tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/mental-development-9863/articlesmental development – The Conversation2017-01-31T08:26:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/716442017-01-31T08:26:29Z2017-01-31T08:26:29Z‘Kangaroo mother care’ helps preterm babies survive … but offers benefits for all<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153598/original/image-20170120-5211-li6rl9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C146%2C1920%2C1224&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kangaroo mother care: the marsupials have got it right.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=40311&picture=joey-in-mothers-pouch">Lilla Frerichs</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s become increasingly clear over decades of studies that the early days, months and years of a child’s life are critical for their future physical and mental health. The remarkable findings of a recent study suggest that close skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby combined with breastfeeding in the early days creates demonstrable improvements to the child’s future health and well-being that are <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/139/1/e20162063">still evident even after 20 years</a>. </p>
<p>This technique, known as <a href="http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/documents/9241590351/en">“kangaroo mother care”</a> is generally associated with caring for low-birthweight premature babies. It features skin-to-skin contact between a mother (or father) and their newborn, frequent and exclusive or nearly-exclusive breastfeeding, and early discharge from hospital. </p>
<p>A previous study between 1993 and 1996 had examined a group of small, premature babies in order to determine the benefits of kangaroo mother care at one year of age. At the time, short-term benefits were found to <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/108/5/1072.long">include improvements in IQ and growth, and fewer severe infections</a>. For this new study, led by Nathalie Charpak of the <a href="http://www.fundacioncanguro.co/">Fundación Canguro</a> in Bogotá, Colombia, alongside a team of medics and academics drawn from universities in Colombia and Québec, Canada, around 500 of the nearly 700 original participants were contacted and studied again between 2012 and 2014. The benefits relating to IQ, social and behavioural development were long-lasting and still evident 20 years later.</p>
<p>The question is, why does kangaroo mother care have this affect? It is not an easy question to answer. Kangaroo mother care is a group of interventions, which makes it difficult to know where the effects of one start and those of another end. That said, what each element of kangaroo mother care has in common is the closeness between parent and baby, in comparison to a typical approach of nursing preterm babies within an enclosed incubator. It may be that the benefits of the technique are tied up with the physical and emotional closeness and avoidance of separation that it offers.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153601/original/image-20170120-5238-mmi6u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153601/original/image-20170120-5238-mmi6u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153601/original/image-20170120-5238-mmi6u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153601/original/image-20170120-5238-mmi6u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153601/original/image-20170120-5238-mmi6u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153601/original/image-20170120-5238-mmi6u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153601/original/image-20170120-5238-mmi6u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Edith’s twin boys, strapped to their grandmother’s chest in the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Blantyre, Malawi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dfid/7497732174/">DFID</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Importance of the physical bond</h2>
<p>How can physical closeness at one time of life have physical and emotional benefits that last decades? The link between physical closeness and the psychological process of bonding and attachment is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3468719">well documented</a>. In neonatal care, the effects of separation may have a profoundly negative effect on the bonding process, which in turn may affect the baby’s psycho-emotional development.</p>
<p>Skin-to-skin contact between the baby and the body or chest of the parent stimulates the release of the hormone oxytocin. This plays a crucial role in a mother’s bonding behaviour, in turn positively affecting her mood and interactions with the baby. Close physical contact can also decrease babies’ cortisol levels, a chemical associated with the stress response and a reduction in the signs of pain. </p>
