{"title":"A Case for Early Language and Behavior Screening: Implications for Policy and Child Development","authors":"A. Kaiser, Jason C. Chow, Jennifer E. Cunningham","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068886","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068886","url":null,"abstract":"Early language skills and prosocial behavior contribute to positive outcomes across the lifespan. Screening has improved the identification and early intervention (EI) for children with hearing loss, autism spectrum disorders, and genetically based disabilities. However, many children with significant functional impairments in language and behavior are not identified before school entry. These children have missed a critical window for EI that might have prevented or mitigated persistent developmental language impairment and challenging behaviors. The critical need for early identification of children with delays in both language and social-emotional development by proposing a preventive, universal screening approach. This approach to early screening aims to reduce the number of children on a trajectory of academic failure and social difficulties as a result of these early developmental delays.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"120 - 128"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42082813","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":"Resilience: Within-Group Variations in the Impact of Racial Discrimination on Black Youth's Mental Health","authors":"Isabelle M Elisha, Rayven-Nikkita Collins","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068015","url":null,"abstract":"Growing national concern about the increase in Black youth's suicide rates has led to calls for closer examinations of disparities in young people's mental health outcomes and their underlying causes, including differences in access to healthcare and willingness to use mental health services, and systemic inequities. The present research brief answers this call through a critical analysis of racial discrimination and other adverse mechanisms that perpetuate negative mental health outcomes for Black youth. Our approach draws from principles of developmental psychology and intersectional theory. We begin by arguing for a biopsychosocial consideration of the effects of discrimination on Black youth's development. Then, we review the multilevel impact of racism on mental health outcomes. Although examining global patterns for Black youth as a group has value, our paper will instead focus on within-group differences and the intersecting social factors that shape them. Finally, we end with research-based proposals for policies that prioritize Black youth's well-being.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"11 - 17"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42617925","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}
M. Feijó, A. M. Fontanari, L. Boeira, G. Wendt, Tomasz Bloniewski, Â. B. Costa
{"title":"Improving School Outcomes for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth: A Rapid Review","authors":"M. Feijó, A. M. Fontanari, L. Boeira, G. Wendt, Tomasz Bloniewski, Â. B. Costa","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068021","url":null,"abstract":"Transgender and gender-diverse students may experience poorer school outcomes due to a threatening school climate. A rapid review using systematic search found 2,111 studies mentioned LGBTQ + students, but only three were peer-reviewed empirical tests of potential interventions to improve school outcomes among transgender and gender-diverse youth: (a) Sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression (SOGIE) inclusive policies were associated with greater school safety, less victimization, less social aggression, and higher teacher support. (b) Among the interventions, the use of the chosen name in school reduced negative health outcomes. (c) Gay–Straight Alliances (GSA) reduced reports of frequent gender-based bullying. Several implementation facilitators for school interventions included transgender and gender-diverse students, along with informative families, trained teachers, and supportive principals. Randomized controlled trials focusing on this population would contribute greater certainty when developing school interventions. The lack of high-quality studies should serve as a wake-up call to conduct the necessary research.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"27 - 34"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48310656","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":"Asian Americans’ Parent–Child Conflict and Racial Discrimination May Explain Mental Distress","authors":"Y. Choi, Eunseok Jeong, Michael Park","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068173","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068173","url":null,"abstract":"Despite being stereotyped as problem-free and high-achieving, Asian Americans are vulnerable to mental distress (e.g., depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide), according to the limited available studies. Ethnic subgroups also have more variable outcomes than the monolithic category, “Asians or Asian Americans,” may suggest, but even across communities, few utilize mental health care compared to other racial/ethnic groups. To illustrate the needed evidence, a longitudinal survey of Filipino and Korean Americans found that mental distress among young Asian Americans increased at an alarming rate during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Two prominent contextual factors, parent–child conflict and racial discrimination, explained the uptick in mental distress. The surge of anti-Asian discrimination since the COVID-19 pandemic requires anti-discrimination policy, while parent–child conflict requires working with families in a culturally competent way.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"18 - 26"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47370862","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":"Reducing Youth In-Group Favoritism to Address Social Injustice","authors":"G. Carlo, A. Davis, Laura K. Taylor","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068387","url":null,"abstract":"Social injustices toward minority groups are pervasive around the world, and further exacerbated by global threats such as COVID-19 and climate change. Prosocial tendencies, such as empathy, moral reasoning, and helping behaviors directed only toward members of one's own social groups, discriminate against outgroups, and can perpetuate an unjust status quo. Yet, recent meta-analyses point to effective intervention programs that can foster prosocial responses across group lines. Developmental science has identified evidence-based interventions, policies, and programs to foster inclusive prosocial tendencies (toward both in-group and out-group members) to redress social injustices and inequities, and ultimately, lead to more just and peaceful societies. The recent developmental science informs five policy principles (e.g., developmental science, resilience, culture, collaboration, and sustainability) that can advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) around inclusion and peace.