Social development of preschool children in home care and day care settings.

Abstract

With the increasing rates of maternal employment and single parenthood, use of child care services has steadily grown in the United States. Studies such as that of Auerbach (1981) have found that the number of working mothers has increased by 79% since 1970. Controversy continues to exist among many professionals regarding the types of child care alternatives and the influence of environment on the behavior and development of children. Therefore, many parents have difficulty selecting child care services. In this study a comparison of social maturity of three- and four-year-old children in day care and home care settings was made by interviewing mothers of the subjects using the Vineland Social Maturity Scale (Doll, 1953). A nonrandom sample consisting of 51 white, middle-class three- and four-year-olds participated in the study. Twenty-five children were enrolled in a licensed day care setting and 26 were in a home care setting. Demographic data were compiled and categorized according to birth order, num...