The effect of special educational assistance in early childhood education and care on psycho-social difficulties in elementary school children

The study investigates how special educational assistance in kindergarten affects children’s psychosocial difficulties in primary school age. The researchers investigate whether children receiving this assistance have fewer psychosocial challenges such as anxiety, behavioural problems, and communication difficulties when they start school, compared to children who do not receive such assistance. The goal is to understand the importance of early intervention for children with special needs. The research questions are: 1) Do children who receive special education assistance in kindergarten have fewer psychosocial difficulties in primary school compared to children who do not receive such assistance? 2) How does the effect of special education assistance vary between different groups of children with developmental or behavioural problems?

The results show that children who received special education assistance in kindergarten at five years of age had fewer psychosocial difficulties at eight years of age than those who did not receive such assistance. The effect was positive in all areas investigated. The results suggest that special education assistance may be useful for children with developmental or behavioural problems, and that early support in kindergarten is important for promoting children’s psychosocial development. The effect of special education assistance was similar across different groups of children with different types of developmental or behavioural problems, suggesting that assistance may be effective regardless of specific problems.

The study uses data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), a nationwide prospective cohort study that follows children from birth to eight years of age. The analyses include 2499 children who were reported to have developmental or behavioural problems at five years of age. The information was collected through questionnaires answered by parents when the children were five and eight years old.

Biele, G., Lekhal, R., Overgaard, K. R., Wang, M. V., Brandlistuen, R. E., Friis, S., & Zeiner, P. (2022). The effect of special educational assistance in early childhood education and care on psycho-social difficulties in elementary school children. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 16:14.