<p>Premature babies are born at a period when the body is maturing fast. Any interruption to this process due to being deprived of an optimal environment inside the womb can significantly affect development. The <a href="http://www.brazelton.co.uk">Brazelton Centre</a>, an expert centre in infant behaviour, has asserted that a premature baby’s nervous system becomes more easily organised while in a calm environment without excessive stimuli. Kangaroo mother care provides this through the calming effect of close contact, <a href="http://bit.ly/2ksNWGT">mimicking to some extent that experienced in the womb</a>. Several other studies since have <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/5/e1322">corroborated this idea</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153596/original/image-20170120-30764-1frn8jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153596/original/image-20170120-30764-1frn8jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153596/original/image-20170120-30764-1frn8jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153596/original/image-20170120-30764-1frn8jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153596/original/image-20170120-30764-1frn8jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153596/original/image-20170120-30764-1frn8jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153596/original/image-20170120-30764-1frn8jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Incubator care is common, but doesn’t have the same positive benefits as kangaroo mother care.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neonatal_Jacoplane.jpg">Jacoplane</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>Given their vulnerability, the brains of premature babies are at risk of abnormal development and subsequent problems later in life. However, the human brain’s plasticity affords it the potential to compensate for injury. In this case, it’s not only the link between physical closeness and psychological stability that is important but also the part played by a favourable environment to which a baby is exposed – something kangaroo mother care appears to provide. There is evidence in both humans and animals that suggests that brain development is influenced by the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2818078">quality of care given to babies in early postnatal life</a>.</p>
<p>Studies of brain volume in children born prematurely have shown that premature birth can reduce an area of the brain known as the <a href="http://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/caudate-nucleus">caudate nucleus</a>. Charpak’s study proposes that the group of babies the team studied might have experienced an increase in the volume of the caudate nucleus through the interplay of the plasticity of their brains and the effects of kangaroo mother care.</p>
<h2>Enhancing connections</h2>
<p>Finally, the close and constant presence of a parent may provide the baby with learning experiences that they might not receive, such as interactivity and communication. Exposure to parent talk in the neonatal intensive care unit has been found to be a <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/128/5/910.long">significantly stronger predictor of preterm baby vocalisations</a> than talk from other adults, for example.</p>
<p>All this poses another question: whether the effects of kangaroo mother care apply to babies beyond only those born prematurely? The principles of closeness and the avoidance of separation are <a href="http://www.bjdd.org/new/105/81to95.pdf">supported by research</a> that indicates that a positive nurturing environment is linked to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621015">better psychological outcomes for the child</a>. It seems that this combination of biology and the environment in the early days and weeks after birth is vital for any child, as they form the early foundations for both the physical development of the brain and the child’s psycho-emotional development.</p>
<p>Although the exact nature of how parental closeness leads to improved child outcomes is not clear, studies reveal a close relationship between early emotional connection and the child’s later health and well-being. Cost free and straightforward, kangaroo mother care should be promoted to all parents and their babies in any setting as early as possible in order to promote the closeness that can have a demonstrable and long-lasting effect on the child.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71644/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Petty receives funding from University of Hertfordshire for a small research grant in collaboration with University of Technology Sydney. Research currently in progress. She is affiliated with the UK Neonatal Nurses Association as an executive member. </span></em></p>Kangaroo mother care: the long-term benefits of closeness in the early days of life.Julia Petty, Senior Lecturer in Children's Nursing, University of HertfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/533212016-03-28T10:06:45Z2016-03-28T10:06:45ZHere’s how witnessing violence harms children’s mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206633/original/file-20180215-131032-1x79adi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., speaks to the media after a former student opened fire at the school on Feb. 14, killing more than a dozen people.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/School-Shooting-Florida/c3ad5447440648c68872ce96dab9c580/32/0">AP/Wilfredo Lee</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Caroline was having a hard time getting her daughter to go to school. The night before, her daughter saw the news about a terrorist bombing that had occurred that day where several children and adults were killed and schools were immediately closed.</p>
