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20 - Experiences in Middle Childhood and Children's Development: A Summary and Integration of Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2009

By
Aletha C. Huston  and
Marika N. Ripke
Edited by
Aletha C. Huston  and
Marika N. Ripke
Aletha C. Huston
Affiliation:
Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor of Child Development for the Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin
Marika N. Ripke
Affiliation:
Director of Hawaii Kids Count and Affiliate Faculty for the Center on the Family, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Aletha C. Huston
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin
Marika N. Ripke
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii, Manoa
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Summary

Over two decades ago, when a major review of development in middle childhood was published (Collins, 1984), the authors concluded that middle childhood characteristics predict adolescent and adult development better than preschool indicators do. Although many people would not find this conclusion surprising, it contradicted two widespread notions: that a child's future is shaped in early childhood and that little of interest happens in middle childhood compared with “coming of age” in adolescence. The authors called for new research investigating the processes by which the phenomena of middle childhood account for later development, and more inquiry into the effects of middle childhood experiences and environments, particularly economic and cultural backgrounds, using more sophisticated methods to investigate complex developmental questions.

More than 20 years later, we are positioned to address middle childhood processes and environments with several context-rich longitudinal studies, many of which specifically examine economic and cultural variations. Advances in research methods and data analytic techniques allow a variety of new approaches to our central questions.

We address two related questions:

  • How do developmental patterns in middle childhood – both continuous and discontinuous – relate to directions taken in adolescence and adulthood?

  • What do experiences in the family, peer group, school, out-of-school time, and the larger economic and cultural milieus of middle childhood contribute to long-term developmental patterns?

Type
Chapter
Information
Developmental Contexts in Middle Childhood
Bridges to Adolescence and Adulthood
 , pp. 409 - 434
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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References

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