文/利兹·绍博 格雷格·托波 译/周忠花

By Liz Szabo & Greg Toppo

众所周知，望子成龙心切的父母会在幼儿尚处襁褓之时便为他们播放莫扎特的音乐，也会在他们尚未步入学堂之时便手持识字卡向他们发问。

[2]但基于一项新研究，这些父母或许会再度关注对孩子为人处世的基础教育，如学会分享以及机会均等。

[3]这项研究对750余名年仅5岁的孩子进行了为期20年的跟踪调查，最终发现具有较强社交能力和情绪管理能力的学龄前儿童比其他孩子更容易在学术和事业上有所造诣。

这是新近发布的两项研究之一，这两项研究均表明了童年生活对孩子一生的影响。

[4]根据这项发表于《美国公共卫生杂志》的研究，幼儿园时期在“社交能力”一项取得高分的孩子比同龄人更有可能按时完成中学学业，获得大学学位并拥有稳定工作。但文章指出，社交能力并不仅仅指结交朋友。事实上，老师们会从团队协作、解决冲突、倾听他人意见以及谦和地提供建议等多方面对孩子们的表现进行考评。

Parents who want their kids to succeed have been known to play Mozart in the nursery and quiz their preschoolers1preschooler学龄前儿童。with fl ash cards2flash card识字卡。.

[2] A new study suggests these parents might want to go back to the basics by teaching children to share and take turns.

[3] Kindergartners with strong social and emotional skills were more likely than their peers to succeed academically and professionally, according to a 20-year study that followed more than 750 children until age 25.

The study is one of two published recently that illustrate how a child’s early childhood shapes adult life.

[4] In the first study, youngsters whose kindergarten teachers gave them the highest scores on “social competence” were more likely than other kids to graduate high school on time, earn a college degree and hold full-time jobs. Social competence involves more than making friends,according to the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health3《美国公共卫生杂志》为美国公共卫生协会会刊，成立于1911年，旨在推动公共卫生的研究、政策、现状和教育。.Teachers rated kids on the ability to cooperate, resolve conflicts, listen to others’ points of view, give suggestions without being bossy4bossy 专横的。and other skills.

[5] Kids with weaker social skills were more likely to develop substance abuse5substance abuse（精神性）药物滥用。problems, be unemployed, smoke pot6pot〈俚语〉大麻。, get arrested, live in public housing or receive public assistance, according to the study, which included children from low-income neighborhoods in Nashville; Seattle; Durham, N.C.7N.C.为North Carolina缩写，即美国北卡罗来纳州。; and central Pennsylvania.

[6] For some measures of adult success, good social skills appeared to be more important than academic ability,said co-author Damon Jones, a senior research associate at Pennsylvania State University. Likewise, social competence often proved to be a better predictor than race, sex or family income.

[5]而在考评中表现不佳的孩子则更易于出现滥用药物、失业、吸食毒品、锒铛入狱、居住廉租房以及接受公共救济借以度日等问题。值得一提的是，研究中的孩子有的来自纳什维尔、西雅图、北卡罗来纳州达勒姆市和宾夕法尼亚州中部等地区低收入居民区。

[6]按成人的一些成功标准来看，良好的社交技能似乎比学术能力更为重要，宾夕法尼亚州立大学高级助理研究员，同时也是此项研究作者之一的戴蒙·琼斯表示。而且，社交能力通常比种族、性别以及家庭收入更能决定一个人的未来。

[7]但儿科医师迪娜·莉瑟尔认为，幼时社交能力差并不意味着就与成功无缘。

[7] Children with poor social skills in kindergarten are by no means a lost cause8lost cause必将失败的事业，败局已定的事业。, pediatrician9pediatrician儿科医师。Dina Lieser said.

[8] The study provides a hopeful message, because it’s possible to improve social skills throughout childhood, said Lieser, chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics10美国儿科学会致力于帮助婴幼儿、青少年和年轻人解决身体和心理上的一切问题，代表着美国育儿领域最前沿的研究水平和最丰’council on early childhood, who wasn’t involved in the study.

[9] A growing number of studies point to the importance of early childhood experiences in shaping the brain and later behavior. A 2011 study found that people who showed more selfcontrol as preschoolers were healthier and wealthier by age 32, even after researchers considered influential factors such as IQ11为intelligencequotient（智力商数）的缩写，简称智商。and social class.

