Child and Family Development in the First Two Decades of

国家儿童健康和人类发展研究所比较行为学实验室的儿童和家庭研究科（CFRS）调查了在人生的头二十年中影响人类身体、精神、情感和社会发展的性格、经验和环境因素。CFRS的研究目标是描述、分析和评估(a)发展中儿童的能力和倾向，包括他们的生理功能、感知和认知能力、情感和社会成长以及互动方式；(b)家庭和社会世界中相互作用对儿童和父母的性质和后果；(c)对儿童接触自然环境和设计环境及其相互作用的发展的影响。研究主题涉及生命最初20年各种心理构念、结构、功能和过程的起源、现状和发展；儿童特征和活动对家长的影响；以及不同社会人口和文化群体在养育子女和家庭中的差异的意义。实验室和家庭研究采用多种方法，包括心理生理记录、实验技术、行为观察、标准化评估、评定量表、访谈和纵向和横断面设计的人口统计/普查记录。调查中的社会人口学比较包括家庭经济地位、母亲年龄和就业状况、儿童平等和日托经历。文化研究地点包括阿根廷、澳大利亚、比利时、巴西、喀麦隆、加拿大、智利、英国、法国、以色列、意大利、日本、肯尼亚、秘鲁、韩国以及美国；在所有地方，文化内和跨文化的比较都是追求的。设立了儿童和家庭研究科，其广泛目标是调查人类成长条件的变化对人类发展的影响方式。

The Child and Family Research Section (CFRS) in the Laboratory of Comparative Ethology in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development investigates dispositional, experiential, and environmental factors that contribute to physical, mental, emotional, and social development in human beings during the first two decades of life. The research goals of the CFRS are to describe, analyze, and assess (a) the capabilities and proclivities of developing children, including their physiological functioning, perceptual and cognitive abilities, emotional and social growth, and interactional styles; (b) the nature and consequences of interactions within the family and the social world for children and parents; and (c) influences on development of children's exposure to and interactions with the natural and designed environment. Research topics concern the origins, status, and development of diverse psychological constructs, structures, functions, and processes in the first two decades of life; effects of child characteristics and activities on parents; and the meaning of variations in parenting and in the family across different sociodemographic and cultural groups. Laboratory and home-based studies employ a variety of approaches, including psychophysiological recordings, experimental techniques, behavioral observations, standardized assessments, rating scales, interviews, and demographic/census records in both longitudinal and cross-sectional designs. Sociodemographic comparisons under investigation include family SES, maternal age and employment status, and child parity and daycare experience. Cultural study sites include Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, England, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Peru, the Republic of South Korea, as well as the United States; in all places, intra-cultural as well as cross-cultural comparisons are pursued. The Child and Family Research Section was established with the broad aim of investigating the ways in which human development is affected by variations in the conditions under which human beings are reared. The CFRS also conducts a broad program of research in neuroscience and behavioral pediatrics that investigates questions at the interface of child development, biology, and health. Childhood is a time of vulnerability (to accidents, in risk taking), as it is formative in habit development and decision making (nutrition, exercise) for the balance of the life span. This research has several facets, including fetal growth and development and their predictive validity for postnatal performance, the role of heart function in psychological development, developmental sequelae following preterm birth, the impact of deafness on child development and family life, development after in utero cocaine exposure, the developmental consequences of cancer and surgery in infancy, children's knowledge, implementation, and evaluation of strategies for coping with stressful medical interventions, and effects of maternal depression on child development and parenting. To meet this multifaceted charge, the CFRS has undertaken three integrated multicultural, multivariate, multiage research programs that are supplemented by a variety of ancillary investigations. These research programs represent an en bloc effort. The first program is a prospective longitudinal study designed to explore multiple aspects of child development in the context of major sociodemographic comparisons. The second program broadens the perspectives of the first to encompass cultural influences on development within the same basic longitudinal framework. The third program is composed of applied extensions of this basic research into neuroscience and behavioral pediatrics. The ultimate aims of these research programs are concerned directly with promoting aware, fit, and motivated children who, as a hopeful eventuality, willl grow into knowledgeable, healthy, and happy adults.