Early childhood development: a comparative study of beliefs held by adolescents, medical students and mothers

This study examined beliefs about the normal development of preschool children held by adolescents, medical students and mothers. A consistent pattern was identified, with adolescents estimating that young children can do the least, medical students' estimations lying between those of adolescents and mothers, and mothers estimating that the children can do the most. In addition, medical students were found to change their beliefs during the time that they participated in their paediatric teaching programme. It is suggested that paediatricians and other child health professionals take into account the varying beliefs held by different groups in the community when providing advice or teaching about early child development.