Study: High-quality child care can help at-risk kids

By Staff Writer

Many toddlers who are adopted come from difficult home environments, which can lead to various social and emotional problems when they reach adolescence. 

However, a new study reveals that high-quality child care can help make up for a troublesome early life. The research, which appears in the journal Child Development, followed young children from early childhood through their middle-school years. They found that children who lacked strong family resources in the first six months of life were more likely to become anxious and disruptive as well as less friendly or open to peers.

The study's authors concluded that high-quality child care can help young children avoid these problems, even if they spent their early life in an unhealthy domestic environment. They defined high-quality care as a setting where kids can express themselves and interact with others. A low-quality environment was characterized by fewer learning opportunities, less sensitivity and fewer positive influences. Researchers from the University of Denver, Georgetown University, American University, Harvard University and Auburn University contributed to the report.

Problem teens who grew up in a troubled home or received low-quality care may benefit from therapeutic wilderness therapy.