Private Child Care Research Articles

Togetherness in the Household

Spending time together with a spouse is a major gain from marriage. We extend the classical collective model of the household to allow for togetherness between spouses. Togetherness takes the form of joint leisure and joint care for children. Using revealed preferences conditions, we find that Dutch households are willing to pay €1.2 per hour - 10% of the average wage - to convert private leisure to joint, and €2.1 per hour to convert private childcare to joint. Our results suggest that togetherness is an important component of household time use despite it being overlooked in the economics literature.

최저임금상승률과 물가상승률을 반영한 인건비 미지원 어린이집의 보육료 산정 연구

최저임금상승률과 물가상승률을 반영한 인건비 미지원 어린이집의 보육료 산정 연구

What characteristics of funding, provision and regulation are associated with effective social investment in ECEC in England, France and Germany?

AbstractEarly childhood education and care (ECEC) is seen as a crucial element of the social investment state. Whilst the extent of social investment in ECEC depends on financial expenditure, its effectiveness depends on certain conditions being met: namely, affordable, high quality provision being available. We explore policy development and the role played by government in the funding, provision and regulation of ECEC in England, France and Germany and then compare availability, affordability and quality. We argue that for children aged three and over, social investment can be deemed to be broadly effective in France and Germany, but in England quality is compromised by low staff qualification levels in private childcare centres. For children under three, effective social investment is elusive in all countries, although as a result of different conditions not being met. Our findings lead us to question the limitations of the concept of social investment in ECEC, particularly in marketised contexts.

Does Public Pre-K Have Unintended Consequences on the Child Care Market for Infants and Toddlers?

I estimate the impact of public pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds on the provision of private child care for younger children by considering New York City's 2014 Universal Pre-K expansion. Private child care facilities often care for children from infancy or toddlerhood through pre-K. A public option for older children could therefore affect availability, prices, or quality of care for younger children. This effect could be positive or negative depending on the structure of the child care market, the design of the public pre-K program, and parent preferences. I use a panel dataset covering all licensed child care facilities in New York City and a difference-in-differences strategy that compares changes over time for neighborhoods with more versus fewer new public pre-K sites. I estimate that the public pre-K program reduced the capacity for children younger than 2 years old at private child care centers by 2,700 seats. The entire decrease in capacity occurs in areas with high poverty, and this decline was not offset by an increase in provision in the home day care market. In complementary analysis, I find a within-center increase in public complaints and inspection violations for day care centers that are closer to new public pre-K sites, suggesting a decrease in quality due to the increased competition from public pre-K. A back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates that for every seven 4-year-olds who shifted from day care centers to public pre-K, there was a reduction of one day care center seat for children under the age of 2.

Professional learning communities: Enhancing collaborative leadership in Singapore early childhood settings

Leadership in early childhood education has been promoted as a collaborative process in which all teachers, rather than just the positional leader, are involved. Collaborative leadership practices are not well understood within the marketised Singapore early childhood education context. Beyond mandatory leadership training, little is known about how leaders are supported to strengthen their leadership practices and involve others in leadership activities. School-based literature suggests that learning through professional learning communities expands the collective capacity of organisations; however, literature on professional learning communities in early childhood education is limited. This article reports on the findings of an interpretive case study examining the current understandings and leadership practices of principals in the Singapore early childhood education context, and investigating how participation in professional learning communities can support the development of collaborative leadership practices. The participants in two professional learning communities established as part of this study were six principals from an anchor-operator childcare provider and five principals from private childcare centres in Singapore. Two teachers working with each of the respective principals were also involved in focus group interviews to ascertain if there were changes in their principals’ leadership practices. Data was collected from professional learning community meetings, online reflections, pre- and post-professional learning community interviews with the principals, and follow-up focus group discussions with the teachers. The key findings indicate that praxis as a result of participation in a professional learning community led to some shifts in principals’ thinking about collaborative leadership practices and resulted in reported changes to their leadership approaches, distribution of leadership, and improved collegiality and collaborative learning for teachers. The results indicate that considering and implementing collaborative leadership practices through professional learning communities in the Singapore early childhood education context requires sensitivity towards Asian Singapore sociocultural values related to hierarchy and economic pragmatism.

‘You hit me! That's not nice and it makes me sad!!’: relations of young children's social information processing and early school success

ABSTRACTAs part of a larger longitudinal project on the assessment of preschoolers’ social-emotional development, children's social information processing (SIP) responses to unambiguous hypothetical situations of peer provocation were assessed for 239 preschoolers from Head Start and private childcare settings. SIP measurement focused on emotions children would feel during these situations, and their behaviour response decisions. The aims of the study were to examine foundations of these SIP responses in self-regulation and emotion knowledge, as well as to consider how adaptive SIP responding predicted concurrent classroom adjustment and pre-academic preacademic literacy. Using a PLS modelling procedure, results showed that both self-regulation and emotion knowledge were associated with adaptive SIP responding. Moreover, adaptive SIP responding predicted classroom adjustment and pre-academic preacademic literacy. Discussion centres on the contribution of social-emotional competence to preacademic literacy.

