Laia Fibla, Jessica E Kosie, Ruth Kircher, Casey Lew-Williams, Krista Byers-Heinlein
{"title":"Bilingual Language Development in Infancy: What Can We Do to Support Bilingual Families?","authors":"Laia Fibla, Jessica E Kosie, Ruth Kircher, Casey Lew-Williams, Krista Byers-Heinlein","doi":"10.1177/23727322211069312","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23727322211069312","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many infants and children around the world grow up exposed to two or more languages. Their success in learning each of their languages is a direct consequence of the quantity and quality of their everyday language experience, including at home, in daycare and preschools, and in the broader community context. Here, we discuss how research on early language learning can inform policies that promote successful bilingual development across the varied contexts in which infants and children live and learn. Throughout our discussions, we highlight that each individual child's experience is unique. In fact, it seems that there are as many ways to grow up bilingual as there are bilingual children. To promote successful bilingual development, we need policies that acknowledge this variability and support frequent exposure to high-quality experience in each of a child's languages.</p>","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"35-43"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8866745/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42031513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Promoting Fair and Just School Environments: Developing Inclusive Youth.","authors":"Melanie Killen, Adam Rutland","doi":"10.1177/23727322211073795","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23727322211073795","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Incidents of prejudice and discrimination in K-12 schools have increased over the past decade around the world, including the U.S. In 2018, more than two-thirds of the 2,776 U.S. educators surveyed reported witnessing a hate or bias incident in their school. Children and adolescents who experience prejudice, social exclusion and discrimination are subject to compromised well-being and low academic achievement. Few educators feel prepared to incorporate this topic into the education curriculum. Given the long-term harm related to experiencing social exclusion and discrimination, school districts need to create positive school environments and directly address prejudice and bias. Several factors are currently undermining progress in this area. First, national debates in the U.S. and other countries has politicized the topic of creating fair and just school environments. Second, the Covid pandemic has interrupted children's and adolescents' education by halting academic progress which has particularly negatively affected students from marginalized and ethnic/racial minority backgrounds. Third, teachers have experienced significant stress during Covid-19 with an increase in anxiety around virtual instruction and communication with parents. Three strategies recommended to address these converging problems include creating inclusive and non-discriminatory policies for schools, promoting opportunities for intergroup contact and mutual respect, and implementing evidence-based, developmentally appropriate education programs designed to reduce prejudice, increase ethnic and racial identity, and promote equity, fairness and justice in school environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"81-89"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8992963/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43586886","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From the Womb into the World: Protecting the Fetal Brain from Maternal Stress During Pregnancy","authors":"Marion I. van den Heuvel","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068024","url":null,"abstract":"No other period in a child's life matches the speed of brain development than the first nine months in the womb. Rapid growth goes hand in hand with enormous potential, but also with great vulnerability. This policy-focused review focuses on maternal mental health as a key factor for fetal brain development. Already during pregnancy, the fetal brain wires differently when exposed to maternal stress, and children prenatally exposed to stress have a higher risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders. Maternal prenatal stress is preventable, treatable, and tractable by policy. Research-based, policy recommends: (1) screening for maternal mental health issues throughout pregnancy, (2) encourage talking about prenatal mental health, (3) evidence-based interventions for pregnant women with mental health issues, (4) avoiding stress-inducing communication towards pregnant women, and (5) stimulating positive postnatal parenting. Investing in healthy pregnancies will improve fetal brain growth, and, ultimately lead to a healthier next generation.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"96 - 103"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43415832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Supporting Healthy Brain and Behavioral Development During Infancy","authors":"L. Scott, N. Brito","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068172","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068172","url":null,"abstract":"Much of infant development occurs in the home and in the context of caregiving support. Babies learn through their everyday interactions with parents—from watching, listening, communicating, cuddling, and playing with them. Foundations for cognitive skills such as attention, perception, learning, and language are all built in the brain during the first year of life. Socioemotional development, including the ability to self-regulate behaviors and emotions, also begins during infancy. Recent advances have allowed researchers to answer questions about the developing brain and how it is impacted by experience and environmental systems, including parental sensitivity and consistency, the home environment, socio-cultural factors, community support systems, and public policies. Giving parents the opportunity to support healthy infant development through paid parental leave programs that are accessible, flexible, and equitable, will positively impact early trajectories of brain and behavioral development.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"129 - 136"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49384915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Ajike, Esther Abimbola Ariyo, A. M. Ariyo, Kikelomo Adubi
