When can parents most influence their child's development? Expert knowledge and perceived local realities

Abstract

Compelling evidence for the long-term impact of conditions in gestation and early childhood on both physical and psychosocial functioning and productivity has stimulated a focus in global health policy and social services on the “first 1000 days”. Consequently, related initiatives may assume that rationale for this orientation and the agency of parents during this period is self-evident and widely shared among parents and communities. We tested this assumption in 2012 among a sample of 38 township-dwelling caregivers in Cape Town, by asking a question identified during a study of cultural models of parenting, namely: At what age or stage can a parent or caregiver have the most influence on a child’s development? Formal cultural consensus analysis of responses met criteria for strong agreement that the period for greatest impact of parenting on a child’s development occurs at adolescence, at a median age of 12 years. In follow-up focus groups and structured interviews, caregivers articulated clear ecological and developmental reasons for this view, related to protection both of developmental potential and against powerful, context-specific ecological risks (early pregnancy, substance ab/use, violence and gangs) that emerge during adolescence. Such risks threaten educational attainment, reproductive health, and social derailment with enduring consequences for lifetime well-being that caregivers are highly motivated to prevent. Developmental needs in pregnancy and early childhood, by contrast, were considered more manageable. These findings resonate with emerging evidence for multiple sensitive periods with corresponding developmental needs, and urge the value of complementing efforts to optimize early development with those to sustain and enhance it during later windows of developmental opportunity such as adolescence. Our results also indicate the need to consult local views of developmental risk and parenting practice in communicating with caregivers and planning interventions, and the value of using available methodological tools to do so.

Puberty and the Evolution of Developmental Science

“…Thanks to a new generation of research, puberty is coming into focus as such a moment during which unique maturational milestones in physical, and consequently psychobehavioral, development are attained (Crone & Dahl, ). Although much of the pathbreaking work on sensitive periods, intergenerational transmission, and developmental origins of health and disease has focused on early life, particularly the “first thousand days” from gestation through infancy, many lines of evidence draw attention to puberty as a sensitive period of similar albeit distinctive importance (Scherf, Behrmann, & Dahl, ; Worthman, Tomlinson, & Rotheram‐Borus, ). Indeed, the emerging multidimensional biopsychobehavioral view of puberty plus recognition of the power of context in development blurs the distinction between puberty as a biological process and adolescence as a social construction, and foregrounds their biosocial, biocultural foundations.…”

Perspectives of nurturance within the parent–child relationship in resource‐constrained families

“…This negatively impacts parental nurturance, placing children at risk for poor development (Chaudry & Wimer, 2016; Roos et al, 2019). The emerging field of parenting research in SA has mainly focused on parenting styles (Makwakwa, 2011; Roman et al, 2016), parents' influence on child development (Worthman et al, 2016), the father–son relationship (Pitsoane & Gasa, 2018) and child homicide (Dekel et al, 2018). Because the study of nurturing parenting is not clear in the SA context, this study sought to explore and understand how parents nurture their children in RCE in SA.…”

Influence of Parental Physical Activity and Screen Time on the BMI of Adult Offspring in a Saudi Population

“…The economic prosperity of the region seems to add to the problem, since access to different types of screens influences people to stay indoors. Globally, studies have focused to find the association of parental PA and ST in relation to the age of adolescence, since the maximum influence of parents has been found to occur during adolescence [14]. A recent long term longitudinal study (30 years), however, has found that parental PA is associated with increased levels of children's physical activity till the age of 24 years, which tends to remain until their midlife, thus making the age category of young adults (18 to 35 years) very significant in tackling adult obesity [15].…”