Adversities of Childhood Experience and School Readiness - Focus on children born to teen and non-teen mothers in the Growing Up in New Zealand data

This research looked at the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) among children of teen mothers within the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) cohort, and the extent to which the number of ACEs experienced by a teen mother and/or her child relates to a child’s school readiness. The study sample was relatively small, given there are only 301 teen mothers in the GUiNZ cohort data.

Findings

• ACEs are more commonly experienced by children of teen mothers than by children of non-teen mothers, for example: 42.9% of children born to teen mothers had experienced two or more ACEs at age 54 months compared to 16.4% of children born to non-teen mothers.
• Although it proved difficult to establish statistical significance in some cases, a consistent finding of a negative relationship between an increasing number of ACEs and a child’s school readiness was observed.
• Poorer performance on school readiness tests at all levels of ACEs exposure however suggests the path to poor school outcomes for children of teen mothers is not purely via ACEs exposure, and that children born to teen mothers might benefit from support to improve school readiness, even if their observed ACE scores are low.

School Readiness, Adversities in Childhood Experience and Access to Government Services: A Scoping Study on Potential Protective Factors

School readiness refers to the seven school readiness assessments administered during the 54-month GUiNZ survey wave: Affective Knowledge Score, Hand Clapping Test, Counting Up, Counting Down, DIBELs Letter Naming, Name Writing, and Number Writing.

The researchers (from AUT’s Centre for Social Data Analytics and Oranga Tamariki) explored the extent to which government services across three domains: Healthcare, Early Childhood Education and Social Services, might offset negative impacts of ACEs and improve school readiness.

Findings

• For children who had experienced multiple ACEs, four factors had the largest potential effect on school readiness, all related to a child’s access to a General Practitioner.
• For the subset of children who had experienced the ACE of childhood physical abuse two factors had the largest potential effects related to school readiness: contact with social support agencies when needed, and the use of paid Early Childhood Education (ECE).

The researchers argue that the finding that access to a General Practitioner potentially has a strong effect on school readiness suggests that improving general access to healthcare for children at risk of experiencing multiple ACEs could potentially improve school readiness.  

The researchers also note their findings suggest access to good quality, paid ECE may have a role to play in closing the gaps in school readiness for children who experience ACEs.

For enquiries about this research please email research@msd.govt.nz