<p>Her daughter had a difficult time sleeping and was refusing to eat her breakfast. When Caroline asked her daughter what was wrong, she replied in a hushed tone,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I’m scared mommy. If I go to school, will somebody come in and shoot me? I don’t want to die.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Though Caroline was reacting to news here in the United States, she could just as easily have been reacting to the recent <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ariana-grande-concert-manchester-arena-explosion/">bombing at the Ariana Grande concert</a> in Manchester, England – and its coverage in the media. Both underscore children’s constant exposure to troubling events and depictions of violence throughout the world.</p>
<p>As researchers and clinicians who have studied the problem of violence over the past three decades, <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780759104914/Violence-and-Mental-Health-in-Everyday-Life-Prevention-and-Intervention-Strategies-for-Children-and-Adolescents">we have witnessed</a> a steady increase in levels of children’s exposure to violence and its damaging effect on their mental health.</p>
<p>How does this exposure to violence affect children and adolescents – especially their mental health? And how should we handle the increased fear and insecurity that results from such events?</p>
<h2>Exposure to violence</h2>
<p>Today, children use many different forms of media and at <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/">unprecedented levels</a> – 92 percent of teens go online daily and 24 percent are online constantly. As a result, children get exposed to violence through multiple media. So, even when violence happens in another part of the world, children are exposed to the event and its consequences immediately, intensely and repeatedly as a result of media exposure. </p>
<p>And there is increasing evidence that exposure to violence in everyday life has a significant impact on children’s mental health.</p>
<p>But then, children today are growing up in a world where fear and insecurity rule over confidence and safety. This is not just driven by media but also by what they experience in the real world. </p>
<p>So, in addition to terrorist acts, children could witness or be victims of violence in many other ways. For example, when we surveyed high school students, between 13 and 45 percent reported they had been beaten up at school. Between 23 and 82 percent said they had <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780759104914/Violence-and-Mental-Health-in-Everyday-Life-Prevention-and-Intervention-Strategies-for-Children-and-Adolescents">witnessed someone else being beaten up at school</a> in the past year. </p>
<p>We have also seen how school shootings with multiple victims have <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-012-0331-6">increased</a> <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/03/chardon_school_shooting_shows.html">in prevalence</a> in the past five years.</p>
<h2>Here is what happens to children</h2>
<p>Children who report high levels of exposure to violence (either as witness or victim) <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780759104914/Violence-and-Mental-Health-in-Everyday-Life-Prevention-and-Intervention-Strategies-for-Children-and-Adolescents">report the highest levels of depression, anger and anxiety</a>. </p>
<p>Our study with children in grades three to eight who witnessed someone being hit, slapped, or punched found that 12 percent of these children <a href="http://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20019">reported levels of anxiety that could require treatment</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, six months after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a survey of over 8,000 New York City students in grades four through 12 showed that nearly 30 percent of children <a href="http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=208567">reported symptoms of anxiety or depression</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116481/original/image-20160325-17849-t1260w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116481/original/image-20160325-17849-t1260w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116481/original/image-20160325-17849-t1260w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116481/original/image-20160325-17849-t1260w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116481/original/image-20160325-17849-t1260w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116481/original/image-20160325-17849-t1260w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116481/original/image-20160325-17849-t1260w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Exposure to violence can have consequences for younger children and adolescents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sammiedunne/8131427473/in/photolist-doxG6p-276eyH-5PAwbA-4y8p1L-eqAC8i-89nrgX-udWmi-6i2W43-aqJhaG-8Q8LKj-8M4ibT-89qFK9-pWq-8Q8R3A-5H7gBG-5H7f2S-5H7g2s-5H7hAy-5H2TSr-5H7ie1-5H7dk3-5H7dVs-5H7nhm-5H34k6-5H2SJV-5H7cHJ-nUSxwb-dt9JEF-bK6BTe-3GVwfS-hYAar-ec3fvR-9Qhq2t-6oGRyn-8ZFMV-sFQCK-dt9JJp-pySef8-8EbfK5-8ZDvoF-5fREhP-pGaxd6-5D97A-d1LW2W-opsaX-eZmDLu-dt9JKT-dt9JMp-s3swwi-4LPZ9g">Samantha Dunne</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Exposure to violence could have other long-term impacts as well: children could get <a href="http://www.apa.org/about/policy/media.aspx">desensitized to violence</a> and its effects. Studies have shown how children can get desensitized to violence: that is, children can come to believe that <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10506229">violence is an acceptable way to solve problems</a> and that it is without consequence. They could also come to believe that violence could happen anywhere and to anyone at any time. </p>
