ABSTRACT:
Background: Cognitive development is the construction of thought process, including remembering, problem solving and decision making from childhood through adolescence to adulthood1. Nurturing family environments are associated with the positive outcomes for children’s development2. Research over the last 30 years has demonstrated that the positive interaction between the child and the parents or other caregiver significantly impacts the development of brain.3.Aim: comparative study between the children (6-12 years) under parental care and the orphans regarding the cognitive development in selected areas of Mangalore. Methods: comparative study design was adopted for the study. A sample of 50 children from orphanage and 50 from schools were selected by simple random sampling technique, lottery methods was used to select 100 sample. A demographic data and structured cognitive questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: the result showed that the highest (72%) of children under parental care and (58%) of orphans had good cognitive development. there is no significant difference between the children (6-12 years) under parental care and orphans (t98 = 1.747) at P < 0.05 level of significance. And also found that there is a significant association between the level of cognitive development of orphans with age of the children (χ2= 40.04 at P< 0,05) and children under parental care with education (χ2= 32.09) at P < 0.05 level of significance.