{"title":"Emerging Adults’ Awareness and Perceptions of Mental Health Problems and Services in Nigeria","authors":"P. Ajike, Esther Abimbola Ariyo, A. M. Ariyo, Kikelomo Adubi","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068028","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Nigerian youths, mental health care access and usage in this population is extremely low. This review examines emerging adults’ awareness and perceptions of mental health problems and services in Nigeria. Specifically, we (1) provide background information about mental health perception, services, and challenges in Nigeria; (2) describe the current state of mental health among emerging adult population in Nigeria; (3) discuss risk factors among emerging adults in Nigeria; (4) document emerging adults’ perception of mental health problems and services in Nigeria, and potential explanations for this trend. We conclude with a discussion of practices and policies. In a nation like Nigeria, where mental health services are scarce and health gaps and disparities abound, the value of mental health awareness and realistic health policies cannot be overstated.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"44 - 48"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43186955","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Building Equitable Access and Inclusion for Children Growing up in the Digital age","authors":"Rachel F. Barr","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068388","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068388","url":null,"abstract":"Beginning during infancy, digital media are a pervasive part of family life, affecting opportunities to learn and time in family relationships. Research showing the potentially negative impacts of media on very young children led to recommendations of restricted media usage. Other research has examined how educational media can promote child outcomes and well-being. However, stark issues of digital inequity remain. Many families experience underconnectivity, with both income and geography limiting access to adequate bandwidth. Finally, cracks in the democratic structure of the Internet are emerging. Software engineers and social scientists revealed that algorithms determine children's media content and exploitative features manipulate the duration of media exposure. The article evaluates media usage for very young children. Based on this risk–benefit analysis, the article proposes a policy to increase the inclusiveness and safety of the digital space for all young children.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"73 - 80"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46227641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Infant Sleep as a Cornerstone for Cognitive Development","authors":"Sabine Seehagen","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068006","url":null,"abstract":"During infancy, humans typically spend most of their time asleep. It is intuitively plausible that this state is important for development and well-being. But there has been a surprising dearth of knowledge regarding the causal role of sleep for specific cognitive processes during this period. Recent experimental evidence has revealed a causal role of sleep for early memory processes. By supporting the consolidation and further processing of recently acquired memories, sleep shapes emerging knowledge networks. In addition, infants’ sleep patterns likely shape their learning environment by influencing caregiver sleep and behavior. Based on recent research, recommendations for policy and practice include (a) allowing individualized sleep schedules in child care settings, (b) providing easily accessible information on sleep and sleep promotion to caregivers, (c) integrating findings from sleep research in the training of early childhood educators, and (d) providing flexible parental leave arrangements that promote sufficient sleep in infants and caregivers.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"104 - 110"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47337839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Discrimination and Health: Fostering Better Health for Black American Youth","authors":"Cherita A. Clendinen, Darlene A. Kertes","doi":"10.1177/23727322211073796","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211073796","url":null,"abstract":"The Black Lives Matter movement has heightened US cultural awareness of the disproportionate burden of racial discrimination for Black Americans. With a special emphasis on Black youth, this review describes the health consequences of discrimination, including depression, anxiety, suicide, stress biology, immune system dysfunction, and cellular aging. However, as evidence documents, ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) reduces the mental, academic, and physical impacts of racial discrimination. A specific policy recommendation would integrate ERS into intervention efforts to reduce the health burden of discrimination on minority youth.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"3 - 10"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47937102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neural Sociometrics: Toward Early Screening of Infant Psychosocial and Brain Health to Improve Lifelong Mental Well-Being","authors":"V. Leong","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068020","url":null,"abstract":"Infant development depends on warm, responsive social interactions that richly stimulate the senses, acting through multiple pathways to orchestrate healthy maturation of the neonatal brain, mind, and body. Conversely, adverse early experiences seed vulnerabilities for poor cognition and emotional instability. Although we routinely measure many aspects of infant physical health (hearing, weight), no clinical tools currently exist to measure early psychosocial health and brain development. Here, neural sociometrics (real-time multi-sensor imaging of adult–infant social interactive behavior and neurophysiology) is discussed as one possible precision measurement framework. Early psychosocial health screening, paired with precision therapeutics, could fundamentally alter a child's development trajectory toward lifelong mental well-being and productivity. Further, population-level measurements of social brain health could forecast mental capital growth (and deficits) for entire communities and generations. This article calls for the prioritized development of early scalable diagnostic instruments to reveal the status of infant mental wellbeing and brain health.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"111 - 119"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46969481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Weight-Based Disparities in Youth Mental Health: Scope, Social Underpinnings, and Policy Implications","authors":"L. Lessard, Samantha E. Lawrence","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068018","url":null,"abstract":"Weight-based disparities in mental health impair the well-being of youth with overweight and obesity, who comprise a growing majority of young people in the United States. This review summarizes research regarding the extent of weight-based disparities in youth mental health and describes the social underpinnings of these disparities across contexts. Youth with high weight face frequent stigmatization (e.g., bullying, victimization, negative judgment), particularly in the school setting. Weight-based disparities in youth mental health emerge not because of high body weight itself, but because of the stigma associated with having high body weight. As such, policy actions need to address weight stigma. Empirical evidence can inform sound policies to reduce the stigma experienced by youth with high weight in order to support equitable mental health outcomes for youth with diverse body sizes.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"49 - 56"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42243837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}