Early childhood stressful experiences always were mysterious stereotypes for me. Fortunately, I had an opportunity to get acquainted with this exciting research on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. I guessed that environmental impact plays the important role in child nurturing, but this research gave me a full understanding of this question.
Psychologists provided longitudinal research in which people were observed over the time from the birth to the thirty-year-old age. In the study were investigated prenatal and perinatal stress and their impact on the personality’s health. Psychologists took into account different factors that can influence on children’s cognitive, physical and psychosocial development, for example, material, intellectual and emotional aspects of the family environment, also records of public-health, educational and social-service files were reviewed. As a result, scientists found out that rearing conditions were more powerful determinants of outcome than perinatal trauma. Parents that had attended and nurtured their children, grown the adults who love well work well and play well. It was observed that a stable, prosperous families with educated parents bring up more successful members of society whether the child is included into the risk-group or not.
I was impressed by results of the investigations in particular by the next conclusions: 1) as long as the balance between stressful life events and protective factors are favorable, successful adaptation is possible; 2) The improvement of psychosocial factors increases after 30 years old 3) compared with their low-risk peers from the same cohort, a significantly higher proportion of high-level resilient individual described themselves as being happy with their current life circumstances (Werner 106-11). As for me, these results are incredible, and they destroy all myths.
I think the main psychological research is an introspection; maybe it is subjectively but very sincere. No matter I have experienced the early childhood troubles or not, my environment and society are dominant sources of the influence. I realized that up to 18 years we don’t have an adult consciousness, and our actions are mostly forced by our genetics, biology, and temperament, but over the years, we absorb patterns and spirit of our society, school, university, workplace and of course, family.
I guess, one proverb “We are what we eat” is valid in this case, but also I can add that we are who our parents, we are who our friends and environment. Unfortunately, children cannot choose family by themselves, and many of them forced to live in the environment without brilliant future. I’ll take the liberty to say that early challenges can be definitely overcome, but it depends on the set of external factors. Growing up the child become wiser and already may rethink different situations and benefit them without adult’s help.
Works Cited
Werner, Emmy E. "Children of the Garden Island." Scientific American Apr. 1989: 106-11. Print.
