Abstract
BackgroundPrevious studies underscore the need to improve caregiver–child interactions in early child care centers.ObjectiveIn this study we used a randomized controlled trial to examine whether a 5-week video feedback training can improve six key interactive skills of caregivers in early child care centers: Sensitive responsiveness, respect for autonomy, structuring and limit setting, verbal communication, developmental stimulation, and fostering positive peer interactions.MethodA total of 139 caregivers from 68 early child care groups for 0- to 4-year-old children in Dutch child care centers participated in this RCT, 69 in the intervention condition and 70 in the control condition. Caregiver interactive skills during everyday interactions with the children were rated from videotape using the Caregiver Interaction Profile (CIP) scales at pretest, posttest, and follow-up 3 months after the posttest.ResultsResults at posttest indicate a significant positive training effect on all six caregiver interactive skills. Effect sizes of the CIP training range between d = 0.35 and d = 0.79. Three months after the posttest, caregivers in the intervention group still scored significantly higher on sensitive responsiveness, respect for autonomy, verbal communication, and fostering positive peer interactions than caregivers in the control group with effect sizes ranging between d = 0.47 and d = 0.70.ConclusionsThis study shows that the quality of caregiver–child interactions can be improved for all six important caregiver skills, with a relatively short training program. Possible ways to further improve the training and to implement it in practice and education are discussed.
Highlights
Numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of early child care quality for children’s socio-emotional and academic development
This study shows that the quality of caregiver–child interactions can be improved for all six important caregiver skills, with a relatively short training program
Three variables were entered as predictors: a group variable which indicated whether the group was allocated to the experimental or the control condition (0 = control, 1 = experimental), the mean pretest score of the Caregiver Interaction Profile (CIP) skill, and the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R)/Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) pretest–posttest gain score to control for possible effects of the parallel consultancy intervention
Summary
Numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of early child care quality for children’s socio-emotional and academic development (for an overview see Belsky et al 2007; Vandell and Wolfe 2000; Vandell et al 2010). The ITERS-R and ECERS-R are useful in regular national quality assessments, because they provide a comprehensive picture of the quality of the child care environment in a broad set of domains, including caregiver–child interactions. In addition to this more global picture, we wanted to get a more in-depth picture of the quality of the interactions between caregivers and children, which is generally acknowledged as the core of child care quality (e.g., Vandell and Wolfe 2000). Previous studies underscore the need to improve caregiver–child interactions in early child care centers
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