Preschool Math Exposure in Private Center-Based Care and Low-SES Children’s Math Development

ABSTRACTResearch Findings: The present study examined the amount of exposure to math activities that children of low socioeconomic status (SES) encounter in private community-based preschool classrooms and whether greater time in these activities predicted higher math skills. Three cohorts of 4- to 5-year-old children were recruited from 30 private centers, resulting in a sample of 288 children nested within 73 preschool classrooms. Classroom observations were conducted for 150 min during fall and winter of the preschool year using a time sampling method. Preschoolers were exposed to an average daily amount of 2 min (range = 0–23) of math exposure. Hierarchical linear models were run to examine associations between math exposure and math achievement. Children’s exposure to math activities significantly and positively predicted their spring math scores, but associations between math exposure and math scores were stronger for children with lower initial cognitive abilities and self-regulation skills. Practice or Policy: Our findings revealed generally low levels of math instruction occurring in private child care centers primarily serving low-SES children. Even limited exposure to math activities predicted children’s math skills, however, which highlights the importance of math content in these settings.

Relationship between maternal gatekeeping, marital satisfaction and perfectionism

본 연구에서는 어머니의 문지기 역할과 어머니의 결혼만족도 및 완벽성향 간의 관계를 살펴보았다. 이를 위해 수도권 소재 국공립, 민간 보육 기관에 다니는 영유아기 자녀를 둔 280명의 어머니를 대상으로 자기보고식 설문조사를 실시하였다. 주요 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 어머니의 문지기 역할은 문열기 역할 수준이 문닫기 역할 수준보다 높게 나타났다. 어머니의 결혼만족도 하위요인 중 ‘전반적인 결혼만족 ’수준이 가장 높고, 어머니의 완벽성향 하위요인 중에서는 ‘높은 기준 설정’ 수준이 가장 높게 나타났다. 둘째. 어머니의 결혼만족도는 문닫기 역할과는 부적 상관관계로, 문열기 역할과는 정적 상관관계로 나타났다. 어머니의 완벽성향은 문닫기 역할과는 전체적으로 정적 상관관계로 나타났고 문열기 역할과는 일부 하위요인에서만 유의미한 상관관계가 나타났다. 셋째, 어머니의 결혼만족도는 완벽성향과 함께 어머니의 문지기 역할에 유의한 영향을 미치며 두 변인이 어머니의 문닫기 역할에 미치는 영향은 52%, 문열기 역할에 미치는 영향은 58%로 나타났다. 특히, 어머니의 결혼만족도 하위요인 중 ‘자녀양육 갈등해결’은 문닫기 역할과 문열기 역할 모두에서 설명력이 가장 높은 요인으로 나타났다. 이는 어머니가 인식하는 부부 간 ‘자녀양육 갈등 해결’정도가 영유아기 자녀를 둔 어머니의 문지기 역할을 설명하는 매우 강력한 변인임을 시사한다. 본 연구 결과를 토대로, 어머니의 문열기 역할 및 아버지의 양육참여를 활성화시키기 위한 실질적인 부모교육의 내용과 지원방안이 마련되길 기대한다.This study aims to examine the relation between maternal gate-keeping, and mother’s marital satisfaction and perfectionism. To achieve this, the study conducted self-report survey targeting 280 mothers with young children who attend public and private childcare center in metropolitan area. The study results are s below. First, as for the maternal gatekeeping, the gate opening role showed higher level than gate closing. Among the sub factors of marital satisfaction of mother, overall marital satisfaction level was the highest, and as for the perfectionism of mother, higher standard setting was the highest. Second, marital satisfaction of mother and gate closing role had negative correlation, while gate opening role had positive correlation. Perfectionism of mother had positive correlation with gate closing role, while it had significant correlation with partial sub factors of gate opening role. Third, marital satisfaction of mother and perfectionism have significant influence on maternal gatekeeping, and the influence of two variables on gate closing role was 52% and 58% on gate opening role. Especially, among the sub factors of marital satisfaction of mother, “child rearing conflict solving” was the factor with highest explanation power in both gate opening and closing role. This indicates the “child rearing conflict solving” between parents that mothers recognize is a very strong variable explaining the gatekeeping of mothers with young children. Based on the study results, it is expected that the actual parent education and support plan to bitalize the maternal gate opening role and to increase fathers’ participation in child rearing.

