Childhood is generally defined as the period of life between birth and adulthood, but children can also be characterized by their stage of development, including prenatal, infant, toddler, school-age, pre-pubescent, and teen or adolescent. RAND research on children covers the prenatal period to age 18 and spans multiple research areas, including health, education, criminal justice, and safety.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
In this article, we synthesize the empirical literature on the influence of peers and friends on youth's eating and physical activity.
BLOG
In honor of National Underage Drinking Prevention Day, there will be a live, interactive webcast today (May 21) about successful approaches and resources to prevent underage drinking. The issue of underage drinking may sometimes be overshadowed by other forms of substance use, but it remains a steady and significant problem in the United States.
REPORT
This briefing uses existing statewide and county data to provide California early care and education quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) planners and other stakeholders with important information about some fundamentals of the proposed QRIS rating scheme that could inform California's QRIS design in advance of field-based pilot efforts.
RESEARCH BRIEF
With regard to Army families, the study examines the effects of long and frequent parental deployments on children’s academic performance as well as their emotional and behavioral well-being in the school setting.
BLOG
April is the Month of the Military Child, a national initiative to support and honor America's service members and their families. The celebration is being recognized with events around the country, and is a key national initiative of First Lady Michelle Obama.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
The authors of this study examined the extent to which youths being prescribed antipsychotic medications were receiving concurrent mental health therapy.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
This study seeks to assess more comprehensively the results of decisions on whether and how to 'schedule' (i.e. to determine their legal status and penalties to be applied for sale or possession) newly emerging drugs.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
The availability of junk food does not significantly increase BMI or obesity among a group of fifth-graders even though they are likely to buy junk food.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
The authors assessed intergenerational transmission of smoking in mother-child dyads.
REPORT
There is a lack of data that address new media use and its potential relationship with adolescent sexual risk behavior and sexual health. The authors developed this matrix of measures to summarize the state of measurement in this arena and set the stage for further research. The measures were extracted from studies of media use, media effects, and interventions that employ new media to improve sexual health. Several new items are also…
NEWS RELEASE
Researchers from the RAND Corporation and other institutions have begun pilot-testing a web-based tool designed to help parents and adult caregivers determine whether to seek urgent medical attention for a sick child with flu-like symptoms.
REPORT
The ChalleNGe program seeks to alter the life course of high school dropouts ages 16-18. A rigorous evaluation has shown that the program has positive effects on educational attainment and employment. A cost-benefit analysis supports public investment in the program as currently operated and targeted.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
The strong link between having a best friend who smoked and increased adolescent smoking isn't affected by individual factors such as self-esteem, depressing and access to cigarettes.
REPORT
California has taken steps to implement components of a comprehensive professional development system for its early child education workforce. However, further advances are needed and more information is required to identify possible inefficiencies in the current system.
RESEARCH BRIEF
A cost-benefit analysis of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program, a program serving high school dropouts, indicates that every dollar invested in the program yields $2.66 in social benefits, an estimated return on investment of 166 percent.
REPORT
Uses two sources of representative data, the 2005 National Household Education Survey and the 2007 RAND California Preschool Study, to describe child care and early learning arrangements for the approximately 2.8 million California children ages 0 to 5 who are younger than the age at which they would enter kindergarten.
REPORT
Better child outcomes are the ultimate goal of early care and education (ECE) quality improvement (QI) efforts, but assessing these outcomes is difficult and rarely done. This study identifies five strategies for incorporating child assessments into the design, implementation, and evaluation of QI initiatives such as quality rating and improvement systems. The study assesses the merits of each strategy and offers guidance for its use.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Offers recommendations for improving the education and training of California's early childhood workforce.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Identifies five strategies for incorporating child assessments into the design, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives designed to raise the quality of care in early care and education settings such as quality rating and improvement systems.
REPORT
The earliest years of a child's life are critical to physical, socio-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development. High quality early education can improve readiness and success in school, particularly for disadvantaged children, but access to such programs is uneven.
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