1. Community Understanding of Child Development An Alberta Benchmark Survey Shivani Rikhy, MPH Suzanne Tough, PhD Alberta Centre for Child, Family, & Community Research

2. Acknowledgements Research team: Barry TruteKaren Benzies David JohnstonHeather Davey Augusto LegaspiCalgary Children’s Initiative Success by Six Population Research Laboratory, University of Alberta Janet Ngo Donna Fong Dave Odynak Alberta Centre for Child, Family, & Community Research

3. Context Alberta has indicated that advancing the agenda on healthy child development is a key goal Alberta has lead through the development of Cross Ministry Initiatives in Child Health Alberta has invested in: –Parent Link Centres –Triple P Parenting Program –Developmental Surveillance –Implementation of the Early Development Instrument Baseline data about understanding of child development and behaviour can inform programs and strategies

4. What We Know Parents’ understanding of child development may influence their expectations and interactions with children Environments where children are exposed to inconsistent and harsh discipline can increase the risk of conduct problems Lack of a warm positive relationship or inadequate supervision increases risk of behavioural and social problems These children are at risk of school exclusion, delinquency, mental illness, partner violence, poor literacy

5. Why Do We Care? Economic reasons: –Costs to health and social services, justice and education are 10 times higher for children with behaviour problems –Long term costs associated with poor mental health estimated at $7.331 Billion (1993 Can $) –Long term consequences of low literacy include poor educational achievement, lower life expectancy –Falling fertility rate –Competent high quality populations will be essential in a global knowledge driven economy

6. Where are we at? In Alberta, there is no baseline understanding of what adults know about child development The type of information parents need to support child development is unknown Surveys have been undertaken by Invest in Kids (Can) and by Zero to Six (US)

7. Background Why consider all adults? –Resiliency research suggests that all of us can have an impact –Children do better when there is a shared responsibility : Canada vs. Norway –53.5% of our sample reported that children are a social and family responsibility

8. Methods Provincial survey of adults (2007-2008) –Adapted from a National U.S. instrument –Input from content experts –Administered over the telephone Sample Size and Data Collection –1,443 Albertans Recruitment: Random-Digit Dialing –Over-sampled in the cities of Calgary & Edmonton Inclusion Criteria –Over 18 years of age –Alberta Resident –Interacted with a child (<14yrs) in the past 6 months

9. Respondent Demographics Location

10. Respondent Demographics Educational Attainment & Age On average, participants were 45.7 years of age

11. Respondent Demographics Racial/Ethnic Background

12. Experience with Children

13. Finding Respondents represent those Albertans who interacted with children under 14 years of age and were interested in participating in the survey About half the respondents were currently parenting About 30% represent those who work and interact with children as teachers, scout leaders, child care workers, volunteers in mentoring organizations About 15% interact with children with special needs

14. Switching Gear Development

15. Understanding of Child Development: Physical Development 4-6m 7-12m 1-2y2-3y

16. Understanding of Child Development: Cognitive Development 1-2y 2-3y

17. Understanding of Child Development: Social Development 1-2y3-6y

18. Understanding of Child Development: Emotional Development 4-6m 7-12m 1-2y3-6y

19. What did we understand? How many respondents answered 50% or more of the questions correctly?

20. Where did we find differences? Urban & Rural Dwellers How many respondents answered 50% or more of the questions correctly?

21. Where did we find differences? Males & Females * * How many respondents answered 50% or more of the questions correctly? *

22. Does the age of your child matter? Parents & Other Adults How many respondents answered 50% or more of the questions correctly? *

23. How does Parenting fit in? Comparing Parents of Children Younger and Older than 6 Years * *

25. * *

26. How Does Parenting fit in? Comparing Parents of Children Younger and Older than 6 Years

27. Among Parents, Is Understanding and Morale Linked? Parents that had a better understanding of child development (50% or more correct) did not have higher parent morale than parents with less understanding of child development

28. Finding There are meaningful gaps in adults’ understanding of when children between the ages of birth and six achieve physical, emotional, cognitive and social milestones. Gaps in understanding of child development exist among parents, non parents, males, females, rural residents, and urban residents.

29. Switching Gear Information and Support

30. Information Support System

31. Where did we find differences? Income Levels Low income families were more likely to use social workers and parenting classes and less likely to use news reports compared to middle or high income families.