[10] A second new study found that psychiatric12psychiatric精神病学的；精神病治疗的。troubles in the teen and preteen years predicted future problems in adult life.

[11] That study, published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry13JAMA为《美国医学会杂志》（The Journal of the American Medical Association）的缩写，是美国医学会主办的一种综合性临床医学杂志，创办于1883年,是国际四大著名医学周刊之一。《美国医学会杂志·精神病学》（JAMA Psychiatry）为其分刊。, found that children who had mental health problems at ages 9 to 16 were more likely to suffer legal, fi nancial, health or social problems by age 19 to 26.

[8]相反，莉瑟尔认为，这项研究给人们带来了希望，因为社交能力随着儿童成长存在提高的可能。莉瑟尔是美国儿科学会幼儿教育委员会主席，并未参与此项研究。

[9]童年经历会对个人智力和后期行为产生不可忽视的影响，这一点已经得到越来越多研究的证实。2011年的一项研究发现，即使将智商和社会阶层等其他影响因素考虑在内，学前时期更为自律的孩子到32岁时还是更为健康和富有。

[10]另一项研究则发现，青少年时期的精神困扰会影响未来成年后的生活。

[11]这项周三发表于《美国医学会杂志·精神病学》的研究还指出，9至16岁年龄段患有心理疾病的孩子更有可能在19至26岁期间遭遇法律、经济、健康和社交上的问题。

[12]事实上，心理疾病在这批研究对象中非常普遍，近半数以上的孩子都未能幸免。这项研究是大雾山研究项目的一部分，其研究对象主要来自于北卡罗来纳州11个以农业为主的县区。

[12] Mental health problems were common in the research project,affecting more than half of the children in the study, part of the Great Smoky Mountains Study14大雾山研究项目始于1993年，因研究对象来自北卡罗来纳州西部，而该地区又属于大雾山山区，故此得名。大雾山国家公园，也称大烟山，位于田纳西州与北卡罗来纳州交界处，是美国最受欢迎的国家公园。, which included children from 11 mostly rural counties in North Carolina.

[13] About 26% of 1,420 children in the study met the criteria for a behavioral or emotional disorders,such as depression, anxiety, substance use disorder or attention-deficit/hyperactivity15hyperactivity极度活跃，活动过度。disorder. About 31% of children had a psychiatric problem that was troubling but didn’t met the criteria for an official diagnosis.

[14] Researchers followed the children to see which ones developed a major problem in adulthood, such as becoming suicidal, becoming addicted to drugs,developing multiple psychiatric problems, being charged with a felony16felony严重犯罪（如谋杀、放火、强奸等）。,being incarcerated17incarcerate监禁，下狱；禁闭。, dropping out of high school or becoming a teen parent.

[15] Nearly 20% of healthy kids experienced one of these problems,compared with 42% of those with mild mental health problems and 60%of those with a diagnosed psychiatric disorder, according to the research.

[13]研究发现，参与研究的1420名儿童中符合行为和情绪障碍症状的占近26%，具体症状包括抑郁、焦虑、药物滥用、注意力缺陷或者多动症等。此外，约有31%的研究对象有心理问题，但尚不符合正式诊断标准。

[14]研究人员通过对孩子们进行跟踪调查，研究他们成年之后的主要问题，如具有自杀倾向、沉迷毒品、身患多重精神疾病、被控重罪、遭遇监禁、中学辍学以及早育。

[15]根据这项研究，心理健康的孩子长大后出现上述问题的仅占近20%，而在患有轻微心理疾病的孩子和被确诊患有精神疾病的孩子中，这一比例却分别高达42%和60%。

[16]但在患有精神障碍的孩子中，仅有40%曾接受过些许帮助，而真正在专业心理健康机构接受过治疗的也不过20%，杜克大学医学院副教授威廉·科普兰表示。

[16] Only 40% of kids with psychiatric problems got any help at all,and only 20% were treated at a specialty mental health facility, said study co-author William Copeland, an associate professor at the Duke University School of Medicine.

[17] Copeland said his study shows it’s important to help these high-risk youngsters. “These problems don’t just resolve themselves and go away,”Copeland said.

[18] Pediatricians should screen children for social, emotional and behavioral problems and, if needed,arrange for help for parents, as well,Lieser said. Treating a mother’s depression, for example, can help the whole family.

