Scholarly research differs from anecdotal as by nature it is referential. This means that an idea is not original, and refers back to previous research or writing by other academics or scholars.
This is the way that academic thought develops, by drawing on the work of others to progress an idea. You will see this in the form of footnotes, or by referencing an author in brackets after a point is made, following by a bibliography at the end. This is often known as Harvard Referencing.
In contrast, anecdotal evidence is exactly that, an anecdote, which means it is something that was experienced by the author or researcher, and as such may be less reliable. When you combine this with explaining childhood development you may run into problems because the topic itself is highly subjective.