EEDP PRESCHOOL TIMES
Volume 4, Issue 3
September 2007
Dear Parents and Friends,
Greetings from the Early Emotional Development Program (EEDP) at Washington
University School of Medicine. We would like to thank all study families for their interest and
participation in our study on emotional development of preschool children. As you may
remember, we have completed all phases of data collection for the study and have moved on to
analyzing and interpreting the data to determine what we can learn about preschooler’s feelings
and emotions and how they change and develop over time.
Meanwhile, we continue to prepare for the continuation portion of the study, as we have
been given an extension by the National Institute of Mental Health to follow each study family
for 5 more years. What this means, is that, we will have the opportunity to continue to assess
each child into his or her school age/early adolescence years and will be able to learn about
how children develop emotionally from the preschool to adolescent period. This is a very
exciting and unprecedented opportunity to learn about emotion development across childhood.
We hope to begin scheduling appointments (similar to the 3 in which you have participated in
the past) beginning in the spring of 2008.
In this newsletter, you will find information regarding preliminary results of the study in
which you and your child participated. We are happy to share this information with you and
look forward to a continuing relationship with you and your family as we follow the development
of feelings and emotions into later childhood.
Sincerely,
Joan L. Luby, M.D.
Director – Early Emotional Development Program
Washington University School of Medicine
Contact the EEDP
If you have any questions regarding your participation in the study or need to update EEDP your
contact information, please call.
EEDP Office Line:
Phone: (314) 286-2730
Fax: (314) 286-2732
Preliminary Study Results:
Early Emotional Development of Preschool Children
The main focus of the study in which you and your child participated was to learn
about emotion development and, related to this, whether mood disorders can arise
and, if so, what they look like in preschool aged children. This study was the
second study conducted by Dr. Luby looking at this topic. Thanks to the
participation of each study family, the EEDP research team has learned several
things about mood disorders in preschool children.
Based on responses that we observed during play tasks in the assessments and from
what parents, teachers, and children reported, we investigated behaviors such as
irritability, elation, laughing, guilt, sleep problems, and fatigue. From this
information we learned that preschool aged children can experience guilt, elation
and several other symptoms of mood disorders similar to those seen in older
children and adults. It is important to be clear that we do not know when an
individual study participant does or does not have symptoms of a mood disorder.
This is because the researchers must stay “blind” to the participants’ group status in
order to conduct unbiased research. It is also important to mention that any
diagnostic groupings are entirely experimental and do not represent clinical
diagnoses.
One goal of our study was to confirm and expand findings from the previous study
that demonstrated that depression can be detected at early ages. This was
demonstrated when the children who fell into the depressed group displayed
significantly more behavior that is symptomatic of depression: irritability, sadness,
guilt, fatigue, etc. In the current study, measures were adapted to investigate
differences between types of depression; depression that emerges with bipolar
disorder, or depression that emerges from melancholy.
The ability to assess mental health disorders at an early age will allow mental health
professionals and caregivers to begin intervention and treatment at an earlier age.
We hope, in our next study, to demonstrate that this earlier intervention and
treatment is a more effective way to treat depression and will allow melioration of
the symptoms early in life and with greater benefit.
Thank you for your participation.
Cooperation!
Lots of kids share family work by
helping out around the house and taking more
responsibility in caring for themselves. Your
share of the family jobs might include laundry,
dishes, cleaning, and taking care of pets. You
might also have more responsibility keeping
your room clean, doing homework, and taking
care of your hygiene.
Congratulations! These responsibilities
are a sign that you are growing up and
becoming more independent. These are all
important skills and daily tasks that will help
keep you healthy and comfortable in your
home.
It isn’t always fun to do these jobs; they
can be a chore! Fitting these jobs into the day
is hard for adults too. Here are some
suggestions for making it easier to get jobs
done.
 Listen to music while you do work like
clearing the table and sweeping.
 If you share a bedroom or playroom, clean
up with your brother or sister and make
up games while you clean.
 While you do your job, plan something fun
to do when you’re done. Think, “As soon
as I finish these dishes, I will play with my
favorite toy!”
When you finish, appreciate your work for a
moment. Take a deep breath and notice how
nice your room feels when it’s clean or how
neatly you folded the towels. Good job!
Iggy and Ziggy’s Corner
Iggy: “Hey Ziggy! I’m so glad we won our soccer
game, nice goal Ziggy!
Ziggy: “Thanks Iggy, you were a great goalie!
I’m a little hungry; is there anything to
snack on?
Iggy: “Would you like a popsicle -- I made them
myself?”
Ziggy: “Thanks Iggy! Mmmm, these are great!
Will you share this recipe with all the kids
and me?”
