The study “couldn’t be more relevant to the current moment,’’ Dr. Joan Luby, a professor of child psychiatry at Washington University’s medical school.
While renewal of the tax credit is uncertain, “this study should really inform Congress about how tremendously important’’ it is, said Luby. She reviewed the study for the scientific journal but was not involved in the research.
Mothers enrolled in the study were mostly Black and Hispanic without a college education. As the infants neared their first birthday, researchers made home visits to test the children in person. Infants were fitted with special caps covered with electrodes that detect electrical signals brain cells use to communicate with each other.
Home visits stopped because of the pandemic, so researchers don’t have full data on all 1,000 mothers who enrolled since 2018. They reported on the results for 435 but hope to resume home visits this year.
The study is ongoing and payments to families will continue until at least their children’s fourth birthdays.
Natasha Pilkauskas, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, called it “a very important study,’’ but said more research is needed to confirm the results and to see if they hold true for children older than infants.
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