or income.

Children with a positive learning environment at home achieve better in the early years and throughout primary school (DCSF, 2008; Sammons et al, 2004). Some simple activities that help provide a good home learning environment include:

reading to children and listening to reading

painting, drawing and other creative play

taking children to the library

teaching children nursery rhymes and songs

taking children out on visits

arranging for children to play with their friends at home.

Sylva and colleagues (2004) note that: ‘What parents do – especially book reading before age three – is more important than who they are.’ A supportive home learning environment, in which parents and carers take some of the simple actions outlined above, can counteract the effect of poverty and narrow the gap in educational attainment between rich and poor children in the early years (Hansen, 2010; Raikes et al, 2006).

Television will probably play a significant part in nearly every home environment and opinion remains divided about the positive and negative influences it can have for the development of young children. Recent research (Courage and Howe, 2010) has shown that very young children do not absorb content from the television, preferring to sit with and learn from adult humans.

The same study also concluded that television does not cause ADHD, although excessive viewing (over seven hours per day) has been associated with certain negative outcomes, such as poorer language development and cognitive skills.

how young children understand and regulate their own emotions are closely associated with peer and teacher perceptions of their social competence, as well as how well-liked they are in a child-care setting or pre-school classroom (Balbernie, 2009; DCSF, 2010b).


As well as your own observations, how widely are you able to draw on the reports of other formal and informal carers to get a full picture of a child’s behaviour?

How confident and consistent are all caregivers in dealing with age-appropriate behavioural challenges through, for example, limit setting and boundaries?

Could parents or carers benefit from group- based training or home-based coaching? What is available in your area?

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Do you know what to look for in considering a child’s home learning environment? How often do you consider this in your work with families?

Are you familiar with the local resources that could support a good home learning environment?

How will you signpost families to services or resources, or otherwise support them, to help them enrich the home learning environment for their children?

Childcare and pre-school

Getting the right childcare can contribute to good development and compensate for inadequacies in the home environment.

Part-time attendance at pre-school and an earlier start (before age three) establish benefits that persist to age seven. Benefits for disadvantaged children are significant, especially where there is a mix of social backgrounds.

Children ‘at risk’ of learning or behavioural difficulties are helped by pre-school experiences, particularly in integrated settings and nursery schools (Roberts et al, 2010).

Informal care by relatives (usually a grandmother) appears to be associated with more co-operative and less anti-social behaviour at age three.

Formal care provided by high levels of group care and very high levels of child-minder care – particularly before the age of two – is associated with more anti-social behaviour at age three for some children (Sylva et al, 2004).


Are you regularly considering whether childcare should be part of your planning with a family?

Are mothers, fathers and carers aware of the childcare options available and able to access their preferred provision?

Do you know what is available locally and how you or others can support parents in accessing it?

How do you know that the current or proposed amount and type of childcare (formal or informal) is appropriate for a particular child? Do you need help with assessing this?


5. Beliefs and attitudesSelf-esteem and self-concept

‘Self-concept’ focuses on children’s beliefs about their own attributes as a result of their experiences, while ‘self-esteem’ describes their satisfaction with themselves and their feelings of worth relative to others (Fauth and Thompson, 2009).

Children with high self-esteem will:

make friends easily

play as easily in a group as alone

tend to be problem solvers

look for help with problems when needed

socialise without anxiety.

Children with low self-esteem may display a range of traits. These include:

avoidance of new situations and challenges for fear of failure

becoming easily frustrated by setbacks

blaming others when activities are unsuccessful

a tendency to put themselves down – for example, saying ‘I’m stupid’

feeling their efforts are not as good as those of others

constantly comparing themselves to their peers in a negative way

feeling unloved.

Levels of self-concept and self-esteem appear to be important in explaining, at least in part, the differences in educational development between children from lower-income families and those from better-off homes. They also influence the extent to which children:

believe that their own actions can affect their lives

believe in their own ability at school

engage in anti-social behaviour

have problems relating to their peers.


What recent experiences may be impacting negatively on a particular child’s self-esteem and confidence (eg a failed exam, being bullied or a family crisis such as separation or divorce)?

Are you alert to the behaviours that might trigger a concern (eg extreme withdrawal, or unprovoked violent or destructive behaviour, or self-harming)?

What networks, activities, groups or other help can you identify to foster self-belief and motivation? How can you encourage children to make use of this?

What can you do to raise children’s aspirations and expectations of education? Who else can be relied upon to help – and what support, if any, do they need from you?

Resilience

Described as ‘bouncing back’ (Glover, 2009) or ‘normal development under difficult conditions’ (Fonagy et al, 1994), resilience is important because it both safeguards children in adverse circumstances and enables development despite adversity (Gilligan, 2010; Glover, 2009; Daniel et al, 2010; Kraemer, 1999).

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I HAVE

Trusting, loving relationships

Structure and rules at home

Role models

Encouragement to be autonomous

Access to education, health and welfare services

I AM

Loveable and my temperament is appealing

Loving, empathic and altruistic

Proud of myself

Autonomous and responsible

Confident and trusting

I CAN

Communicate

Problem-solve

Manage feelings and impulses

Gauge the temperament of myself and others

Seek trusting relationships

Ask for help when needed

Features of resilience can be described across three domains – ‘I have’, ‘I am’ and ‘I can’:


Adults can promote resilience in each domain by fostering:

a secure base and friendships = I HAVE

self-esteem, positive values and social competencies = I AM

self-efficacy, talents, interests and education = I CAN

The aim of intervention should be to develop all domains so that a resilient child can make a positive statement in each one. For example:

I HAVE a teacher who I can trust.

I AM likeable and respectful of myself and others.

I CAN communicate well and can ask for help when I need it.

(Daniel and Wassell, 2002; Grotberg, 1997: see http://resilnet.uiuc.edu/library/grotb95b.html)

How parents and other caregivers respond to situations and how they help a child to respond will either promote or inhibit resilience. (Child Development Chart: You might like to refer to the developmental stages described by Erikson under ‘psychosocial theory’ to help inform your thinking.)

When asked what helped them ‘succeed against the odds’, children rarely mention paid professionals but refer instead to their extended family, neighbours and friends (Newman, 2004).

Siblings play an important part in children’s lives. Siblings can ‘be there for each other’, providing an emotional sense of protection from being alone or a strong sense of identity. Evidence suggests that for girls, talking together is important in their relationships with sisters, while for boys, doing things together matters more (Edwards et al, 2005). Assessing sibling relationships will be relevant when considering which family members and friends can contribute to building resilience for particular children.


Thinking about your work with a particular child, are you able to identify potential strengths in the child’s extended family and wider community?

Can you outline some suggestions as to how these might be harnessed to support the child?

Can you identify potential weaknesses? How could these be addressed? Do the strengths counter the weaknesses sufficiently?

19www.rip.org.uk


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Author Helen Donnellan, University of Plymouth Editing Steve Flood Photograph Alice Carfrae

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