<p>Further, such children are also at a risk of perpetrating violence against others. </p>
<p>Our studies have shown that children who witness or are victimized by violence are more aggressive toward others. These children also show problematic levels of <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/104/4/878">post-traumatic stress symptoms</a>.</p>
<p>We have consistently <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780759104914/Violence-and-Mental-Health-in-Everyday-Life-Prevention-and-Intervention-Strategies-for-Children-and-Adolescents">found relationships</a> between violence exposure and trauma symptoms, whether we <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615301519">surveyed</a> children in schools, youth in the community or juveniles who were receiving treatment as a result of diversion from the prison system. </p>
<p>Adolescents exposed to high levels of violence reported higher levels of anger and depression. They also reported <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11314569">higher rates of wanting to hurt or kill themselves</a> compared to adolescents in lower violence exposure groups.</p>
<h2>Media exposure</h2>
<p>More recent studies have confirmed that high exposure to television violence for children and adolescents is also associated <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=32&articleid=60&sectionid=291">with higher levels of aggression and violent behavior</a>. Exposure to violence shown through media is consistently associated with problem behaviors, such as increases in aggression and anxiety. Children could also end up with <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215596554">lower empathy and compassion</a> for others. </p>
<p>Some children exposed to various forms of media violence (not just television violence but violence on the Internet, in movies and in video games) can come to view the world as a <a href="http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144640">mean, scary place</a> where they are not safe and they can do little to protect themselves from harm. This is a particular problem for very young children such as those under the age of six who have difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116482/original/image-20160325-17832-1tvfsg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116482/original/image-20160325-17832-1tvfsg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116482/original/image-20160325-17832-1tvfsg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116482/original/image-20160325-17832-1tvfsg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116482/original/image-20160325-17832-1tvfsg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116482/original/image-20160325-17832-1tvfsg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116482/original/image-20160325-17832-1tvfsg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Children are being exposed to violence through the various media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/56155476@N08/6660082377/in/photolist-b9wEsv-b9w9oT-bqBLai-b9wFbv-raiBo8-rNwbmw-b9wz12-fSecbH-oy48rp-b9wFu4-9zz36H-b9wPNT-bcGpyt-dVhuAM-b9wr6x-b9x2V4-dpSeiw-b9x1fp-b9wdc8-b9wWCM-b9wmcx-b9wKpx-pid8uw-b9wZSZ-b9wB5t-9zz3cF-b9wUwX-bvbz63-b9wqra-b9wrgr-b9wF1K-b9x27n-b9wapM-9zC1JG-b9wPu6-cPTRSq-b9w87P-kcHDgP-eUz4RQ-b9wJJp-cFoHN1-p5u8KL-b9wM2g-rwubKt-b9wFkx-b9wXLz-b9wLP8-b9wZD8-b9wosM-b9wYue">Brad Flickinger</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Exposure to violence could harm the emotional and mental development of young children and adolescents. Children at that age aren’t able to effectively process what they are seeing and hearing. This may be due in part to the fact that chronic exposure to violence can <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/risky-teen-behavior-is-driven-by-an-imbalance-in-brain-development/">affect parts of their brain</a>. </p>
<p>For adolescents, the front part of their brains is the last to develop and mature. This part of the brain is called the prefrontal cortex, and it is responsible for processing information, impulse control and reasoning. Adolescents exposed to violent video games experience a decrease in activity in their prefrontal cortex, leaving them <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215596553">more vulnerable</a> to having difficulty with problem-solving and controlling their emotions.</p>
<h2>What can parents do?</h2>
<p>Parents have an important role to play. Knowing where their children are, what they are doing and with whom are some of the best ways to help support children. That <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14582862">improves their ability to cope</a> with what is going on in the world around them.</p>
<p>The same is true for adolescents as well. It is sometimes assumed that as children reach adolescence, they need less support and monitoring as they spend more time with their peers and make increased demands to be more independent. </p>
