Issues on Child Development - Essay Example

Running Head: ISSUES IN CHILD DEVELOPEMENT Issues in Child developement of the of the Issues in child development Introduction The purpose of this study is to describe the issues may arises in child development, it has been found that role of mothers more important in the development of child as mostly mothers are more involved in child growth as compare to fathers. There are many researchers who wrote a lot regarding the impact of parental depression on the development of their children. The primary objective of development of a child is to make them enable in the early years of their lives to get genuinely involved and self-directive in their learning process. This needs firstly a constructive image as person, as there is a circular process of interface between a child’s learning and his personality development. Every childs development is judged by their intellectual function, their inventiveness, their ego strength, their relatedness to their peers and adults, and capacity to deal with new events that come across their like each day in their social life. Depression: Symptoms and Causes Depression may be simply defined as a state of sadness. Many may feel depressed for a short time when things do not go their way, but when this feeling persists and interferes with daily activity a doctor may diagnose an individual with clinical depression and order medication. Genetic predisposition, personal problems, and seasonal hormonal changes are some of the many things that may trigger depression. A depressed individual may encounter feelings of despair and sadness, constant fatigue, constant headaches, among other things. If left untreated, depression may lead to suicide. (Mood Disorders, 2003) Depressed Women as Mothers Most mothers aspire to provide a nurturing environment for their children. Depressed mothers generally want the best for their children, but their illness prevents them from achieving this goal. Depressed mothers have a much different opinion of themselves as mothers and of their childrens behaviour. They may see themselves as inadequate and think that they have little control over their childs development and they may perceive many aspects of their childs normal behaviour in a negative light. (Gurian, 2003) Many report feeling overwhelmed at the responsibilities of raising a child. Under so much stress, depressed mothers will face the normal frustrations of raising children much differently than normal mothers would. In many cases, the mother may criticize the child to the point of insulting him. Verbal abuse has been linked to lack of self esteem in children, especially when done at a young age. Some depressed mother will go even further and react violently to her childs petty trespasses. (Sheffield, 2000) Infants Many would argue that infancy is the most important stage of child development. Infants require the correct balance of affection, stimulation, and time alone to rest. Many depressed mothers are not capable of maintaining this balance and thus may become intrusive or withdrawn. Intrusive mothers may be either overprotective, hostile, or both. (Clause & Bonnin, 2003) Children of depressed mothers have been found to make more hospital visits for minor issues than those of non-depressed mothers. This may lead to unnecessary absence from school and unnecessary medication of a child. (Chamberlin, 2003) An over stimulating mother will disrupt the infants activity and deprive him of sleep. In response, the infant may turn away from the mother to limit her intrusiveness. The infant may also develop and angry, protective style of coping. Withdrawn mothers tend to neglect and under stimulate the infant. They are disengaged and unresponsive to their childs needs. Their neglect has a very negative effect on the infants activity. Infants may develop passivity and withdrawal, and may adopt self-regulatory behaviours, such a sucking on their thumb. Cognitive development is also hindered by over/under stimulation. Infants of depressed mothers have been found to have more attention problems. Poorer performance in learning and processing information is also a common correlation. (Clause & Bonnin, 2003) Toddlers The effects of maternal depression become more evident as they become toddlers. Depressed mothers are less attentive to their childs needs. They may be less likely to set and follow limits on the childs behaviour. (Gurian, 2003) Children become very active and energetic as toddlers and this puts more stress on mothers. Some depressed mothers may react with hostility and even violence to their toddlers actions. (Sheffield, 2000) Many toddlers of depressed mothers will react by internalizing problems, which is characterized by depressive behaviour. Some toddlers will react by externalizing problems, which is characterized by aggressive and violent behaviour. The most recognizable cognitive effect on toddlers is poor linguistic development. (Clause & Bonnin, 2003) School-age Children The violent behaviour and neglect towards infants and toddlers continues through the childrens school-age and adolescence. Children of school age continue to react to this by internalizing (depression) or externalizing (violence) their problems. Many also display a lack of appropriate autonomy for their age. It is at this age where children of depressed mothers begin to be classified as having a higher risk of depression or conduct disorders. (Gurian, 2003) Studies have shown that an onset of depression before the age of 30 in mothers greatly increases the chance of children developing depression early in childhood. (Sheffield, 2000) Effects to the childs academic performance include lower IQ scores and difficulty in mathematical reasoning. There is also an association between maternal depression and ADHD in children. Attention problems are quite common in children of depressed mothers. (Clause & Bonnin, 2003) Adolescents Adolescence is a vulnerable period for depression and other mental disorders. Adolescents who have had depressed mothers through their childhood are at a much greater risk developing phobias, panic disorders, and clinical depression. The