Risk and protective factors on the neuropsychomotor and behavioral development of children, at ages 2 and 3 years old, attending nursery

• Grant number: 12/19806-2
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Psychological Treatment and Prevention
• Principal researcher: Gimol Benzaquen Perosa
• Grantee: Priscilla Dias Prado
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FMB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Since its conception, biological and psychosocial factors act in conjunction with the developmental process, allowing the individual to healthy development. The literature points out various risk and protective factors on early development. The risk factors are biological, environmental, or contextual variables, which increase the probability of occurrence of some adverse impact on development. On one hand, the protective factors are the personal or social resources, which decrease and/or neutralize the impact of risk. Similar to risk factors, protective mechanisms may be found in the family, in the social environment, or the intrinsic resources of the individual making him/her ability to deal with adversities. Among these factors, the mother is a distinctive mediator factor of the child's development. Appropriate care has a positive impact on the health of the child, minimizing the impact of adverse factors, either the biological, environmental, or even social disadvantage. The literature points out that the ability of the mother as a caregiver seems to be dependent upon her level of schooling, state of health, and out-of-home occupation. There is an ongoing discussion about the positive or negative impact on the development and behavior of a child whose mother works in the community, intrinsically associated with existing alternatives of care. Currently, there is a growing interest of parents, educators, and politicians in evaluating the possible longitudinal impact and school performance of children who attend nurseries. The empirical data remain ambiguous. In this sense, the current study has the goal of evaluating the neuropsychomotor and the behavior problems of children at ages 2 and 3 years old, attending nursery, seeking to identify risk and protective factors. The psychomotor development of the children will be assessed through the administration of the test Denver II, and the behavior problems will be evaluated by the mother and the caregiver of the nursery, through the use of the CBCL - Behavior Inventory for children of 1½ to 5 years old. The mother will also answer questions in an interview focused on the identification of socio-demographic characteristics, and the history of the child and the family. The results will be presented in a descriptive format, providing means to analyze the associations and establishing risk and protective factors on development.(AU)