1-119 - Development and Health of Young Children in the Neighbourhood Context: A (Canadian) Population-Wide Program of Research

Session Type: Poster Symposium

Integrative Statement

While factors such as income, socioeconomic status, and parental education appear to be strong and consistent determinants of child development, sample-based research is hampered by potential response bias. Since 2004, in Canada, population-level data have been collected on children’s development in kindergarten, based on teacher-completed assessment of every child in their classroom with the Early Development Instrument (EDI), capturing information in five major developmental domains: physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge. The Canadian Neighbourhoods and Early Child Development (CanNECD) study created the first pan-Canadian, population database on child development, with local and jurisdictional relevance, by linking EDI data for approximately 98% of Canadian 5-6 year-olds with socioeconomic data from customized Census and Taxfiler databases. The newer Canadian Children’s Health in Context Study (CCHICS) is building on this by addressing the social determinants of health for children with special health needs. Presentations in this symposium will describe the creation of this unique and accessible database for research, development of a customized SES index, trends in children’s developmental outcomes over a 10-year period, association of SES with outcomes of foreign-born children, and psychometrics of the EDI for children with special needs to ensure the data can be used in the same way as for the typically developing children. Overall, our program of research aims to address previously impossible to answer questions on how context, policies, and education contribute to equity in children’s development at and across local and regional levels.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chair

• Magdalena Janus, McMaster University

Discussant

• Daniel Keating, University of Michigan

Individual Presentations

• Creating a Pan-Canadian Database of Child Development and Socioeconomic Indicators for Research - Presenting Author: Robert Raos, McMaster University; Jennifer Enns, University of Manitoba; Marni Brownell, University of Manitoba

• Development of a Pan-Canadian Socioeconomic Index Tailored to Child Development Outcomes - Presenting Author: Barry Forer, University of British Columbia

• Is Developmental Health of Young Canadians Changing Over Time? Jurisdictional Differences in Recent Trends - Presenting Author: Simon Webb, McMaster University; Eric Duku, McMaster University; Nazeem Muhajarine, University of Saskatchewan

• Exploring the Unique Role of Socioeconomic Status in the Development of Foreign-Born Children in British Columbia - Presenting Author: Monique Helene Gagne, Human Early Learning Partnership, University of British Columbia; Martin Guhn, University of British Columbia

• Can Early Development Instrument Results be used to Explore Social Determinants of Development for Children with Special Needs? - Presenting Author: Dena Zeraatkar, McMaster University; Magdalena Janus, McMaster University; Eric Duku, McMaster University