verbal a physical abuse over the course of their childhood may lead to low self-esteem in adolescence. Problems with maintaining healthy peer relationships are prevalent among adolescents with depressed mothers. (Sheffield, 2000) There is a higher rate of drug/alcohol dependency as well a higher rate of suicide attempts among these adolescents. The academic problems experienced during school-age persist or become worse as the child becomes an adolescent. (Clause & Bonnin, 2003) In addition to the positive social and environmental development and unintentional outcomes Mardell (2002) also reports that the childs experiences, the quality of care and the development of self-concept are all related. For example, a child who experiences secure attachments with carer’s have a high self-esteem and as a result are happy and confident and therefore constructs an image of themselves of worthy of love. However, those children whose carer’s fail to offer that secure attachment construct a low self-esteem and create an idea of themselves as unworthy of love, which is often hidden behind guarded behaviour and minimal interactions with others lessening the opportunities to develop and maintain relationships with peers and finally, those children whose carer’s offer an unpredictable attachment construct an image of themselves as incompetent again lowering their self-esteem, resulting in the same outcomes as above. Role of Father When a family is confronted with maternal depression, the role of the father becomes more important to the childs development. The child will develop lower intellectual and emotional competence if the father also suffers from depression. However, if the father is not depressed, he could acquire on the caring role that the mother cannot execute. This could potentially permit for an additional healthy development of the infant. A stronger father-child connection will be developed as an effect of maternal depression. Important Global Issues One major global issue that has joined the conventional media in many countries is Genetic Modification of food. A lot of foods that we are eating today has genetically modified ingredients and our children love to eat these junkies. Nutrition is still important in the a child’s development. Because they grow slower their body does not need extra calories after 6 years of their life so they should ony eat about 1300 calories per day. At this point in their life a child might find himself addicted to one specific food but its important to know that eating vegetables and fruits are important too. And while we do our best nutritionally to stay healthy, there are inevitable illnesses that a child may come across. In the U.S, researchers believe that GM food can produce benefits in the future, and was researched, and a strong majority rejects the argument. Saying that pesticide foods can always be harmful for humans and the environment. The children also go through social and emotional changes. A lot of their development in these areas will rely on the type of parenting they get. An ideal parenting style will be warm and restricting, these parents are classified as authoritative parents. Being so will in turn give a child higher self esteem and self confidence. Both of these qualities may begin to peek through in a child’s personality that will help him to face upcoming chanllenges in his life. Little communication is involved at this age between a child and their "friends" so the idea of new toys is what will bring you together. During the next year you will be in the "onlooker stage" of playing. Now a days children enjoy playing play stations and other technological games. Emotionally a child continues to develop whats called "self concept" with time. This is basically their sense of self and involves finding ways to classify themselves into different categories. Conclusion There are many negative impacts of maternal depression on the arousing and intellectual development of kids. Children turn out to be more prone to misery, assertive, may have lack of self esteem, and obsession, among other things. They also lean to have inferior performance cognitively and rationally. However, with proper medicine, depression is curable. Children whose mothers undergo from depression, but are on medicine, have been shown to have a more strong and development. (LaRoque, 2004) It can be said that the quality of care that a child gets from his surrounding including his parents, family or at school etc impacts greatly on young childrens growth and personality the children which do not get good quality of care standards, do in fact suffer from the consequences of development and learning issues which has been demonstrated to result in creating a multiple of issues. However, on the contrary, children who get quality of care and attention from their immediate environment and gain secure attachments allow for important implications to develop influencing positive social and environmental interactions for the present and future. (Penn, 2008) Therefore as an implication for early childhood practitioners it is imperative to facilitate and encourage quality care together with positive and trusting relationships with both children and their families to ensure secure attachments are developed allowing for children to have the best possible advantage for themselves, their family and ultimately the society in which they live. References Chamberlin, J. (June 2003). Mothers mental stress linked to childrens medical visits. Monitor on Psychology, 34, 13. Clause, A. & Bonnin, B. (2003). Maternal Depression and Child Development. Paediatr Child Health, 9, 575-583 Gurian, A. (Jan. 2003). How Maternal Depression Affects Children. Child Study Centre, 7, 1-5. LaRoque, C. (Oct. 2004). Maternal depression can seriously affect a childs development. Retrieved November 2, 2005 from http://www.oldtimes.com/~meyers/memories.html. Mardell, B (2002) A practitioners perspective on the implications of attachment theory for day care professionals. Child Study Journal Penn, H. (2008) Understanding Early Childhood: Issues and Controversies. 2nd Ed. Maidenhead, Open University Press/McGraw Hill Read More