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Course: Pediatric Nursing

Topic: Social, Cultural, and

Environmental/ Community Factors in Child Development

The Nurses International Community

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COPYRIGHT

NI Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

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Module Goals

Learners will be able to:

Discuss how social, cultural, environmental, and socioeconomic factors impact a child’s growth & development.
Discuss the nurse’s role in providing care to children and families from various social, community, and cultural backgrounds.

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What is Development?

Development in function and capability.

Healthy development means that children of all abilities, including those with special health care needs, have their emotional, social, and educational needs met s they grow.

Balasundaram & Avulakunta, 2022

Graber, 2021

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Factors Influencing Growth and Development

National Institute of Health, 2014

Social factors

Peer groups
School
Community
Media

Ethnicity and culture
Environmental factors
Socioeconomic factors

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Social Factors: Peer Influences

Peer groups:

Social groups that are made of people of similar age, education or social status and which primarily consist of individuals that share similar or same status

Important role in the socialization of the child

Poor peer relations in the childhood may result in social maladaptive adjustment and negative behaviors

Blazeve, 2016

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Social Factors: Peer Influences (Continued)

Unpopular children is a category that consists of children that may have been rejected, isolated and neglected.

Characteristics of children that are seen or perceived as unpopular

Hyperactive
Aggressive
Egoistic and focused on themselves
Overestimate their capabilities disregarding the needs of others
Lonely & shy

Blazeve, 2016

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Social Factors: School Influence

The school needs to be a place where children can learn academic and social skills including:

Knowledge, skills and capabilities
Resolve conflicts in a nonviolent way
Develop cooperative and successful relationships with others
Tolerance
Acquire knowledge and experiences to use in everyday life

Blazeve, 2016

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Social Factors: Community Influence

The environment where a wide array of peer and other social interactions take place

The characteristics of a neighborhood

social cohesion
economic status
housing quality
availability of resources

Institute of Medicine (US) and National Research Council (US), 2011

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Social Factors: Media Influence

Positive: learn skill with technology
Negative: due to excessive screen time

Children spending more than 4 hours/day watching TV are more likely to be overweight.
Children viewing violence on screens are more likely to show aggressive behavior, fear that the world is scary and that something bad may happen to them.
Teens playing violent video games are more likely to be aggressive.
Characters on TV and in video games often model risky behaviors, such as smoking and drinking, aggression.

Cronan & Pitone, 2021

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Social Factors: Media Influence (Continued)

8 to 18-year-olds use media actively for 6 hours and 21 minutes a day.
25% of teenagers use two or more types of media at the same time.
During the 2001–2002 television season, 71 percent of programs included sexual content, with an average of 6.1 such scenes per hour.
82 percent included sexual talk and 60% included sexual behavior, 4 percent portrayed sexual intercourse.

Institute of Medicine (US) and National Research Council (US), 2011

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Social Factors: Media Influence (continued)

In 2007, there were 44 million Internet users under the age of 18, and 47 percent of 8 to 18-year-olds went online every day

42 percent had clicked on pornographic sites
4 percent had been asked for sexual pictures of themselves by someone they did not know

Usage of social networking sites has also grown exponentially

Institute of Medicine (US) and National Research Council (US), 2011

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Social Factors: Media Influence (continued)

The more sexual content children view on television, the more likely they are to initiate early sexual activity
In one study, 12 to 14-year-olds exposed to sexual content in television, movies, music, and magazines were more than twice as likely than those not exposed to have sex by age 16
Another study showed that 6 to 8-year-olds who watched adult programming were significantly more likely to engage in sex by ages 12 to 14 than those who did not watch adult programs

Institute of Medicine (US) and National Research Council (US), 2011

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What Would the Nurse Do?

The nurse is providing a teaching session to parents of teenagers regarding screens and their effects on development.

What information should the nurse include?

