Children, Families & Neighborhoods
The Children, Families and Neighborhoods Projects are studies aimed at better understanding how children’s individual personalities and coping contribute to how they respond to their environment. We know that all children are different, and two children experiencing similar situations can respond very differently. We want to understand what parents and children do to help their children adjust positively to their life situations.
Children who adapt well in stressful or difficult situations are called “resilient.” If we can understand what parents and children do to help their children develop positive social skills, responsibility, and self-esteem, we can help other children to adopt similar behaviors. We will use our growing understanding of what contributes to children’s resilience and self-esteem to develop interventions to promote positive adjustment.
We are committed to developing interventions that apply to a wide range of children: children with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, from single and two-parent households, and from all walks of life. That is why we want the families that participate in our project to be diverse and from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
1997-1999 Children, Families, & Neighborhoods Project
106 families participated in the 97-98 interviews. 58 boys and 48 girls were interviewed. Children who participated in the study lived in various family configurations: 33% lived with a single parent; 56% lived with both a biological mom and dad; 11% lived with one biological parent and one step-parent or they lived with a grandparent or sibling. The families who participated were also from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds: 32% of the children were African American; 3% were of Asian background; 2% were of Hispanic background; 47% were European American or White; and 14% were of multiple cultural or ethnic backgrounds or other background. The families who participated represent the variety and richness of children’s experiences, and this will be very informative as we try to understand children’s family and neighborhood experiences. We want to thank the families who participated for letting us into your homes and find out more about you and your experiences.
89 of these families returned for the second interview 1 year after their first one. These follow up interviews are critical to helping us understand how children grow and change! Thanks for participating both times!!
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Kids World
Kid’s World Project at the University of Washington studied children’s individual responses to their experiences. Two children with similar experiences can respond very differently. We wanted to understand what children and parents do to help their children develop into healthy individuals.
1999-2004 Kids’ World Project
214 families participated in the interviews in 1999-2000. Children who participated in the study lived in various family configurations: 29% lived with a single parent; 60% lived with both a biological mom and dad; 11% lived with one biological parent and one step-parent or they lived with a grandparent or sibling. The families who participated were also from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds: 16% of the children were African American; 3% were of Asian background; 4% were of Hispanic background; 70% were European American or White; and 5% were of multiple cultural or ethnic backgrounds or other background. The families who participated represent the variety and richness of children’s experiences, and this has been very informative as we worked to understand children’s family and neighborhood experiences. We want to thank the families who participated for letting us into your homes and find out more about you and your experiences.
191 of these families returned for second and third interviews 1 and 2 years after their first one, and 150 youth completed surveys when they were 18-21 years old! These follow up interviews were critical to helping us understand how children develop the resources for dealing with stress, and how parents and families support their positive development. Thanks for letting us watch your children grow over the years!!
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Project 1, 2, 3, GO!
In 2008 we started Project 1, 2, 3, Go! which is a developmental study of 3-year-old children and their parents. We have followed children’s development of self-regulation, social-emotional competence, and psychological adjustment across 9 years, and during the COVID19 pandemic.
We are interested in finding out more about how self-regulation develops and contributes to well-being in children. These skills are critical for children’s positive social development, but we know little about how children gain these skills and what contributes to their development over time. We want to learn more about what families do to promote positive behaviors in children, particularly when families experience major stress and economic difficulties in their lives.
Our goal is to follow children’s development from preschool through high school. We hope to stay in contact with families and continue learning about youth and families’ experiences.
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