Foster Children’s Development

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A child’s background and home life can have an influence on their cognitive and emotional well being. Children learn from teachings, but also from example and watching others. Therefore, what they see in their parents, concerning actions and words, could be what they eventually do and say in their own lives. Children with stable homes and long – lasting relationships are more likely to have better cognitive and social – emotional development, than those who are moving from home to home or live in an unstable home environment. Most of the time children in the foster care system are taken out of unstable homes, but they may not stay in one foster home all their childhood. Young children in foster care are most likely going to fall behind in their cognitive development and social – emotional functioning compared to children in stable home environments.
The article Cognitive Development and Social – Emotional Functioning in Young Foster Children: A Follow up Study from 2 to 3 Years of Age is about a study done to find if young children in foster care have slower cognitive development and social – emotional functioning than their peers of the same age living in their biological parents home. The hypothesis of the researchers was if children are taken out of their biological homes and placed into foster care even as a young child, than they will fall behind their peers in respect to cognitive development and social – emotional functioning. The willing participants consisted of 36 foster care boys and 24 foster care girls within the ages of 22 and 25 months, 21 boys and 21 girls of comparison children within the ages of 22 – 24 months. Four foster care families (3 girls and one boy) and two comparison families (two boys) dropped out of ...

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...lmas, A. N., Degnan, K. A., Nelson, C. A., & Zeanah, C. H. (2011). The effects of severe psychosocial deprivation and foster care intervention on cognitive development at 8 years of age: findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project. Journal Of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 52(9), 919-928. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02355.x
Jacobsen, H., Moe, V., Ivarsson, T., Wentzel-Larsen, T., & Smith, L. (2013). Cognitive development and social-emotional functioning in young foster children: a follow-up study from 2 to 3 years of age. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 44(5), 666- 677. doi:10.1007/s10578-013-0360-3
Windsor, J., Benigno, J. P., Wing, C. A., Carroll, P. J., Koga, S. F., Nelson, C. A., & ... Zeanah C. H. (2011). Effect of foster care on young children's language learning. Child Development, 82(4), 1040-1046. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01604.x

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