term patterns of learning and achievement. Marked inequalities in children's early learning opportunities are therefore a cause for serious concern. In this context, although there has been a proliferation of prekindergarten and early intervention initiatives designed to promote school readiness, access to these programs is highly uneven across the early childhood population in the United States.

• Early child development can be seriously compromised by social, regulatory, and emotional impairments. The causes of such impairments are multiple but often revolve around disturbances in close relationships. Indeed, young children are capable of deep and lasting sadness, grief, and disorganization in response to trauma, loss, and early personal rejection. Given the substantial short- and long-term risks that accompany early mental health impairments, the incapacity of many early childhood programs to address these concerns and the severe shortage of early childhood professionals with mental health expertise are urgent problems.

  The mental health of young children has been a relatively neglected topic within the domains of both scientific inquiry and early childhood intervention. Yet debilitating levels of anxiety and emergent conduct disorders can be seen in the early years and may have enduring effects on how children view themselves and how they are accepted by others over time. Despite little demonstration of efficacy, extensive pharmacotherapy is being used to treat preschoolers with behavior problems. This is of concern for many reasons, not the least of which is the difficulty in these early years of differentiating children with serious emotional disorders from those who are simply immature or are experiencing transient delays in emotional control. Regardless of the severity of their difficulties, however, children with social or emotional impairments warrant our deepest concern, not only for who they might become as adolescents and adults, but because of their fundamental unhappiness and its consequences for their experiences as young children.

To support the early learning and social-emotional development of young children, as well as to address the serious mental health needs that can arise during the early years of life, three complementary recommendations require urgent attention.

Recommendation 1 — Resources on a par with those focused on literacy and numerical skills should be devoted to translating the knowledge base on young children's emotional, regulatory, and social development into effective strategies for fostering: (1) the development of curiosity, self-