Treatment and prevention approaches for economically disadvantaged young children: challenges and opportunities

ABSTRACT

During early childhood, economically disadvantaged children can experience challenges that affect their social-emotional, language, and physical health development across the lifespan. Psychologists have tested several interventions to address developmental problems during early childhood, but information about the degree to which economically disadvantaged children are included in such research is limited. The current paper reviews selected interventions in the areas of social-emotional, language, and physical health challenges to examine the degree to which economically disadvantaged children have been included in early childhood intervention research and to identify efficacious interventions for practitioners and researchers. The review suggests that some areas, such as interventions for Type 1 diabetes and child anxiety disorders, warrant additional research with economically disadvantaged children. The authors recommend increased dissemination, collaboration among early childhood professionals, and the replication of effective interventions with young children and their families to increase their access to quality early childhood care.

KEYWORDS:

• Early childhood development
• language
• social-emotional
• physical health
• economic disadvantage

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amy Damashek

Amy Damashek is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and a faculty member in the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at Western Michigan University. Dr. Damashek's research focuses on the prevention of child maltreatment and unintentional childhood injuries with a focus on supporting at-risk families.

Denise Ross

Denise Ross is Associate Professor of Education and chair of the Institute for Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She researches early childhood language and literacy interventions.

McKenna Corlis

McKenna Corlis is a graduate of the Department of Psychology at Western Michigan University where she researched parent interventions to prevent child maltreatment.

Margaret Uwayo

Margaret Uwayo is a clinician at the Academy for Precision Learning in Seattle, WA, USA and a graduate of the Department of Psychology at Western Michigan University. Her research interests include early childhood literacy, staff training, and performance management.

Carl Westine

Carl Westine is Assistant Professor of Educational Research at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His research interests include program evaluation and experimental design.