Introduction
functioning, temperament, well-being, life skills, engagement and others (see Eccles
& Gootman, 2002; Gottfried et al., 2003).
There are important differences in the way family factors influence the different
domains of development and one cannot assume that if, for example, parental income
impacts on school test scores it will also impact on behaviour or temperament.
Unfortunately, there is a large evidence gap in regard to these relative differences in
the nature of effects on different domains. The ecological model is sufficiently
general that it can be applied to all aspects of development but we do not have
detailed evidence on how the model works for all possible outcomes. In this paper,
therefore, there is discussion at times of development generally and at times of
outcomes defined more specifically. The important distinctions in the relevant
processes are left to subsequent work.
1.5.3 The importance of social and historical context
As well as spending time in different institutional or environmental contexts, children
live within specific historical or social contexts that will also moderate the nature of
their experiences and the effects of them on development. Much of the analysis
described in subsequent sections ignores this social and historical contingency. This is
not so much a problem in relation to the conceptual framework as in regard to the
evidence presented. Although the ecological framework could be applied to any type
of social grouping in which children live, at any historical era, the precise estimates of
effects or pathways are contingent on time, place and social context.
In places we have been regrettably dependent on US evidence which is particularly
strong in methodological and measurement terms but context-dependent. In the sphere
of parent-child relations the underlying issues may be more universal than for more
localised issues such as education systems. There are, therefore, reasons to view this
evidence as relevant to the UK context. However, because of recent and on-going
investments in large sample UK data collection and analysis (such as the Millennium
Cohort, the survey of the children of the 1970 Birth Cohort, the Effective Provision of
Pre-School Project and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) future
reviews will have more UK evidence to draw on.
1.5.4 Compounding risk
It is well established that children are vulnerable to adverse social and economic
circumstances. But children react differently to the same biological or environmental
risks. Early experiences, whether good or bad, do not determine an invariant life path.
For example, in Werner and Smith’s (1992) longitudinal study of high risk children,
one third had made satisfactory life adjustments by adulthood, despite being born into
highly disadvantaged circumstances. Why is it that some individuals succeed despite
the odds, breaking cycles of poverty and deprivation (Clarke & Clarke, 2000; Elder et
al., 1991) , while others from privileged backgrounds struggle to do so?
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