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This step can change your child's cognitive development
For 18 years, Israeli researchers followed children at family risk for ADHD and discovered a specific factor in the home environment that significantly affected the children's cognitive development.
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Friday, 20 August 2021, 07:06 Updated: 07:47
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Surveys conducted by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev on parents with ADHD symptoms and their children, from birth to adolescence, found that there is a particularly high importance of a rich home environment such as books and games.
It seems that these children, who are at family risk of developing ADHD, may be more sensitive to their home environment, compared to children who are not at family risk.
About 99 boys born at Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva and their parents were interrogated for 18 years in order to find the link between early risk factors and ADHD.
Doctoral student Tzlil Inziger, from the laboratory of Prof. Andrea Berger, head of the Department of Psychology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, examined time sequence data ranging from the quality of the home environment in early childhood, through the development of cognitive impairments typical of ADHD to the development of the disorder.
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Children at risk need more mediation from their parents in activities that require longer attention.
A mother reads a story to her children (Photo: ShutterStock)
The findings indicated that among children with low family risk for ADHD, there was no association between the enrichment of the home environment with cognitive stimuli in early childhood, and their cognitive function at age 7. In contrast, among children at high family risk for the disorder, the environment was of great importance Home: In a non-optimal home environment, children showed low cognitive functions, and in optimal and supportive environment conditions, they showed very good cognitive functions and even performed tasks better than non-at-risk children.
The significant aspect in the home environment that is found to be related to the children's cognitive development, was the existence of appropriate stimuli for the child's development such as appropriate books and games as well as, the parent's involvement in encouraging the child to participate in enriching activities.
"Enrichment is not only reflected in the very existence of books and games, but also in the deliberate action of the parents by reading books together or assembling puzzles together," Sound Inziger said.
"Children at risk may need more parental mediation in order to engage in activities that require a wider range of attention and patience."
Parents can reduce the risk of the disorder
High cognitive function at age 7 predicted fewer symptoms of adolescence ADHD.
This suggests that children at family risk for ADHD were more sensitive to the effects of the home environment, for worse but also for better, and that parents with ADHD symptoms who were able to produce the best home environment for their children could thereby reduce their risk of developing the disorder.
"There are very few studies that manage to predict ADHD over a continuum of so many years, from early childhood to adolescence," explains Prof. Andrea Berger.
"In this study, we were able to show research evidence supporting the great importance of the early home environment."
Children at family risk for ADHD were more sensitive to the effects of the home environment - for better or worse.
Girl assembles a puzzle (Photo: ShutterStock)
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"The protective role of a positive, supportive and cognitively rich home environment is known and recognized," says Prof. Andrea Berger.
"Such an environment is important for all children, but may be particularly important for children at family risk for ADHD since, it may be associated with better cognitive functioning, and predict fewer ADHD symptoms in the future," she concluded.
The study group included Prof. Judy Auerbach, Professor Andrea Berger, Prof. Naama sad fertile and Dr. Rebecca Landau, Department of Psychology at Ben Gurion University, Dr. Shoshana Arbel and Dr. Michael Karplus Soroka Medical Center.
More The research that takes place in Prof. Berger's laboratory can be learned on the laboratory's Facebook page and on the laboratory's
website.
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