Amount Of Child Care Research Articles

Child care and family processes: Bi-directional relations between child care quality, home environments, and maternal depression.

The current study examined whether within-family changes in child care quality and quantity predicted subsequent changes in home environment quality and maternal depression across early childhood (6 to 54 months of age). Data were drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n=1239; 77% White; 48% female; data collection from 1991 to 1996), and were analyzed using Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models. Within-family increases in child care quality predicted modest increases in home environment quality (β=.13-.17). These effects were most robust from child age 6 to 15 months. Increases in child care quality produced small, statistically non-significant, reductions in depression. Time-specific increases in child care quantity were not consistently predictive of either outcome.

Early childhood education and care context and cortisol from saliva and hair among 3–6-year-old children

ABSTRACT This study examined several early childhood education and care (ECEC) factors and their relation to children’s salivary cortisol slope and hair cortisol concentration (HCC). The study is part of the cross-sectional DAGIS study, conducted in 2015–2016, examining 66 preschools and 677 children aged 3–6 years in Finland. Two saliva samples from one childcare day and a hair sample were collected from the children. Educators’ education level, perceived stress, and occupational well-being factors, group size, child-adult ratio, and amount of childcare per week were assessed by questionnaires filled in by educators and guardians. Higher educators’ education level was associated with a higher likelihood of children having a declining salivary cortisol slope. Educators with higher perceived stress were associated with a lower likelihood of children having a declining cortisol slope, but the result was attenuated in the adjusted model. Child-adult ratio was negatively associated with HCC. The results indicate that educators’ higher education level and possibly lower stress associate with a favourable cortisol profile in children, suggesting less stress. These factors should receive attention when considering children’s stress at childcare.

Early child care experiences and attachment representations at age 18 years: Evidence from the NICHD study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

The role of early child care experiences on the development of the mother-child attachment relationship has been studied extensively. However, no prospective studies of early child care have addressed how these experiences might be reflected in the content of attachment representations during adolescence and beyond. The goal of this study was to estimate relatively precise associations between child care quality, child care quantity, and type of care in the first 54 months of life and the content of adolescents' attachment representations around age 18 years (N = 857; 51% female; 78% White, non-Hispanic; M income-to-needs ratio = 4.13), leveraging data from the longitudinal NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). We identified a small positive association between the observed quality of early child care (but not quantity or type of care) and secure attachment states of mind as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (but not the Attachment Script Assessment) at age 18 years that was robust to demographic covariates and observations of maternal and paternal sensitivity during childhood. We observed no significant interactions among child care variables. Associations between early child care experiences and indicators of adolescent attachment were likewise not moderated by maternal sensitivity from infancy to mid-adolescence or by maternal reports of child temperament in early childhood.

Women, Gender equality and COVID-19

PurposeThis paper aims to review the existing literature on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender and work roles to determine whether the pandemic has undermined the status, pay and advancement of women or has provided opportunities for reducing gender inequality.Design/methodology/approachThe author reviewed the literature on the effects of COVID-19 and past pandemics on gender equality, focusing on job loss, the effects of being in essential occupations on health and well-being, the increased domestic responsibilities of women and men due to closure of schools and other social services and the effects of telecommuting on gender roles.FindingsThe pandemic has generally created challenges for women’s advancement. More women than men have lost their jobs; more women than men are in essential jobs that expose them to infection and psychological stress, and women have had more work disruption than men have had because of increases in childcare and other responsibilities. On the other hand, telecommuting has increased men’s amount of childcare, and this does have the potential to increase men’s childcare responsibilities in the long term, thereby reducing the gender gap in domestic responsibilities and increasing gender equality.Research limitations/implicationsThe COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing and the research on the pandemic’s effects are new and ongoing.Originality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first scholarly review of the literature on the potential effects of COVID-19 on the gender gap in pay and advancement.

Preschoolers’ problem behavior, prosocial behavior, and language ability in a Latin-American context: The roles of child executive functions and socialization environments

Child executive functions and socialization environments are crucial for the socioemotional and cognitive development of preschoolers. This study examined the role of socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, executive functions (EFs), quality of the home environment, quantity of maternal care, and quality and quantity of professional childcare as predictors of five-year-old preschoolers' problem behavior, prosocial behavior, and language ability in 77 low-SES families with a Chilean majority or Mapuche minority background in Chile. Executive functions and the quality of the home environment were positively associated with language ability, whereas quantity of childcare was inversely related to children's language ability. All other associations were non-significant. The results corroborate the vital roles of child executive functioning and stimulating and responsive parenting in child language ability in a Latin-American context. Furthermore, our findings revealed inadequate preschool classroom quality and provide new evidence from southern Chile of the urgent need to improve the quality of Chilean children's preprimary education as a catalyst for reducing social disparities.