[19] Early-childhood education advocates say investing in education can help communities reap18reap收获，收割。benefits that go well beyond the costs of sending a typical 3- or 4-year-old to a high-quality preschool. An often-quoted figure promises that $1 invested in preschool and other early interventions can yield as much as $16 or $17 in benefits down the road.

[17]科普兰认为该研究已经证实帮助这些高风险人群具有十分重要的意义。 “这些问题不会自行消弭，”科普兰说道。

[18]莉瑟尔则认为，儿科医师应该从社交、情绪和行为方面对儿童作全面检查，而且如果条件允许的话，还应该为儿童父母提供必要的帮助。比如，治愈母亲的抑郁会对整个家庭产生积极的影响。

[19]幼儿教育的倡导者声称，教育投资为社区所带来的收益要远远超过将一名三四岁孩童送到高质量幼儿园的花费。有一项数据经常被引用，在幼儿园以及其他儿童教育机构中每投入1美元，便能在未来创造16或17美元的收益。

[20]或许最广为人知的案例——琼斯在研究中也有引用——包括正在进行的佩里学前教育研究计划。佩里学前教育研究是20世纪60年代由美国高瞻教育研究基金会在密歇根州伊普西兰蒂组织的实验研究项目。该项目对当地约125名家境贫困的非裔儿童的跟踪调查持续到青年时期，最终发现接受佩里学前教育的孩子较少需要特殊教育服务；拥有更高的中学毕业率；其年轻女性早育的比例也仅为对照组的一半。

[20] Perhaps the most well-known example—and Jones cites it in his study—involves the ongoing study of the Perry Preschool19Perry Preschool Program Study佩里学前教育研究项目是由美国海斯科普教育研究基金会组织的实验研究项目，也是美国最早启动、最具名气的幼儿教育长期研究项目，其实验研究结果有力地证明了幼儿教育对人的未来发展具有长远的影响。, a Ypsilanti,Mich., program that served poor African-American children in the 1960s. Researchers with the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation20High/Scope Educational Research Foundation美国海斯科普教育研究基金会，也译高瞻教育研究基金会，是全美学前教育研究和评价方面的权威机构，致力于将主动学习应用到实际课程中去，开发海斯科普课程，进行教育质量评估，开展早期教育项目有效性的相关研究，以及培训早教教师及管理人员。其最为有名的研究项目即为佩里学前教育研究项目。,based in Ypsilanti, tracked about 125 local children through their 20s and found that those who had gone through the Perry program needed fewer special education services, had higher high school graduation rates and, among young women, had a teen pregnancy rate that was about half that of a control group.

[21] The study has followed participants into their 40s, and subsequent research has found that the Perry kids earned more as adults, were less likely to have committed crimes or gone to jail, and were less likely to receive public assistance.

[21]这项研究一直持续到实验对象步入40岁，后续的研究发现，接受过佩里学前教育的孩子在成年之后薪资更高，犯罪服刑率更低，接受政府救济的可能性也更低。

[22]“如果对儿童成长予以干预，他们所能取得的进步简直惊人，而且这样的机会一直到他们五岁之后才会消失。”乔伊斯·哈里森表示。哈里森是巴尔的摩约翰·霍普金斯大学医学院一名主攻儿童与青少年精神病学的副教授，并未参与此项目。“孩子们进入幼儿园以后，这样大好的机会便不再了。当然，这并不是说没有实施干预的可能了，而是在此之后的干预更难。儿童早期的强大可塑性在五岁之后便会逐渐降低。”哈里森继续

[22] “You have this window up to age 5, where if you intervene, it’s amazing the progress these kids can make,” said Joyce Harrison, an assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, who wasn’t involved in the study. “By the time kids get to kindergarten, we’ve lost a really big window. It’s not impossible to intervene, but it does get harder. There is this huge malleability21malleability可锻性。that decreases at age 5.”

[23] Communities today often miss the opportunity to help youngsters develop their social, emotional and behavioral skills, Harrison said.

[24] “So often, kids who start out behind end up staying behind,” Lieser said. ■

[23]他认为，在帮助青少年发展社交、情感和行为能力方面，现如今的社区常常错失良机。

[24]“孩子如果输在起跑线，通常也就输在终点线。”莉瑟尔表示。 □