<p>That is not the case.</p>
<p>Adolescents have more access to social media, to drugs and alcohol, and to transportation. Coupled with this is the growing evidence that the <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/risky-teen-behavior-is-driven-by-an-imbalance-in-brain-development/">problem-solving and impulse control</a> parts of their brains are not yet fully developed.</p>
<p>Parents are often the first to recognize their children are struggling with mental health and behavioral issues. And they could be the best providers of mental health first aid whenever and however their children need them.</p>
<p>The immediacy, intensity and imagery of the coverage of the concert bombing in Manchester may be very disturbing to both youth and adults. It is important that we continue to discuss this with our children and help them express their emotions and viewpoints, while assuring them that these extreme acts of violence, while deeply disturbing, are the exception and not the rule.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: The above was written in response to children in the United States witnessing coverage of school shootings. It has been updated to reflect the May 22 attack in Manchester.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel J Flannery receives funding from the US Bureau of Justice Assistance, the US Department of Justice, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the State of Ohio Departments of Youth Services and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Cleveland Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, and Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark I. Singer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children are increasingly being exposed to more violence. The impact? They could get desensitized to violence and come to believe that it is an acceptable way to solve problems.Daniel J. Flannery, Professor and Director of the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, Case Western Reserve UniversityMark I. Singer, Professor of Family and Child Welfare, Case Western Reserve UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/246392014-04-14T13:59:45Z2014-04-14T13:59:45ZBelieve your eyes: young children can be better at solving problems than adults<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46023/original/trmx3r6k-1397068035.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Inexperience may make you better at thinking outside the box</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/agella/8123931912/in/photolist-cuXisf-8Tk32r-844uDR-t759k-dnTgVA-Nn59Q-6SSxB3-dGEsRa-6bGydk-bnbZbH-8fxfgd-tcTSz-8PcZaX-mLbQPU-7VRX7M-8ENGTK-X7a5W-8sM7Qv-8xuSap-8xxTWb-8ffHro-id8sbE-fPUrdL-dEK6mu-9TbuM3-9T8Fmk-9T8FZz-9T8Fwa-cm7Dhj-7VRX8F-7VVd4N-8JvLxH-4KPhgq-4KK1F6-4KPh4G-c4Qveh-c4QuJh-c4QuY9-c4QwPW-c4QvHo-c4Qwij-c4Qwr3-c4QvgW-c4Qutu-c4QwHb-c4Qwb5-c4QuMj-c4QvEG-c4QwXN-c4QwKA">Adam Graddy</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Are adults superior problem solvers to children? Most people would say yes. From buttoning a jacket to operating a projector to multiplying complex numbers, our abilities exceed those of children. </p>
<p>And why shouldn’t this be the case? Our brains are more developed, we have more control over our bodies and we know more about the world. We have a lifetime of experience to help us reason about new situations and make judgements quickly. But could it be that sometimes our accumulated knowledge might bias our judgements and make us less sensitive to what we observe? </p>
<p>Our expectations should lead us in the right direction when events are consistent with our past experience. But in unusual situations, these same expectations could lead us astray. In these cases, might children, who likely have weaker (or perhaps different) expectations about what tends to be true, be the better problem solvers?</p>
<h2>The project</h2>
<p>I was recently involved in a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027713002540">research project</a> where we found that in certain situations, children do indeed appear to be better or at least more open-minded learners than adults. </p>
<p>We compared pre-schoolers’ and adults’ ability to learn and make generalisations about cause and effect. We did this by introducing four and five-year-olds and college undergraduates to a small machine that lit up and played music when particular different-shaped objects (called “blickets”) were placed on top. But only some of the objects placed on the machine were blickets, and the participants were not told which were which. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vMaCtapBduU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The blickets experiment in progress.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Each participant watched us place individual objects and pairs of objects on top of the machine. Half of the participants saw a sequence of demonstrations that implied you only needed one blicket to make the machine go, and the other half saw a sequence that implied you needed two blickets. In each case, after watching these demonstrations and observing when the machine lit up and played music, the participants were asked to identify which of the objects were blickets. </p>