Child care quality and Dutch 2‐ and 3‐year‐olds' socio‐emotional outcomes: Does the amount of care matter?

AbstractHigh amounts of early child care have sometimes been linked to higher levels of behaviour problems, while high‐quality child care has more often been related to fewer behaviour problems and more social competence. The current study investigated whether the level of centre emotional and behavioural support (child care quality) interacted with the amount of child care in predicting children's socio‐emotional behaviour. Participants were 417 children (mean age = 27 months) from 61 Dutch daycare centres. The amount of daycare ranged from 1 to 5 days per week (M = 2.3 days). Multi‐level analyses showed that, independent of the amount of daycare, high levels of centre emotional and behavioural support were related to more caregiver‐rated social competence 1 year later. In addition, children spending 3.5 days or more in highly supportive daycare centres showed the lowest levels of parent‐rated externalizing behaviour 1 year later. The findings emphasize (a) that the combined effects of the amount and quality of child care are important and (b) that high‐quality early child care is related to children's socio‐emotional development. Further policy, practice, and research implications are discussed.Highlights We studied in a Dutch sample how the amount and quality of daycare interacted in relation to children's socio‐emotional outcomes. High levels of daycare quality were related to more teacher‐rated social competence. Children spending 3.5 days or more in highly supportive daycare centers showed less parent‐rated externalizing behavior.

생애 초기 보육경험과 만 4세 유아의 사회정서발달 간 관계

The present study aimed at investigating the relations between the amount of child care experienced in the first three years of life and socioemotional development of children at age 4 indicated by problem behaviors and peer competence. Using the longitudinal data of the Panel Study of Korean Children(PSKC), the information of 1,699 children were analyzed. The results indicated that any child care experience, hours in child care, full-time child care and early entry to child care were significantly related to children's externalizing behavior problem and play disruption at age 4. Some significant relations were detected between child care experience and better peer competence as well. Interestingly, the patterns of relations were different for boys and girls. Being in child care, a greater amount of child care and early entry to child care tended to be related to externalizing problem behaviors of boys and whereas they were more related to peer competence of girls indicated by play interaction, play disruption and play disconnection. Child care hours at age 3 were relative stronger predictors of children's development compared to those at age 1 or at age 2. The findings imply that the amount of child care during the first 3 years of life does not have strong harmful effects on preschoolers' socioemotional development and that there are differences in the effects of child care on boys and girls.

Child effects and child care: Implications for risk and adjustment.

Evocative effects of child characteristics on the quality and quantity of child care were assessed in two studies using longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. We focus on the influence of child characteristics on two important aspects of the child care experience: language stimulation provided by caregivers and quantity of care. In Study 1, associations between the developmental status of children aged 15 to 54 months and the language stimulation provided by their caregivers were examined using path models, and longitudinal child effects were detected across the earliest time points of the study. In Study 2, the associations among child behavior, temperament, development, and time in care were examined. Little evidence was found for such child effects on time in care. The results are discussed in terms of the effects of child care on child development and implications for developmental processes, particularly for children at greatest risk for developmental delay or psychopathology.

Contextualising ECEC research: the case of Slovenia

In the present study the longitudinal relations between quantity of centre-based child care (in months) and teacher reports of internalising and externalising behaviour in the first and second grades were examined for 325 Slovenian children. The socio-political context of affordable, accessible and homogenously high-quality child care is quite different compared to the context in countries from which many child-care studies originate (e.g. the USA). In Slovenia quality standards are regulated (child:staff ratio, teacher education, curriculum), the service is subsidised and children are guaranteed a place after the end of parental leave (i.e. at 11 months). In the described socio-political context a beneficial effect of child care quantity was found for internalising behaviour, while there were negative effects for externalising behaviour. Children who spent more time in child care exhibited less internalising behaviour and more externalising behaviour in the first grade of school, both with small coefficient sizes. Our study shows that even in the context of progressive child care some positive as well as less positive effects of child care participation on child development occur.

Attachment to inanimate objects and early childcare: A twin study.

