According to a new study, children faced with life difficulties at birth but intellectually stimulated from an early age have a higher IQ in adolescence, compared to children who did not benefit from this encouragement.
- Conducted on 1,600 Brazilian and South African children, the study shows that children exposed to early difficulties had an IQ 6 points above the average if they had benefited from a stimulating family environment and/or opportunities for home learning.
Children from precarious and/or premature economic backgrounds have lower IQ scores, which can, however, be mitigated with appropriate care and learning opportunities. This is the conclusion of a new international study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent and carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM).
The research followed the development (from birth to adolescence) of more than 1,600 children raised in Brazil and South Africa. Adolescents who were exposed to multiple adversities early in life (extreme poverty, low birth weight, or premature birth) had lower than average IQs, were more likely to have difficulty coping socially and psychological and achieved lower physical height than adolescents exposed to fewer adversities, according to the study results.
The purpose of the research was to determine to what extent children exposed to early difficulties could reach their full learning potential if they benefited from appropriate support such as a stimulating family environment and/or home learning.
Higher IQ through early stimulation
“We found that adolescents who were raised in nurturing environments had an IQ that was 6 points higher on average than those who weren’t. This is a striking difference that has profound implications in increasing intelligence entire communities. A nurturing environment also led to better growth and fewer psychosocial difficulties in adolescence.”underlines the corresponding author of the study Maureen Black, professor of pediatrics at UMSOM.
Exposing these children to a nurturing environment, whether at home or in daycare or preschool, can provide them with cognitive benefits that last into adolescence and beyond. These stimuli can take place just as well at home, in the kindergarten or in home care.
Stimulating interaction with young children can take the form of a variety of activities such as reading stories aloud, learning and humming songs, or playing games involving numbers and/or letters. Completing age-appropriate tasks under adult supervision, such as picking up toys and clearing the table, also helps develop their sense of empathy and will help them in their psychosocial relationships in the future , says the study.
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