Impact of a social skills program on children's stress: A cluster randomized trial.
Child care
Cortisol
Daycare
Diurnal cortisol
Low income
Social skills training
Journal
Psychoneuroendocrinology
ISSN: 1873-3360
Titre abrégé: Psychoneuroendocrinology
Pays: England
ID NLM: 7612148
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
06 2019
06 2019
Historique:
received:
10
08
2018
revised:
15
02
2019
accepted:
15
02
2019
pubmed:
5
3
2019
medline:
19
5
2020
entrez:
5
3
2019
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Most preschool children in Western industrialized countries attend child care during the day while parents work. Studies suggest that child care may be stressful to young children, perhaps because they still lack the social skills to interact daily in a group setting away from parents. This gap in social abilities may be greater for children in lower-income families, who may face more adversity at home, with fewer resources and more social isolation. We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial in 2013-2014 to test whether a social skills intervention led by early childhood educators within the child care center could reduce diurnal cortisol levels to more typical patterns expected of children this age. We randomized 19 public child care centers (n = 361 children) in low-income neighborhoods of Montreal, Canada, to either: 1) the Minipally program - intervention group (n = 10 centers; 186 children), or 2) waiting list - control group (n = 9 centers; 175 children). Saliva samples for cortisol levels were collected 3 times/day, pre- and post-implementation. The Minipally puppet program consists of 2 workshops/month for 8 months for the development of social skills and self-regulation in 2-5-year-olds, with reinforcement activities between workshops. Educators received 2-days' training and 12 h' supervision in Minipally. Linear mixed models for repeated measures revealed a significant interaction between intervention status and time of day of cortisol sampling (β = -0.18, p = 0.04). The intervention group showed patterns of decreasing diurnal cortisol secretion (β = -0.32, p < 0.01), whereas the control group showed increasing slopes (β = 0.20, p < 0.01). Moreover, family income was a moderator; children in lower-income families benefited most from the intervention. Results suggest that a social skills training program, when integrated into a preschool education curriculum, can foster an environment more conducive to typical childhood patterns of cortisol secretion.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
Most preschool children in Western industrialized countries attend child care during the day while parents work. Studies suggest that child care may be stressful to young children, perhaps because they still lack the social skills to interact daily in a group setting away from parents. This gap in social abilities may be greater for children in lower-income families, who may face more adversity at home, with fewer resources and more social isolation.
METHODS
We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial in 2013-2014 to test whether a social skills intervention led by early childhood educators within the child care center could reduce diurnal cortisol levels to more typical patterns expected of children this age. We randomized 19 public child care centers (n = 361 children) in low-income neighborhoods of Montreal, Canada, to either: 1) the Minipally program - intervention group (n = 10 centers; 186 children), or 2) waiting list - control group (n = 9 centers; 175 children). Saliva samples for cortisol levels were collected 3 times/day, pre- and post-implementation. The Minipally puppet program consists of 2 workshops/month for 8 months for the development of social skills and self-regulation in 2-5-year-olds, with reinforcement activities between workshops. Educators received 2-days' training and 12 h' supervision in Minipally.
RESULTS
Linear mixed models for repeated measures revealed a significant interaction between intervention status and time of day of cortisol sampling (β = -0.18, p = 0.04). The intervention group showed patterns of decreasing diurnal cortisol secretion (β = -0.32, p < 0.01), whereas the control group showed increasing slopes (β = 0.20, p < 0.01). Moreover, family income was a moderator; children in lower-income families benefited most from the intervention.
CONCLUSION
Results suggest that a social skills training program, when integrated into a preschool education curriculum, can foster an environment more conducive to typical childhood patterns of cortisol secretion.
Identifiants
pubmed: 30831344
pii: S0306-4530(18)30823-0
doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.02.017
pii:
doi:
Substances chimiques
Hydrocortisone
WI4X0X7BPJ
Types de publication
Journal Article
Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
115-121Subventions
Organisme : CIHR
ID : MOP: 114984
Pays : Canada
Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.