Extensive non-maternal childcare plays an important role in children’s development. This study examined a potential coping mechanism for dealing with daily separation from caregivers involved in childcare experience – children’s development of attachments toward inanimate objects. We employed the twin design to estimate relative environmental and genetic contributions to the presence of object attachment, and assess whether childcare explains some of the environmental variation in this developmental phenomenon. Mothers reported about 1122 3-year-old twin pairs. Variation in object attachment was accounted for by heritability (48%) and shared environment (48%), with childcare quantity accounting for 2.2% of the shared environment effect. Children who spent half-days in childcare were significantly less likely to attach to objects relative to children who attended full-day childcare.

Child care and cortisol across early childhood: Context matters.

A considerable body of literature suggests that children's child-care experiences may impact adrenocortical functioning in early childhood. Yet emerging findings also suggest that the magnitude and sometimes the direction of child-care effects on development may be markedly different for children from higher risk contexts. Using data from a large population-based sample of families from predominantly low-income backgrounds in rural communities, we tested the degree to which links between children's child-care experiences (at 7-36 months) and their subsequent cortisol levels (at 48 months) were moderated by their level of cumulative environmental risk. Our results provided evidence of a crossover interaction between cumulative risk and child-care quantity. For children from low-risk contexts, greater weekly hours in child care were predictive of higher cortisol levels. In contrast, for children facing several cumulative risk factors, greater hours in child care per week were predictive of lower cortisol levels. These effects were robust after adjusting for several controls, including children's cortisol levels in early infancy. Child-care quality and type were not predictive of children's cortisol levels, and neither mitigated the conditional effect of child-care quantity on cortisol. These findings suggest that links between child care and children's development may differ as a function of children's broader ecologies.

The Australian First‐time Grandparents Study: Time spent with the grandchild and its predictors

This paper presents data on the amount of contact a large cohort of first-time Australian grandparents have with their grandchild, and the amount of child care they provide. It compares these with grandparents' expectations and desired levels. Prospective grandparents were assessed on multiple measures before the birth of their grandchild, and at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months thereafter. At the 12-month assessment, grandmothers had approximately 15 hours per week contact, and provided approximately 7.5 hours per week of child care. The corresponding figures for grandfathers were 9.5 hours and 5 hours respectively. Approximately 10% of grandparents reported no contact with their grandchild, and 30-40% reported undertaking no child care. Almost half the grandparents desired more contact than they were actually getting. Accurate quantification of contact and care is a prerequisite for investigation of the impact of the transition to grandparenthood on health and well-being.

The Influence of Socioeconomic Status, Home Environment, and Childcare on Child Language Abilities

The present study investigates the relationship between socioeconomic status, home environment, and amount of childcare on language of three-, four-, and five-year-old children. This study also develops a parental report measure of home environment. Results confirm the positive relationship between language and socioeconomic status. Findings on the positive relationship between language and home environment, as measured with the new Home Environment Questionnaire, are consistent with previous research using exhaustive observational and interview measures. Furthermore, results show hours per week of childcare are not related to language after controlling for socioeconomic status and home environment. This study confirms validity of the new Home Environment Questionnaire offering an alternative to measuring home environment which may suit a wider range of study circumstances. This new tool will allow researchers to better understand the positive and negative influences on children’s development.

Child care quality and children's cortisol in Basque Country and the Netherlands

A cross-country comparison of children's cortisol levels at child care was performed in relation to their cortisol levels at home and the quality and quantity of child care they received. Participants were toddlers visiting child care centers in Spanish Basque Country ( N = 60) and the Netherlands ( N = 25) with substantial variation in structural child care quality (group sizes, childcaregiver ratios). Salivary cortisol was measured at mid-morning and mid-afternoon, both at child care and at home. Children's actual experiences in child care (global quality), as measured with the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised edition (ECERS-R), did not differ significantly across the two countries. Overall, children did not produce more cortisol at child care than at home. Results suggest that factors other than structural quality and quantity of care are responsible for cortisol diurnal changes. Global quality matters in explaining cortisol diurnal change in children visiting child care centers.

Do Effects of Early Child Care Extend to Age 15 Years? Results From the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

Relations between nonrelative child care (birth to 4(1/2) years) and functioning at age 15 were examined (N = 1,364). Both quality and quantity of child care were linked to adolescent functioning. Effects were similar in size as those observed at younger ages. Higher quality care predicted higher cognitive-academic achievement at age 15, with escalating positive effects at higher levels of quality. The association between quality and achievement was mediated, in part, by earlier child-care effects on achievement. High-quality early child care also predicted youth reports of less externalizing behavior. More hours of nonrelative care predicted greater risk taking and impulsivity at age 15, relations that were partially mediated by earlier child-care effects on externalizing behaviors.

Antecedents and correlates of the popular-aggressive phenomenon in elementary school.

