Related Experiment Videos
The longitudinal study of findings in childhood. Analysis of an interdisciplinary process
Insights
Early childhood assessments identified numerous potential health and school issues in 87% of children. However, few findings were both highly treatable and predictive of future problems, indicating limited intervention effectiveness.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Early Childhood Education
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- The Brookline Early Education Project aimed to mitigate health and school challenges in young children.
- It provided diagnostic assessments and tailored educational programs for ~300 children from birth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To monitor and document diagnostic findings suggesting potential service needs.
- To evaluate the severity, treatability, and predictive value of these findings on future child function.
Main Methods:
- Development of The Longitudinal Study of Findings method.
- Periodic diagnostic assessments for children enrolled from birth.
- Rating each finding for severity, treatability, and predictive value.
Main Results:
- At 42 months, 87% of children had at least one finding, averaging 3.4 findings per child.
- Only 15% of findings were highly treatable; 12% were highly predictive of future problems.
- A mere 1.1% of findings were both highly predictive and highly treatable.
Conclusions:
- Most children exhibited multiple potential issues by 42 months.
- The low rate of highly treatable and predictive findings suggests limited efficacy of early interventions.
- Certain findings co-occurred, suggesting underlying developmental patterns.
Abstract:
The Brookline Early Education Project provided periodic diagnostic assessments and individualized educational programs for approximately 300 children enrolled at birth in an attempt to reduce the prevalence of neglected health needs and school problems. A method, The Longitudinal Study of Findings, was developed to monitor and document diagnostic findings (determinations suggesting a possible service need). Each finding was rated for severity, treatability, and predictive value (potential impact on future function). At the 42-month-old check-point, 87% of children had at least one finding; there was a mean of 3.4 findings per child. Only 15% of findings had a high likelihood of treatability, and 12% were rated as highly predictive of later problems. Only 1.1% of findings were highly predictive and highly treatable. Whole certain categories of findings tended to prevail in isolation, others tended to coexist in the same child.