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Research

Research briefs highlight recent research about infants, toddlers, and families in a form useful to Infant-Toddler Specialists. Are you aware of recent research that Indiana Infant-Toddler Specialists should know about? If so, contact us.

Please click a link below to view a brief the format indicated. Many will require the Adobe Reader.

Health, Safety, & Nutrition
Relationships & Social-Emotional Development
Cognitive-Language Development
Child Care Quality
Early Intervention
Parent Education & Involvement
Parenting
Professional Development
Prenatal Environment and Infant Brain Development


Health, Safety, and Nutrition
• Breastfeeding (National SIDS/Infant Death Resource Center) [pdf]

• Risk Reduction (National SIDS/Infant Death Resource Center) [pdf]

• Bedsharing (National SIDS/Infant Death Resource Center) [pdf]

• Early Feeding (Columbia University) [pdf]

• A Child Care Provider's Guide to Safe Sleep (American Academy of Pediatrics) [pdf]

• A Parents' Guide to Safe Sleep (American Academy of Pediatrics) [pdf]

• Tummy Time (American Academy of Pediatrics) [pdf]

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Relationships & Social-Emotional Development
• Relationships Matter in Early Head Start (Purdue University) [pdf]

• The Infant On Looker: Learning From Emotional Reactions Observed in a Television Scenario (Purdue University) [pdf]

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Cognitive-Language Development
• Supporting Language in Bilingual Infant/Toddler Environments (AED-Center for Early Care and Education) [pdf]

• How Do Infants Use Visual Information to Understand Speech? (Purdue University) [pdf]

• Effects of shared parent-infant book reading on early language acquisition (Purdue University) [pdf]

• Won’t Wait! Infant-toddler Development for School Readiness [pdf]

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Child Care Quality
• Are there long-term effects of early child care on child development? (Birkbeck University of London) [pdf]

• "Dutch researchers find stability is important for infant-toddler child care."  (Leiden University) [pdf]

• Final IT Credentials Fact Sheet (U.S. Child Care Bureau) [pdf]

• Infant and Toddlers in Child Care (2008). Zero to Three and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). [pdf]

• Infant-Toddler Child Care Arrangements (Child Care & Early Education Research Connections) [pdf]

• Infant-Toddler Child Care for Working Poor Families-Quality and Child Outcomes (Purdue University) [html]

• Low quality care in Israeli infant toddler centers linked to high child-adult ratios (University of Haifa) [pdf]

• What is more important? Family child care providers' training/education, or adult-child ratios?
(University of North Carolina, UCLA and Purdue) [pdf]

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Early Intervention
• First Experiences with Early Intervention: A National Perspective (University of North Carolina) [pdf]

• Impacts of Early Childhood Programs (2008) [pdf]
The Brookings Institution and First Focus produced a set of research briefs to provide current information regarding the impact and effectiveness of early childhood intervention programs. This report includes 5 research briefs about: Early Head Start, Head Start, State Pre-K, Model Early Childhood Programs, and the Nurse Family Partnership Program.

• The Science of Early Childhood Development--Executive Summary (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Harvard University, 2007) [pdf]
Prominent developmental scientists review child development and brain research from the past 20 years, draw main conclusions and developmental concepts, and suggest policy and practice directions.

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Parent Education & Involvement
• Parent Involvement in Early Head Start (Purdue University) [html]

• Relationships with Staff Important for Early Head Start Parents’ Involvement in the Program (Purdue University) [pdf]

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Parenting
• How does parenting of infants differ in traditional farming and middle class communities? (University of Osnabrueck, Germany) [pdf]

• Responsive Parenting: Establishing Early Foundations for Social, Communication, and Independent Problem-Solving Skills [pdf]

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Professional Development
• Impact of Training for Infant-Toddler Caregivers (Child Care & Early Education Research Connections) [pdf]

• Survey of Trainers of Child Care Providers: Healthy Child Care Indiana Initiative (Indiana University) [pdf]

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Prenatal Environment and Infant Brain Development
• The Effects of Toxic Stress During Pregnancy (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child) [pdf]

• Enriched Environments in Adolescence Prevent Long-Term Effects of Early Impoverished Environments (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child) [pdf]

• Fetal Alcohol Exposure Reduces Adult Brain Plasticity (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child) [pdf]

• The Impact of Ultrasound on Developing Brain Neurons (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child) [pdf]

• Maternal Hormones Prepare Fetuses for Stress of Delivery (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child) [pdf]

• Prenatal and Infant Exposure to an Environment Pollutant Damages Brain Architechture and Plasticity (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child) [pdf]

• Critical Periods in the Development of Fear (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child) [pdf]

• Starting Smart: How Early Experiences Affect Brain Development (Zero to Three) [pdf]

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