Iggy: “No problem. This recipe is really easy
and they taste great after a game!”
Yogurt Pops

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




You will need:
1 cup of vanilla yogurt
¾ cup of frozen fruit juice concentrate, (Add
chopped fresh fruit, OR chopped frozen fruit for
extra flavor!)
¾ cup of milk
To make Popsicles:
Mix all the ingredients in a container that is easy
to pour from.
Pour the mixture into a Popsicle mold. OR into
small paper cups and insert a popsicle stick or
plastic spoon.
Freeze until firm – 2 to 3 hours.
Peel off paper cups or remove popsicles from
the mold.
Enjoy!
Iggy and Ziggy
Books for Fall
My Robot's Misbehaving
By --Kenn Nesbitt
My robot's misbehaving.
It won't do as I say.
It will not dust the furniture
or put my toys away.
It claims it can't cook dinner.
It never makes my bed.
No matter what I ask of it,
it simply shakes its head.
My robot never helps me
with homework or my chores.
It doesn't do my laundry
and neglects to clean my floors.
My robot must be broken.
I'll need to get another.
Until that day, I have to say,
I'm glad I have my mother.
The Camp Knock Knock Mystery
by Betsy Duffey
Little Ned Stories
by Edward Allan Faine
Muskrat Will Be Swimming
by Cheryl Svageau
Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping
by Peggy Parish
Last One in Is a Rotten Egg
by Leonard P. Kessler
PRIZES!!! PRIZES!!!! EEDP
COLORING CONTEST!!! PRIZES!!! PRIZES!!!!
If you love to color, we’d like to see your work! Color this page and
send it back to the EEDP (address on last page) before November 15, 2007.
We’ll pick 4 winners from the drawings returned to us and mail each
winner a prize!
Tips for helping your child develop
healthy friendships
Fun Activities Around
Saint Louis
Have a respectful and kind relationship
with your child. This is the first step towards
increasing your child's self-esteem and social
skills.
You can get cheap or free tickets for a lot of different
venues in St. Louis. Visit the websites to find more
details on how take advantage of these discounted
tickets:
Take an interest in your child's activities.
This allows you to get to know his/her friends
and to monitor behavior.
Cardinal Baseball: First Pitch Tickets
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/ticketing/first_pitch.
jsp
Partner with your child to set boundaries
and expectations. With your trust in him/her,
your child's ability to live up to those
expectations will grow.
St. Louis Symphony: 50 Free Ticket Program
Orchestra
http://www.slso.org/box/index.htm
Encourage independent thought and
expression. In this way, your child will develop
a healthy sense of self and an enhanced ability
to resist peer pressure.
Get to know your child's friends. Learn
their names, invite them into your home so you
can talk and listen to them, and introduce
yourself to their parents.
Keep the lines of communication open. If
you have concerns about your child's friends,
talk to your child about behaviors and choices.
Encourage your child’s independence.
Support decision-making based on principles
and not other people.
Teach your child to think before acting.
Encourage your child to talk about the advice
s/he gets from friends before following it.
Magic House: Two for Tuesdays:
http://www.magichouse.org/events.htm
Art Museum: Special Exhibits are free on Fridays.
Here are some other fun, affordable, places to
take your family:
Grant’s Farm: Go and feed baby goats and see the
Budweiser Clydesdales. Admission is free. Call 314843-1700.
Missouri Botanical Gardens: An adult favorite, this
year they’ve added a children’s garden. Go for the
season closing of the new children’s garden on October
28, 2007. There will be crafts, story –telling and kids
get to take home seeds from the garden! No extra cost
after purchase of general admission: Adults: $8, Kids:
$3 (for kid’s garden)
The City Museum: This hands- on museum features
caves, slides and other kid-friendly interactive play
areas. There is also a clown show and crafts station.
Admission is $12 per person. Call 314-231-2489.
The Fabulous Fox Theater: This St. Louis landmark
offers a few kid-friendly shows each season. This fall
you can see Annie. Tickets for Annie begin at $18.
On November 20 and 21 all seats are $25 in
celebration of their 25th Anniversary.
Change of Information
If your mailing address information or phone number has recently changed, or you know of changes in the near future, please call us
or complete the following form and fax or mail it to our office. Thank you for your help!
Name: _________________________________________________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________________________________________
Street
City
State
ZIP
Phone Number: ______________________________________________________________________
Email: ___________________________________________________________________________
Date of Change: ___________________________________________________________
Please Return to:
Early Emotional Development Program
ATTN: Rachel Kresyman
18 S Kingshighway Ste. L-101
St. Louis, MO 63108
FAX: 314-286-2732
PHONE: 314-286-2730