Most children grow up with their biological families, but some are brought up in adoptive families, in foster care or in institutions. Children’s experiences with their primary caregivers have a profound influence on their development. If you are interested in how parental and professional caregivers shape children’s lives, the master’s specialisation in Parenting and Child Development is the ideal choice for you.

Parenting and Child Development is one of the nine specialisations of the master’s programme in Education and Child Studies that you can choose at Leiden University.

The master specialisation Parenting and Child Development focuses on child development in the context of different caregiving circumstances. The courses cover both normative and problematic caregiving, ranging from sensitive and warm parenting to abuse and neglect, and from stable family circumstances to divorce and temporary foster care.

An important part of the curriculum is the study of evidence based prevention and intervention programmes to improve caregiving qualities of parents and professional caregivers.

You will study key questions that address the most important processes in caregiving, parenting and child development. Questions that are central to Parenting and Child Development include:

• Which early experiences increase the risk of developing behavioral problems?
• Do parents’ childhood experiences affect the way they raise their children?
• What circumstances are important for the development of adopted and foster children?
• How do neurobiological processes influence the behavior of parents and children?
• What is the role of genetic factors and the interaction between genetic predisposition and environment in child development and in parenting behavior?
• How do day care experiences relate to child development?
• What are the prevalence, causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect?
• How can interventions contribute to the improvement of parenting qualities?
• How do new and alternative family types relate to child development?
• How does culture play a role in parenting and child development?

Why choose this specialisation?

Everyone will agree that it is highly important to promote optimal child development from the very start of life. Parents and professional caregivers have a profound influence on the socioemotional and cognitive development of children through their e master specialization Parenting and Child Development focuses on understanding the exact nature of this influence and on preventing child and family problems by fostering optimal caregiving. By focusing on prevention, it differs from the clinically oriented master specializations that concentrate on how to reduce problems in children and caregiving after the problems have developed. Focusing on prevention is extremely relevant and beneficial in today’s society where waiting lists for treatment as well as health care costs continue to grow. If you want to take a pro-active approach towards child and family problems by promoting a healthy caregiving environment, the master’s specialization Parenting and Child Development is the ideal choice for you.

Job prospects

With the knowledge, tools and experience you will have obtained as a graduate of the Parenting and Child Development Master specialization, you will be able to effectively contribute to promoting optimal caregiving and child development. You will have the skills to

• analyze and answer questions about parenting, caregiving and child development in an academic way, and
• apply and/or develop programs that aim to optimize caregiving of parents’ and professional caregivers, tailored to the needs of the child.