Human Development and Family Studies
This domain checks whether you can distinguish growth from development, describe stage-wise needs from infancy to adolescence, and explain family types, functions and parenting styles in a short case.
Growth and development
Growth is quantitative - measurable increase in height, weight, bone and muscle. Development is qualitative - orderly change in motor, cognitive, language, social and emotional skills. Both follow a direction: head to toe (cephalocaudal) and from the centre outward (proximodistal).
Stages and needs
Infancy (0–2 years): fastest growth, breastfeeding, immunisation, attachment. Early childhood (2–6): play, speech, toilet training. Later childhood (6–12): school, peer group, industry. Adolescence (12–19): growth spurt, puberty with secondary sexual characteristics, and higher needs for energy, protein, iron, calcium and zinc, plus privacy and emotional support.
Family
Nuclear (parents and children), joint (several generations sharing a kitchen and income) and extended. Functions: reproduction, economic support, socialisation, emotional security, and care of the old and sick.
Parenting styles
Authoritative – high warmth with clear, explained rules; usually the best outcomes. Authoritarian – high control, low warmth. Permissive – high warmth, few rules. Neglectful – low warmth, low control.
Worked example
A mother hears out her 14-year-old, explains why a curfew exists, and still holds the rule. Reasoning: warmth is high and control is high with reasoning, so the style is authoritative, which is linked to better self-esteem and school adjustment.
Traps that cost marks
Treating growth and development as synonyms; labelling permissive parenting as democratic; describing adolescence only as a problem stage.