32. Where did we find differences? Educational Attainment Respondents without a post-secondary education were more likely to use social workers, parenting classes, and resource centres while those with a post- secondary education were more likely to use religious leaders/groups.

33. Where did we find differences? Males & Females Compared to males, females were more likely to use: Books Phone Advice Parenting Seminars TV Shows * * * *

34. Where did we find differences? Rural & Urban Dwellers Urban dwellers were more likely to use the internet, phone advice or TV shows. Rural dwellers were more likely to use nurses. * * * *

35. Finding Parents seek the support of physicians and nurses in addressing their parenting concerns, and are satisfied with the information they obtain. Parenting classes were used by less than 15% of parents.

36. Switching Gear Parenting Strategies

37. More About Parenting Strategies Parenting Strategy (n=698) % Use Physical Punishment 0.4 Problems Managing Child in General 3.0 Ignore Child Breaking Rules 3.1 Talking is Disapproval 7.3 Angry When Punishing 7.5 Raise Voice or Yell 7.8 Punishment Depends on Mood 14.0 Discipline for Same Thing Repeatedly 15.5 Take Away Privileges 33.2 Tell Child to Stop Breaking Rules 47.3 Calmly Discuss Breaking the Rules 69.1 Talking is Praise 70.0 Describe Alternate Behaviours 72.4 Percent of parents that use particular parenting strategies at least half of the time

38. Parenting Strategies: More About Physical Punishment More than 99% of parents report that they use physical punishment less than half of the time.

39. Does Understanding of Child Development Influence How Parents Discipline?

40. Do Respondents Understand How to Support Children‘s Development? Almost 90% understood that the first year of life has an impact on school performance years later Nearly 70% understood that children’s ability to learn is not set from birth and is affected by parental interaction About 50% understood that children learn more language from personal communication than TV About 50% responded that parents’ emotional closeness with a child influences later intelligence

41. Finding Although there were few differences in parenting behaviours, mothers were more likely than fathers (59% vs. 74%) to use praise, and to suggest alternate ways of behaving Parents recognize the need to correct behavior in young children without the use of physical punishment Parents recognize how to support child development even if they can’t identify developmental milestones May suggest that knowledge of milestones is not the key knowledge that influences behaviours, perhaps it is knowledge of how to support development

42. Switching Gear Child Care

43. Insights into Child Care & Children’s Issues What percentage of day care costs should be covered by Government? 77% of respondents believed that government should provide more financial assistance to low income families compared to middle income families

44. Insights into Child Care & Children’s Issues Child care providers were considered equally central to children’s physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development compared to elementary school teachers Minimum level of education that should be required for: Day Care ProvidersNannies

45. Insights into Child Care and Children’s Issues What do parents consider in selecting a day care provider?

46. More About Children’s Issues 98% of respondents indicated that it was important or very important that programs be in place to ensure that every child had access to a healthy breakfast. 98% of respondents indicated that it was important or very important that programs be in place to ensure that every child had access to recreation opportunities.

47. Switching Gear So What? Putting it Together

48. Summing Up There are meaningful gaps in adults’ understanding of when children between the ages of birth and six achieve physical, emotional, cognitive and social milestones Adults recognize strategies that support development

49. Summing Up Parents seek the support of physicians and nurses to find information about child development, and are satisfied with the information they obtain Parenting classes were attended by less than 15% of parents Satisfaction with resources is typically high

50. Summing Up There is support for public funding for child care More than three quarters of respondents indicated that more support for child care should be provided to low income compared to high income families

51. Summing Up More than three quarters of respondents indicated that child care providers should be highly trained and that they were as important as elementary school teachers in ensuring optimal physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of young children The top three criteria identified as important in selecting a child care included safety, credentials of providers and educational activities

52. Putting the Data together Understanding influences behaviour Parents recognize some strategies that support child development even if they can’t identify developmental milestones Adults identify the importance of skilled child care, which suggests recognition of the importance of early childhood What type of information parents need is unknown

53. Summary from our Stakeholders Key Messages: Albertans place a high degree of importance on early childhood issues, and believe that children are our collective responsibility. Affordable, high-quality childcare is important, and should be a government priority. Childcare providers should be highly skilled given the importance of their work. Albertans want to know more about early childhood development and would benefit from greater access to information and insight.

54. Summing Up Anything else? What actions would you take if you could change something based on what you heard today?