The identification in infancy of children at cognitive and behavioral risk: The Jerusalem kindergarten project

The aim of this research was to assess the value of personal and environmental attributes measured during infancy in the prediction of cognitive competence and behavior problems in kindergarten children. The sample consisted of 503 Jerusalem kindergarten children who during infancy attended neighborhood well-baby clinics. Information about early growth, development, and family factors came from the clinic files. Child functioning at kindergarten was assessed directly and by parent and teacher reports. Although demographic variables contributed strongly to outcome for both boys and girls, the composition of these demographic variables and the contribution of other variables to outcome varied by gender of child and outcome measure. For girls, infancy variables were more predictive of cognitive competence than of behavior problems, whereas the opposite was true for boys. The implications of the results for the early identification of risk and for intervention are discussed.