Early childhood to young adulthood: An introduction to the special issue

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Abstract

The identification and understanding of alterable influences on well-being are at the nexus of developmental science and social policy. These influences span the life course but child, family, and school experiences in the first two decades are particularly instrumental to health and well-being. To investigate some of these influences, we report data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study. The study investigates the life-course development of 1539 children (93% African American and 7% Hispanic) who were born in 1979–1980, grew up in the highest-poverty neighborhoods in Chicago, and attended early childhood intervention programs beginning in preschool. The goals of the study are to determine the effects of participation in the Child–Parent Center Program, document patterns of child and family well-being over time, and identify child, family, school, and community factors that can promote children's well-being. We describe major intervention findings and summarize the contributions of a variety of personal, family, and school experiences in promoting multiple domains of well-being.

Section snippets

Early childhood to young adulthood: Intervention and alterable influences on well-being

The identification and understanding of alterable influences on child well-being are at the nexus of developmental science and social policy. This is especially true for the field of early childhood development. Early education today is a national priority for promoting school readiness and well-being (Lynch, 2007, Reynolds & Temple, 2008, Zigler et al., 2006). As much as the evidence is growing that early educational enrichment can positively impact well-being into adulthood, limitations in

Chicago Longitudinal Study

The Chicago Longitudinal Study (Chicago Longitudinal Study, 2005, Reynolds, 1999, Reynolds, 2000) is an investigation of the educational and social development of a same-age cohort 1539 African American (93%) and Hispanic (7%) children who grew up in high-poverty neighborhoods in central-city Chicago and graduated from government-funded kindergarten programs in 1985–1986. Born between 1979 and 1980, children in this on-going 20-year study participated in the Child–Parent Center Program, a

Social context and sample characteristics

Fig. 3 shows the community areas in which children from the CLS resided. Both CPC and comparison sites are identified. In 1990, 22 of the 24 centers were located in one of the 20 poorest neighborhoods. Five of the six poorest neighborhoods have at least one Child–Parent Center. Study children were significantly more economically disadvantaged than children in the rest of Chicago. CLS children attended schools, for example, in which 67% of children resided in low-income families compared to 42%

Child–Parent Center Program

Early childhood intervention programs have been implemented in the U.S. for over four decades. The goal of these programs is to improve disadvantaged children's skills so that they can begin school on an equal footing with their more advantaged peers (Zigler & Styfco, 2003). The positive associations between early intervention programs, and school competence and achievement have been found in many studies (Barnett, 1995, Camilli et al., 2010, Campbell et al., 2001, Durlak, 1997, Reynolds &

Prevalence rates of educational and social success

Fig. 4 displays the overall prevalence rates for five indicators of adult well-being. Because they are cumulative rates for the CLS cohort, comparable community and national rates are heuristic and should be interpreted with caution. By age 24, 74.7% of CLS youth completed high school (graduation or GED status). A higher proportion of females completed high school than males (81.3% vs. 67.6%). This overall rate is similar to that for youth in the Chicago public schools but lower than 83.7% rate

Summary of studies

In the rest of this overview, we summarize the unique features of the studies in the special issue. In the article “Preschool Education, Educational Attainment, and Crime Prevention: Contributions of Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills”, Arthur Reynolds, Judy Temple, and Suh-Ruu Ou investigate the extent to which cognitive (e.g., scholastic achievement) and noncognitive skills (e.g., social and emotional development) accounted for the measured links between participation in preschool

Conclusion

The intervention, child, family, and school experiences investigated in the special issue substantially impact multiple domains of well-being into adulthood. These and many other factors, practices, and policies need to be taken into account in promoting long-term success. As noted by many developmental researchers (Bronfenbrenner, 1989, Gray, 1983, Zigler & Styfco, 1993), optimal well-being is the product of personal resources and experiences in relation to the total ecology or environment of

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      We predicted better school quality and parent involvement would predict a healthier BMI in adulthood, as would growing up in an advantaged neighborhood; additionally, we predicted both socioemotional learning and achievement motivation would predict better BMI outcomes in adulthood, with differences varying by sex and school-level poverty subgroups. The CLS is a prospective longitudinal study with 1539 participants born between 1979 and 1980 (93% Black, 7% Hispanic) who grew up in low-income neighborhoods in Chicago and attended school district-led early childhood programs in preschool and/or kindergarten (1983–1986) (Reynolds and Ou, 2010; Reynolds et al., 2007). These participants have been followed into early midlife.

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      Measured from year-by-year school records of enrollment in the Chicago Public Schools, magnet school attendance is a widely used indicator of school quality, reflecting participation in academically enriched learning environments (Lerman et al., 1999; Ling et al., 2009; Reynolds et al., 2001; Reynolds et al., 2007). More than 50% of CLS students in magnet schools performed at/above proficiency levels on district and state assessments, which is substantially higher than in neighborhood schools (20%) (Reynolds et al., 2001). Peer norms in magnet of schools of prosocial behavior and high expectations for performance also strengthen the climate for well-being (Reynolds et al., 2007).

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