Merritt Darcey H, Klein Sacha
New York University, Silver School of Social Work, 1 Washington Square North, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Michigan State University, School of Social Work, 655 Auditorium Road, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
Child Abuse Negl. 2015 Jan;39:185-96. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.10.011. Epub 2014 Nov 4.
Young children under 6 years old are over-represented in the U.S. child welfare system (CWS). Due to their exposure to early deprivation and trauma, they are also highly vulnerable to developmental problems, including language delays. High quality early care and education (ECE) programs (e.g. preschool, Head Start) can improve children's development and so policymakers have begun calling for increased enrollment of CWS-supervised children in these programs. However, it is not a given that ECE will benefit all children who experience maltreatment. Some types of maltreatment may result in trauma-related learning and behavior challenges or developmental deficits that cause children to respond to ECE settings differently. The current study uses data from a nationally representative survey of children in the U.S. child welfare system, the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II, to assess whether young CWS-supervised children (N=1,652) who were enrolled in ECE had better language development outcomes 18 months later than those not enrolled in ECE. We also explore whether the type of maltreatment that brought children to the CWS' attention moderates the relationship between ECE and children's language development. After controlling for children's initial scores on the Preschool Language Scale (PLS-3), type(s) of maltreatment experienced, and child and caregiver demographics, we found that ECE participation predicted better PLS-3 scores at follow-up, with a positive interaction between ECE participation and supervisory neglect. ECE seems to be beneficial for CWS-involved children's early language development, especially for children referred to the CWS because they lack appropriate parent supervision at home.
在美国儿童福利系统（CWS）中，6岁以下的幼儿占比过高。由于他们早年经历过贫困和创伤，也极易出现发育问题，包括语言迟缓。高质量的早期保育和教育（ECE）项目（如学前班、启智计划）可以促进儿童的发育，因此政策制定者已开始呼吁让更多受CWS监管的儿童参加这些项目。然而，早期保育和教育并非一定会让所有遭受虐待的儿童受益。某些类型的虐待可能会导致与创伤相关的学习和行为挑战或发育缺陷，使儿童对早期保育和教育环境产生不同的反应。本研究使用了来自美国儿童福利系统中具有全国代表性的儿童调查——《全国儿童与青少年福利调查II》的数据，以评估参加早期保育和教育的受CWS监管的幼儿（N = 1652）在18个月后是否比未参加早期保育和教育的幼儿有更好的语言发育结果。我们还探讨了引起CWS关注的虐待类型是否会调节早期保育和教育与儿童语言发育之间的关系。在控制了儿童在《学前语言量表》（PLS - 3）上的初始得分、所经历的虐待类型以及儿童和照顾者的人口统计学特征后，我们发现参加早期保育和教育可以预测随访时更好的PLS - 3得分，且早期保育和教育参与与监管疏忽之间存在正向交互作用。早期保育和教育似乎对涉及儿童福利系统的儿童的早期语言发育有益，特别是对于那些因在家中缺乏适当的父母监管而被转介到儿童福利系统的儿童。