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Cultural Factors

Cultural background gives children a sense of who they are

Culture influences social development in several ways

Cultural habits
Religious practices
Artistic expression and reception
Language

Maryville University, 2022

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Environmental Factors

Maryville University, 2022

Poor air quality

Example: A child exposed to polluted air, for example, might develop asthma as a teenager

Poor access to clean water
Lead & mold exposure in the home
Due to active growth & development environmental contaminants may cause greater harm to children than to adults

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Environmental Factors

Contributory factors

Material deprivation

Severe if children are deprived in at least four of seven dimensions (nutrition, clothing, educational materials, housing conditions, social environment, leisure and social opportunities

Poor parental health
Low parental education
Family stress
Exposure to intimate partner violence

Maryville University, 2022

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Case Study/Critical Thinking Question/What would the nurse do?

Discuss the relationship between poverty and child development with a peer.

How might the nurse provide interventions to ameliorate these effects?

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Socioeconomic Factors

(Balasundaram & Avulakunta, 2022

Lower Income may result in poor nutrition:

Deficiencies of trace minerals affects growth and development
Iron deficiency affects psychomotor development
Zinc deficiency is associated with growth retardation and developmental delay
Malnutrition has negative effect on physical and psychological growth and development

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Role of Nurse in Pediatrics

WHO, 19 November 2015

Knowledgeable of the factors that impact the growth and development of children

Genetic, maternal, cultural, social, family and environment
Family/Caregiver health beliefs and practices

Assess child rearing practices of family/caregivers
Provide health education related to disease prevention, early identification and health promotion

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Nurses Role in Community

Primary approaches to promote intact communities:

Work with individuals and families to manage or cope with the stresses of living in a disadvantaged neighborhood.

SAFE Children program (Schools and Family Education)

Develop community coalitions or partnerships to address specific social problems within the neighborhood.
Focus on economic development to improve neighborhood conditions.

Institute of Medicine (US) and National Research Council (US), 2011

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Red Flags

Poverty
Malnourishment
Signs or symptoms of abuse
Poor living conditions described in home and/or neighborhood
Low health literacy of parents/caregivers
Unemployment of parent(s)/caregivers
Screen for other childhood adverse experiences: Violence in home or neighborhood, divorce, incarceration of parent, bullying in school or home

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Cultural Considerations

Child rearing practices of parents
Food/diet
Discipline practices
Sleep/co-sleeping
Elimination practices
Attitudes and practices related to menstruation
Beliefs related to health and illness
Gender roles
Roles of other authority figures in culture: Grandparents, Shaman, Curandero, spiritual leaders
Impact of intermarriage and genetic disorders

Andrews, Boyle & Collins, 2020

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Reference:

Andrews, M.M., Boyle, J.S. & Collins, J.W. (2020). Transcultural concepts in nursing care. Wolters Kluwer: Philadelphia, PA.

Balasundaram, P., Avulakunta, I. D. (2022 Jan 14). Human Growth and Development. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK567767/

Blazeve, I. (2016 March 28). Family, Peer and School Influence on Children's Social Development. World Journal of Education. Vol. 6, No. 2. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1158301.pdf

Child Information Gateway (n.d ). Family Factors That Contribute to Child Abuse and Neglect.https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/can/factors/family/

Cronan, K. M. & Pitone, M. L. (2021). How Media Use Can Affect Kids.https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/tv-affects-child.html

Contact info: info@nursesinternational.org

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Reference:

Graber, E., G. (April 2021). Introduction to Growth and Development. MSD Manual. https://www.msdmanuals.com/en-in/professional/pediatrics/growth-and-development/introduction-to-growth-and-development

Institute of Medicine (US) and National Research Council (US) Committee on the Science of Adolescence. (2011). The Science of Adolescent Risk-Taking: Workshop Report. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); The Influence of Environment. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53409/

National Institute of Health. (september 29, 2014). Exploring Factors That Influence Child Development. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/newsroom/resources/spotlight/092914-factors-child-development

Maggi et al., (2005). Analytic and Strategic Review Paper: International Perspectives on Early Child Development. HELP. https://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/ecd.pdf?ua=1#:~:text=Factors%20such%20as%20adequate%20maternal,recentx%20research%E2%80%94these%20family%2Dlevel

Maryville University. (2022). Cultural Influences on Child Development. https://online.maryville.edu/blog/cultural-influences-on-child-development/

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