While surfing the internet I came upon an article by Maia Szalavitz, “The Key To Health, Wealth and Success: Self-Control." In the article she reports on the outcome of a study that follows 1,000 children from birth to age 32 years old. Children who exhibited early self regulatory skills were less likely to develop substance abuse problems or be involved with crime as adults. These children turned out to be healthier and more successful financially.
The findings were consistent with previous research conducted by Walter Mischel, a Stanford professor, which showed that children with low ability to delay gratification were more likely to exhibit behavioral problems at home and school. Their lack of self control at age four resulted in consistent difficulty managing stressful situations and less effective problem solving abilities. There turned out to be a 210 point difference on High School S.A. T. scores between children with low delay and high delay ability.
Delay of gratification requires the child to tolerate internal distress and use higher cortical functions to regulate and modulate impulsive responses. These capabilities are developed slowly, within the context of early interpersonal relations with an attentive, attuned and responsive caregiver. When a caregiver is able to accurately read the cues of the infant, form a hypothesis about the infants needs and then respond accurately, the infant’s arousal system is quieted. After thousands of these attuned interactions, the infant’s neurobiology is modified to reflect these regulatory interactions. The child learns to read his or her own internal signals, tolerate the internal distress generated by his orher unmet needs, and then develops strategies that result in personal satisfaction. These children have developed an internal template of the world that it is a positive place where they are eventually capable of having their needs met. With this positive internal representation of themselves, of others and of the world, they are able to identify their needs, establish long term plans and then work toward achieving their desired outcomes. These children are able to establish and maintain relationships and engage others' support when needed.
The capacity for self-control remains undeveloped for the child who grows up in a chaotic, unsafe, unresponsive relational environment. As the infant's internal needs are stimulated, their arousal system is activated. Without the assistance of a responsive caregiver, the infant's coping capacity is overwhelmed. These children are forced to rely on alternative self soothing strategies because they are unable to meet their needs independently. Their template of the world is that it is a scary, unsafe, and unpredictable place that cannot be trusted. If there is something they need they should take it because it might not be available later. Focused on short term survival strategies, they are unable to allocate resources toward longer term achievements. Later in life these children are at greater risk of turning to drugs, alcohol, food and sex to satisfy their early unmet needs. Their engagement in these high risk coping strategies exposes them to negative social experiences and the risk for involvement in crimes. Once you are on the wrong track, the destinations you pass are different and very dangerous.
Science is beginning to demonstrate that early childhood relational interactions creates genetic markers that increase or decrease the expression of our genetic codes. These epigenetic influences increase tolerance or sensitivity to stress and our ability to inhibit, organize and modulate reflexive behavioral responses. Even though both groups of children may possess equal genetic potential, some get exposed to the experiences that allow them to express their potential. The question is whether you can change the trajectory of these children's lives once they have been set on course. The answer to that question is YES.
If children are placed in healthy relational environments that provide them with the opportunity to associate with attentive, attuned adults who respond to the child in a developmentally appropriate manner, self-control can be improved. If we can educate new parents and caregivers about the need to actively attend to infants we can increase the probability for a healthy start. When we identify a child in a daycare or pre-school, we shouldn’t wait until they experience multiple failures before intervening. An intervention may include educating the providers about developmental activities and strategies that can be used to activate the brain regions necessary to develop self regulation. The longer we wait, the intensity, frequency and duration of therapeutic interventions increase, along with the costs.
No comments:
Post a Comment