Basic Environmental Supports for Positive Brain and Cognitive Development in the First Year of Life

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics in 2024, Basic Environmental Supports for Positive Brain and Cognitive Development in the First Year of Life strived to answer the question, “How do key environmental resources support healthy cognitive, socioemotional, and brain development in the first three years of life?” Based on data from 232 mother-baby pairs who were experiencing poverty, “greater levels of . . .  supports in the first year were associated with improved cognitive, socioemotional, and brain development.” The research pointed to factors such as nutrition, environmental stimulation, positive caregiving, child sleep, and neighborhood safety as helping babies thriving at ages two and three. Not exactly news to folks in the early intervention (EI) field, but good evidence that “sooner rather than later” is better when it comes to the impact of EI services.

The ICC-Recommended Early Start Personnel Manual (ESPM) describes core knowledge and role-specific competencies needed for early intervention service provision, incorporating current research and evidence in the field of early intervention. Click here to access the ESPM. Scroll down to find the ESPM entry.

This resource is related to the following ESPM knowledge-level competencies:

• Core Knowledge (CK):
  • CK4: The range of typical infant/toddler physiological factors such as:
    • Early neurological/brain development
    • Basic health and nutrition
    • Physical growth and maturation
• Identification and Referral (IR):
  • IR3 (EIS): Knows generic and specific evidence-based early intervention strategies to support all areas of development.
• Individualized Family Service Plan Development and Review (IFSP-DR):
  • IFSP-DR5 (EIS): Understands the rationale for the identification and selection of intervention strategies used in everyday routines, relationships, activities, places, and partnerships for early intervention activities (or justification of the extent to which some outcomes cannot be achieved in a natural environment).
• Individualized Family Service Plan Development and Review (IFSP-i):
  • IFSP-i10 (EIS): Knows strategies that support parents in providing basic health, nutrition, and safety for infants and toddlers in natural environments.
  • IFSP-i11 (EIS): Knows strategies that support parents in adapting the natural environment to meet infant/toddler developmental needs.