Caregiver-Environment Scale: Assessing the Quality of Center-Based Infant Care

Abstract

INTRODUCTION agree on presence of specified features of the infant’s milieu (e.g., environmental indicators), and (c) do indiDaily experiences have a profound effect on infant viduals affiliated with center-based infant care programs development. As the number of dual-parent employment perceive items on CES to be appropriate measures of rises, concurrent with an increase in single-parent famicaregiver–infant interactions and of an infant’s surlies, infant experiences increasingly occur in nonfamilial roundings? settings (Neugebauer, 1992). Accompanying this increase has been protracted debate over effects of nonfamilial infant care on children’s development (Belsky, METHOD 1986; Clarke-Stewart, 1988; Lamb & Sternberg, 1990), Subjects not as a homogeneous treatment but rather a complex experience influenced by many variables (Lamb & The CES examines both the characteristics of infant care personnel and the facility in which this center-based Sternberg, 1990). It appears that the quality of certain environmental and process variables affects later child care occurs. Participants in the study were 15 caregivers in nine private facilities providing care to infants. To be development. Yet, because environmental features are easier to assess, these are all too often the sole focus of included in the study, caregivers had to meet two criteria: (a) be a caregiver in a facility licensed by the Pennregulations and evaluations while more important process variables are neglected. Therefore, an instrument sylvania Department of Welfare, and (b) provide care to infants between the ages of 6 weeks and 12 months. that can identify many important factors and assesses their quality in infant care centers seems critical. An The physical context in which care occurred (i.e., center characteristics) was also assessed. overview of the development and field-testing of such an instrument, the Caregiver-Environment Scale (CES; Capone, Oren, & Neisworth, 1995) follows. Instrument and Observer’s Manual Development