<p>For the first group of participants, blickets worked in isolation: as long as one blicket was on top, the machine would turn on. In other words, a single cause led to an effect. For example, participants saw that a circular and a rectangular object activated the machine when individually placed on top, while a triangular object did not.</p>
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<span class="caption">Some combinations light machine, some do not.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">University of Berkeley</span></span>
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<p>For the second group, at least two blickets were needed to make the machine go. In other words, several combined causes led to an effect. For example, participants were shown that the circular and rectangular objects did not activate the machine individually, but together they did. </p>
<p>We then used new objects to show all the participants an ambiguous series of demonstrations where either a single-cause or a combined-cause rule could explain what was making the machine light up. </p>
<p>For example, we showed them that a diamond and a cone-shaped object did not work in isolation, but the diamond paired with a square object did activate the machine, as did all three objects in combination. </p>
<p>We were curious to see whether adults and children would assume that the rule on which they were trained applied to this ambiguous situation. In other words, we wanted to know if those participants who had been previously shown the single-cause pattern would conclude that only the square was a blicket; and that those who had been previously shown the combined-cause pattern would conclude that both the diamond and the square (and perhaps even the cone) were blickets.</p>
<h2>The inflexible adults</h2>
<p>There is a lot of past research to indicate that adults would come into our experiment expecting the machine to operate according to a single-cause rule. The question was how this expectation might affect adults’ ability to learn and generalise a combined-cause rule, and whether children have different expectations and so behave differently. </p>
<p>We found that most children and adults who were shown the single-cause pattern successfully learned it and assumed it applied in the ambiguous situation. </p>
<p>But most of the adults who were trained on the combined-cause pattern did not assume it could be applied to the ambiguous situation in the same way. Instead, they concluded that only one blicket was present (more consistent with the single-cause rule). On the other hand, the young children shown the same training pattern were more likely to conclude that at least two objects were blickets. </p>
<p>In short, pre-schoolers were more sensitive to the evidence they observed than college undergraduates. But how can young children be better than adults at solving this problem?</p>
<p>We proposed in our conclusions that adults had stronger convictions about how the machine would work that biased their interpretation of what they observed. Adults appear to view the evidence through the lens of their past experience, perhaps leading them to write off certain events as flukes and draw conclusions more consistent with their expectations than with their observations.</p>
<h2>The flexible kids</h2>
<p>Because children lack such strong expectations, they seem more influenced by the evidence. This allowed them to draw conclusions more consistent with their observations. The children were more willing to say that the machine worked in an unusual way. </p>
<p>Our results suggest that though our experience can make us faster and more accurate learners in many situations, children’s more open minds and ability to entertain unlikely hypotheses might give them an advantage in situations that are not in line with adults’ expectations. </p>
<p>For this reason, it might sometimes benefit us to ignore the wisdom we’ve gained from experience. As one undergraduate reflected after participating, “So if magic really did exist, children would be the first to realise this was true!” </p>
<p>Children and adults may also have performed differently because they reason about the world in profoundly different ways.Children may be more exploratory and more likely to change their minds, considering a wider range of possibilities including even those that are unlikely. Adults may be more hesitant to revise their beliefs. And even when they do so, they may only consider alternatives that they believe are likely to be true. </p>
<p>As my colleague <a href="http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2014/03/06/figuring-out-how-gizmos/">Christopher Lucas said</a>: “One big question looking forward is what makes children more flexible learners — are they just free from the preconceptions that adults have, or are they fundamentally more flexible or exploratory in how they see the world?”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24639/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by the James S. McDonnell Foundation’s Causality Collaborative Initiative, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Grants FA9550-07-1-0351 and FA9550-10-1-0232, and National Science Foundation Grant (BCS-1023875). </span></em></p>Are adults superior problem solvers to children? Most people would say yes. From buttoning a jacket to operating a projector to multiplying complex numbers, our abilities exceed those of children. And…Sophie Bridgers, Researcher, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.