A new study found infants living in poverty often have mothers with depression, The Washington Post reported.

Researchers found 11 percent of babies who lived in poverty had a mom dealing with severe depression, according to the study done by the Urban Institute.

In what was described as the first detailed portrait of its kind, researchers reported that one in nine infants in poverty had a mother with severe depression and that such mothers typically breastfed their children for shorter periods than other mothers who were poor.

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The study said that even severe depression goes largely untreated among low-income mothers of infants, with just 30 percent speaking to a professional about a mental health problem during the year before the survey was conducted. – “Study links poverty to depression among mothers.” Washington Post, 8/26/10.

Another interesting story on depression in children, “Can Preschoolers be Depressed” ran in The New York Times magazine over the weekend.

In Other News: “No link between vaccines and autism, appeals court rules,” Associated Press, 8/27/10.

Children who live in poverty during the years before they enter kindergarten can struggle as adults because there is a link between living in poverty in those first years and earning less as an adult, according to a research report released over the weekend.

The study shows very tangible ways that poverty matters, and why it may matter more for children ages 0 to 5.

“The study suggests that a $3,000 annual increase in income between a child’s birth and fifth birthday is associated with 19 (percent) higher earnings and a 135-hour increase in annual work hours in adulthood.” – Research summary, Society for Research in Child Development.

The report went further, suggesting ways policymakers could use this new research, such as focusing on problems of “deep and persistent poverty early in childhood,” said lead author Greg Duncan, a professor of education at the University of California, Irvine.

“For example, income transfer policies might be designed to provide higher benefits to families with young, rather than older, children. This could be accomplished by increasing the existing child tax credit or raising benefit levels for such families or, given more severe budget constraints, reducing the allowances or benefits offered to families with older children in order to finance more generous support for families with young children,” Duncan said in the research summary.

This research was paired with another article that called for innovative new leadership in early learning that relies on emerging science and knowledge of healthy development.

There continues to be incredible breakthroughs in our knowledge of brain development. Harvard Professor Jack Shonkoff suggests a new “biodevelopmental model” and “science-based strategy” to help people succeed, in a commentary that ran in the January/February issue of Child Development.

“Positive early experiences play a role in strengthening brain architecture, while significant adversity damages brain circuits and undermines lifelong learning, behavior, and health. The later we wait to invest in children who are at the greatest risk, the more difficult the task,” Shonkoff wrote in an excerpt.

While many in the early learning world would agree with that assessment, Shonkoff takes another step, arguing that with so many leading policymakers now focused on early education issues it may be time for a new strategy.

“Together, these challenges underscore the need for a new era in early childhood policy and practice that’s guided by science and driven by bold leadership,” says Shonkoff.

I'll share the links to these stories with you when they become available in the coming week.

In the spirit of the holiday and last-minute shopping season, I created a list of my family’s favorite children’s books, which are stories that both my kids and I enjoy reading.

The list is hardly scientific and anything but set because it changes nearly every month. While I can’t say these books will raise fourth grade math test scores or college graduation rates, these stories should help with one of the key aspects of early learning: Parents reading to their children.

• “The Story of Holly & Ivy” by Rumer Godden and Barbara Cooney.
• “Snowmen at Christmas” by Caralyn BuehnerandMark Buehner.
• “The Penderwick’s: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy” by Jeanne Birdsall. Author website.
• “The Barefoot Book of Fairy Tales” retold by Malachy Doyle. Illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli.
•  “Lost and Found” by Oliver Jeffers.

The Classics:

• “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss. The Lorax website.
• “Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months” by Maurice Sendak.
• “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” “The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck” and “The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher” by Beatrix Potter. The World of Beatrix Potter
• “The Magician’s Nephew” by C.S. Lewis. (The first in “The Chronicles of Narnia” series.
• “The Complete Tales & Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh” by A. A. Milne, decorations by Ernest H. Shepard.

A couple of other lists:

• “Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2009” by The New York Times.
• “Early literacy starts with wonderful books.” EarlyStories offers a list of good children’s books lists, plus a link to Pre-K Now’s books for adults who care about early learning.

Happy Holidays everyone.

Childhood mental illness is grabbing the public’s attention – Oprah was the latest to highlight it by profiling a seven-year-old girl with schizophrenia – and the rise in diagnoses could create new challenges for preschool and pre-kindergarten educators.

These days, five-year-olds are diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and even bipolar disorder. Overall, 10 million children struggle with some type of psychiatric disorder, I learned from New York University's Child Study Center when reporting a story last year.

The numbers raise similar concerns for the early learning community as autism’s troubling rise. More children likely are landing in pre-kindergarten and preschool with a mental illness diagnosis, with their families in a confusing and shifting world where too often there is a lack of consensus. Health professionals worry about overdiagnosis, underdiagnosis, misdiagnosis and use of medication. They debate what childhood mental illness is and how to treat it.

That means teachers not only work with diagnosed children, but also stressed out parents, who are desperately trying to figure out what is going on with their kids. And there is another twist because while mental illness exists among children, it can change as they grow older.

As usual I have more questions than answers. What is this rise in diagnosis doing to classrooms? Are teachers dealing with the same problems they always have, only now the behaviors have names? Or, is something else going on? Any feedback from teachers would be great. So, post your comments here.

Thanks to Lisa Belkin for highlighting that this is Mental Illness Awareness Week. Belkin writes about the topic today on The New York Times blog Motherlode, “When a Child Has a Mental Illness.”