An Overview of Indicators of Child Well-Being

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An Overview of Indicators of Child Well-Being

• Kristin Anderson Moore, Ph.D.

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All Human History
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(No Transcript)
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Current Stock of Indicators
Morbidity
Mortality
Disability
Dropouts
Crime
Teen Pregnancy
Violence
Cigarette Use
Illicit Drug Use
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Bad outcomes do matter

• Negative development is important (bad is
  stronger than good).

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But, good outcomes matter too

• Positive social and emotional development is also
  critical.

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Reasons why a focus on the negative is not
sufficient

• Good Science
• Public Perceptions
• Kids Perceptions
• The Declaration of Independence
• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
  all men are created equal, that they are endowed
  by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
  that among these are Life, Liberty and the
  pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these
  rights, Governments are instituted 

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Criticism that they are soft, squishy or
gluey is not warranted
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Missing data are minimal

• Measuring social and emotional development is not
  squishy. The hardest thing to measure is
  income.
• Less than 1 dont answer questions on
  parent-child relationships in the NLSY97
• 3 dont answer questions on sex
• 13.5 dont answer questions on income

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Positive indicators, such as parent/adolescent
relationships, are related to better child
development
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It is important to assess varied domains of
development

• Cognitive Attainment and Educational Achievement
• Health and Safety
• Social and Emotional Development

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And measures are needed for varied age groups

• Pre-school (0-5 or 0-2 3-5)
• Elementary school (6-11 or 6-8 9-11)
• High School (12-17 or 12-14 15-17)

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AGES
0-5
6-11
12-17



Cognitive Attainment and Educational Achievement
Health and Safety
DOMAINS
Social and Emotional Development
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Also, Well-being ? Well-becoming

• The focus regarding children is on how they turn
  out as adults and citizens
• Well-becoming
• Childrens current happiness, security and
  comfort are also important
• Well-being

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My Top Individual Well-being indicators

• School engagement
• Self-regulation
• Social skills/competence
• Tolerance
• Positive environmental behaviors

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My Top ContextualWell-being indicators

• Parent-child relationships
• Out-of-school opportunities
• School supportiveness
• Monitoring
• Neighborhood cohesion

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27 Years of Research in the Service of Americas
Children

• www.childtrends.org
• www.childtrendsdatabank.org