Assessment of the impact of psycho-social environment on toddlers' physical and neuropsychic development
Petrariu, F.D.; Gavăt, V.; Amarandei, M.E.
Revista Medico-Chirurgicala a Societatii de Medici Si Naturalisti Din Iasi 111(4): 1028-1034
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 0048-7848 PMID: 18389800 Document Number: 608238
Psycho-social environment is influencing directly toddler's development, with a major impact in the first three years of life. Family is the first social environment for the infant, and later for toddler, and depending to the quality of this relation will evolve the adult. To assess the impact of psycho-social environment on the toddler's development. We have analyzed by using a questionnaire a number of 200 families, in order to assess their level of environmental risk and to correlate it with the toddlers' development. The highest risk scores were obtained by families who sent the toddler in a foster home, followed by the families who use a day care center, and at last by the families where toddler remains in the family's home till he is 3 years old. 51.66% of the toddlers who goes in a day care center and 85% of the toddlers who are sent to foster home are exposed to a relative risk lower by 2.7 times to be retarded compared to the situation of remaining in the natural home. On the other hand, in family environment with a mild risk there are significant more disharmonic children than in the families with a lower risk score (p = 0.0452). The toddler's chances to evolve, by physical perspective, negatively in institutional environment are significantly higher if he comes from a family with mild risk score than in a family with a lower risk score (p = 0.0157). In every life environment where lives a toddler, confronted with specific problems, should take immediate action the general practitioner, the child development specialist and the environmental health expert, in a coordinate manner, to identify and correct all the aspects who may disturb the normal evolution of the toddler's growth and development.