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"90 - 95"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47913970","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":"Milestones or Millstones: How Standard Assessments Mask Cultural Variation and Misinform Policies Aimed at Early Childhood Development","authors":"Lana B. Karasik, S. Robinson","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068546","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068546","url":null,"abstract":"Traditionally, the study of motor development—rooted in Western populations and culture—has focused on establishing norms in the timing and sequence of motor skills, inspiring the widely used emphasis on motor milestones in standard assessments (e.g., crawling by 8 months). Motor milestones are only a perceived version of what is an important skill; they are cultural conventions, not universals. Some cultures allow infants floor time; others carry them constantly, limiting practice. Thus, milestones create millstones to considerations of culture and context. Cultural beliefs, practices, and expectations manifest in childrearing practices. The variability in childrearing—or differences in infants’ experiences—offer unique opportunities for posture, balance, and locomotion, which in turn generates variation in motor skills both within and between cultures. Cross-cultural comparisons best illustrate the enormous variability in infants’ everyday experiences and effects on motor skills. We offer suggestions from this cross-cultural perspective to inform policy when designing interventions to help infants and young children thrive.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"57 - 64"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43044379","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":"How Infants Learn From a World of Faces: Implications for Racial Biases and Mask-Wearing","authors":"L. Bayet","doi":"10.1177/23727322211068007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211068007","url":null,"abstract":"Faces are special to infants from birth, and experiences with faces in infancy are critical to developing brain circuits that support face processing skills through adulthood. Infants learn to extract rich information from faces, including recognizing people, tracking their gaze and expressions, and lip-reading. As infants learn to interact with the people around them, their responses to and understanding of these communicative facial cues become more connected to their social understanding and reflect their developmental context. Infants’ face perception is particularly responsive to experience, with some degree of plasticity present through middle childhood. Opportunities to interact with people from diverse racial backgrounds in infancy may help prevent perceptual and social biases toward different groups. Variations in experience with faces beyond face race and gender, such as the use of face coverings, may impact how and what infants learn from faces.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"65 - 72"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"65677830","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":"Talking to Children About Race, Gender, and Social Issues: Review and Recommendations","authors":"Lacey J. Hilliard, M. K. Attaya, Michelle Millben","doi":"10.1177/23727322211033876","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211033876","url":null,"abstract":"Children notice group conflict and societal injustices. Educators and caregivers sometimes shield children from challenging social issues because they think that children cannot understand complex topics or because they think learning the information will be harmful. By avoiding such conversations, educators and caregivers are ignoring societal structures that privilege some groups over others. Children are aware of current events, social issues, and differences between people. They come to their own conclusions about the observed differences and differential treatment but without the tools to challenge biases and inequities. This brief reviews research on children’s developmental capacity to understand discrimination, with a focus on early-to-middle childhood and topics related to race, gender, and immigration status. Implications for policy and practice appear alongside recommendations, with a particular focus on the benefits to having these challenging conversations in schools.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":"167 - 174"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49147895","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":"Potential Socioeconomic Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Neural Development, Mental Health, and K-12 Educational Achievement.","authors":"Grace George, Janean Dilworth-Bart, Ryan Herringa","doi":"10.1177/23727322211032248","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211032248","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can affect more than a child's biological health. Lack of in-person schooling and increased stress can affect neurodevelopment, mental health, and later life outcomes, especially for students who are from low socioeconomic status (SES) households. Insights from neuroscience on child development reveal potential neural mechanisms and educational outcomes likely disrupted by the pandemic-and how this will disproportionally affect low-SES children. Three policies can combat these educational and emotional effects: increased access to online resources, investments in social-emotional health, and increased access to summer/out-of-school learning. Integrating the traditionally separate fields of neuroscience and educational research will be critical for developing and assessing the most impactful policies to improve the well-being and educational achievement of our most disadvantaged children.</p>","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"111-118"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9648494/pdf/nihms-1847102.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40687758","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}
Robey B. Champine, Jason M. Lang, Anusha Mamidipaka
{"title":"Equity-Focused, Trauma-Informed Policy Can Mitigate COVID-19’s Risks to Children’s Behavioral Health","authors":"Robey B. Champine, Jason M. Lang, Anusha Mamidipaka","doi":"10.1177/23727322211031583","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322211031583","url":null,"abstract":"Both vulnerabilities to COVID-19 and childhood trauma have deep roots in health inequities. Children of color especially risk severe COVID-19 illness, with long-term effects that amplify existing health disparities, including trauma exposure. Similarly, children of color report more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) than non-Hispanic White children. ACEs and other potentially traumatic events are associated with lifelong physical and psychological health problems. Policy must prioritize health equity (the absence of differences in health care access, quality, and outcomes based on ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic status). A trauma-informed approach emphasizes recovery and resilience. Principles of health equity can join with trauma-informed policy and practice for families and communities to help mitigate the effects of childhood trauma during the pandemic and beyond.","PeriodicalId":52185,"journal":{"name":"Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":"103 - 110"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/23727322211031583","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47278420","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}