This study identified correlates and developmental antecedents that distinguish popular-aggressive elementary school children from other youth. Drawing on the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1022), popular-aggressive children were identified through teacher ratings over Grades 3-6. Potential correlates included social competence as rated by observers, mothers, and teachers. Potential developmental antecedents included cognitive functioning, maternal sensitivity, and participation in child care through age 4.5. Multinomial regressions allowed for the determination of group differences net of covariates such as gender, ethnicity, maternal education, and income-to-needs. Results showed that popular-aggressive elementary school children were distinguished from other youth as having had an extensive child-care history. Discussion focuses on developmental associations between child-care quantity and aggression.

The socio‐emotional effects of non‐maternal childcare on children in the USA: a critical review of recent studies

This paper provides a review of studies published between 1998 and 2006 that have evaluated the relationship between non‐maternal childcare and children’s social‐behavioral adjustment. Recent studies have focused on how the factors of non‐maternal childcare quantity, quality, type and timing interact with factors of family background and child characteristics to affect various indicators of social‐behavioral adjustment. Findings indicate that average weekly hours of non‐maternal childcare is the strongest and most consistent childcare predictor of social‐behavioral outcomes. Entry into childcare during the first year and extensive non‐maternal childcare throughout early childhood predicts less social competence and cooperation, more problem behaviors, negative mood, aggression and conflict. When family background factors are also considered, maternal sensitivity is the most consistent predictor of social‐behavioral adjustment. New theoretical frameworks and methodologies are needed to explore the mechanisms through which early, extensive non‐maternal childcare negatively affects social outcomes.

Dissipating or Diffusing Aggression after Non‐maternal Childcare? Commentary on a Novel Hypothesis

AbstractIn an intriguing account, the hypothesis is proposed that elevating effects of quantity of childcare on aggression might not, as other research has suggested, be dissipating over time, but instead be diffusing across groups of children. Paradoxically, this diffusion may also affect children with little or no experience with non‐maternal care. If supported, this hypothesis may cause great concern about the increasing childcare use in western countries. In this commentary, we take a closer look at this hypothesis, focusing on limitations in ethnic and cultural diversity of the available data, on the inconclusive role of temperament, on the causal nature of some conclusions, and on the role of the father as a non‐maternal caregiver.

An Exploration of Gene–Environment Interaction and Asthma in a Large Sample of 5-Year-Old Dutch Twins

A consistent finding from twin studies is that the environment shared by family members does not contribute to the variation in susceptibility to asthma. At the same time, it is known that environmental risk factors that are shared by family members are associated with the liability for asthma. We hypothesize that the absence of a main effect of shared environmental factors in twin studies can be explained by gene-environment interaction, that is, that the effect of an environmental factor shared by family members depends on the genotype of the individual. We explore this hypothesis by modeling the resemblance in asthma liability in twin pairs as a function of various environmental risk factors and test for gene-environment interaction. Asthma data were obtained by parental report for nearly 12,000 5-year-old twin pairs. A series of environmental risk factors was examined: birth cohort, gestational age, time spent in incubator, breastfeeding, maternal educational level, maternal smoking during pregnancy, current smoking of parents, having older siblings, and amount of child care outside home. Results revealed that being a boy, born in the 1990s, premature birth, longer incubator time, and child care outside home increased the risk for asthma. With the exception of premature birth, however, none of these factors modified the genetic effects on asthma. In very premature children shared environmental influences were important. In children born after a gestation of 32 weeks or more only genetic factors were important to explain familial resemblance for asthma.

Infant temperament, parenting, and externalizing behavior in first grade: a test of the differential susceptibility hypothesis

This study examines the differential susceptibility hypothesis as it pertains to relations between infant temperament, parenting, and behavior problems in first grade. Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care were used in a series of hierarchical regression analyses focused on interactions between three aspects of parenting (harshness, sensitivity, productive activity) and temperament as they affect teacher-reported externalizing behavior in first grade. Step #1 included family income-to-needs, maternal education, gender, life events, and amount of child care as control variables, plus infant temperament and the three parenting variables. Step #2 included a single interaction term, the interaction between one of the key parenting variables and child temperament. Results showed stronger relations between maternal sensitivity and behavior problems for children with difficult temperaments. Likewise, relations between opportunities for productivity and behavior problems were stronger for children with difficult temperaments. Trends were in the same direction for harsh parenting but did not quite reach statistical significance. Having access to experiences that promote coping and build self-regulatory capacities seems particularly valuable for children with difficult temperaments.