Peer-reviewed article
The association between parental risks and childhood development: findings from a community-based survey in East China
Shuangshuang Zheng, Jianing Fang, Guannan Bai, Xinyu He, Mengdi Hua et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how parental risks affect early childhood development in rural East China. Nearly half of children under three had at least one parental risk factor, and these children were significantly more likely to show signs of developmental delay. Children exposed to three or more parental risks had much higher risks of delays in communication, problem-solving, and social-emotional skills. The findings suggest that screening for parental risks in health care settings could help identify children who need support for healthy development.
Key points
- 46.70% of 3,852 children aged 0-3 years in rural Zhejiang Province had at least one parental risk factor
- 9.01% of children showed suspected developmental delays across domains measured by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire
- Children with parental risks had 1.36 times higher relative risk of overall developmental delay
- Children exposed to 3 or more parental risks had 2.59 times higher risk of overall delay, 5.76 times higher for communication delays, 3.95 times for problem-solving, and 2.84 times for personal-social delays
- Linear trend found: more parental risks correlated with higher likelihood of developmental delay
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional survey that cannot establish causation, only association between parental risks and developmental delays. The study does not identify which specific parental risk factors are most important or describe the nature and severity of the developmental delays detected.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Nurturing care is necessary for optimal early childhood development. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of parental risks in rural East China and assess their impacts on early development in children younger than three years old. METHODS: This community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 3852 caregiver-child pairs in Zhejiang Province from December 2019 to January 2020. Children aged 0 to 3 years were recruited from China's Early Childhood Development Program (ECD). Local child health care providers conducted face-to-face interviews with the primary caregivers. Demographic information of the participants was collected by questionnaire. Each child was screened for parental risk through the Parental Risk Checklist designed by the ECD program. The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) was used to identify children with potential developmental delays. Multinomial logistic regression model and linear trend test were applied to assess the association between parental risks and suspected developmental delays. RESULTS: Among the 3852 children included in the analyses, 46.70% had at least one parental risk and 9.01% presented suspected developmental delays in any domain of ASQ. Parental risk was statistically associated with the overall suspected developmental delay in young children (Relative Risk Ratio (RRR): 1.36; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08, 1.72; P = 0.010) after adjusting potential confounders. Compared with children with no parental risk, children exposed to 3 or more parental risks had 2.59, 5.76, 3.95, and 2.84 times higher risk of the suspected developmental delay in overall ASQ, communication, problem-solving, and personal-social domain, respectively (P values < 0.05). The linear trend tests found that the more parental risks, the higher possibility of developmental delay (P values < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Parental risks are prevalent among children under three years in rural East China, which may increase the risk of developmental delays in children. Meanwhile, parental risk screening can be used to recognize poor nurturing care in primary health care settings. Targeted interventions are warranted to improve nurturing care for optimal early childhood development.