민간보육시설 재정관리에 관한 시설장들의 인식유형과 개선방안

이 연구의 목적은 민간보육시설의 재정관리에 관한 시설장들의 주관적 인식을 유형화하고 그 특성을 파악하는 것이다. 유형별 특성을 통해 민간보육시설의 효율적인 재정관리와 보육서비스의 질 향상을 위한 방안을 모색하는 것이다. 민간보육시설의 재정관리와 관련된 엄선된 25개의 진술문을 가지고 27명의 시설장들에게 Q 분류를 하게한 결과 세 가지 유형이 도출되었다. 첫째, '재정 독립형'은 민간보육시설을 위한 재무회계규칙이 개정되어야 하며, 민간보육시설의 특수성과 독립성을 보장해야 한다는 유형이다. 둘째, '공보육형'인데 민간보육시설에 대한 정부지원이 국공립보육시설에 대한 지원만큼 이루어져야 한다는 유형이다. 셋째 유형은 '사업별 지원형'으로 민간보육시설의 규모, 특성에 부합하는 규정을 제정하고, 그에 따른 지원을 해야 한다는 유형이다. 연구결과를 토대로 한 함의와 보육정책 발전방안을 제시하였다. This study is to grasp its characteristics by typing a subjective perception of directors on a private childcare center(PCC)' financial management. This study is used the selected 25 statements and 27 directors performed the Q sort. As this result, the three types were derived. Financial Independence Type perceived that a finance accounting rules for PCC has to revised, and it is in need of guarantee of PCC' independency. Public Childcare Type is a type that a government support on PCC is aided as much as support of a National/Public childcare center. Project Support Type is the type that a rule enactment and support is correspond to a scale and characteristics of PCC. Based on the result of research, I presented a implications and suggestions on a childcare policy.

Childcare markets and maternal employment: A typology

How does the structure of a country’s childcare market influence maternal employment? Childcare markets vary across countries, leading mothers to rely on various forms of care depending on what is available to them in both the public (state-provided) and private (non-state) childcare markets. Maternal employment is higher in countries that combine comprehensive childcare policies with an available and affordable private care market. When aspects of either the public or private market are lacking, the employment of mothers, and especially mothers with young children, is lower. This article proposes a fourfold classification scheme based on the type of ‘penalty’ that women experience in the labour market as mothers. It then links each penalty to distinct policy structures of childcare markets and shows that the four penalties are visible at both the country and individual level. By articulating how public and private care markets work in concert to shape maternal employment, this article adds to a literature that to date has focused primarily on the role of public childcare in reconciling work and family.

Precarious Care Labor: Contradictory Work Regulations and Practices for Au Pairs in Sweden

This paper focuses on the rules and regulations relating to au pair work in Sweden, and how these rules correlate with au pairing practices. The precarious position of au pairs has been highlighted before, but in addition, au pairs coming to Sweden also find themselves in an unclear work situation due to contradictory rules and regulations. While au pairs from outside the EU must apply for a work permit that defines their work as cultural exchange, this regulation does not apply to EU au pairs. As a consequence, we currently see the emergence of an almost completely unregulated— and growing—market for au pairing in Sweden. Drawing on a qualitative study of the private child care market in Sweden, this paper analyzes rules and regulations for au pairing, as well as how au pair working conditions are understood, negotiated, and realized by employing parents, and au pairs themselves. This is analyzed in relation to theoretical elaborations of paid and unpaid work, as well as discussions of care as a practice where ‘work’ and ‘emotion’ is inherently intertwined.

The effects of universal state pre-kindergarten on the child care sector: The case of Florida's voluntary pre-kindergarten program

Over the past two decades states have drastically increased their investments in pre-kindergarten programs. One major question about state investments in early childhood education programs is to what extent these initiatives create new child care options rather than crowd-out existing private child care options. We investigate this issue using Florida's universal pre-kindergarten program (VPK), a national leader with respect to preschool access, as a case study. Leveraging a 9-year panel of data we find that the introduction of Florida's VPK program expanded the size of the state's licensed child care market by 13% relative to the predicted market size. Using a synthetic control difference-in-difference approach we also show that VPK led to an increase in the percentage of 4-year-olds enrolled in formal care but a drop in the percentage of 3-year-olds enrolled in these settings. Implications are discussed.

Screening for Amblyogenic Factors in a Rural State: Implementing a Statewide Childhood Vision Project

Wyoming is the least populated state in the United States, with approximately 582,000 people living in a geographic area of 97,093 square miles. Wyoming's sparsely populated cities and towns struggle to support an optimal level of primary and specialist health care (Gantenbein, Robinson, Wolverton, & Earls, 2011). Limited availability of primary care for children presents a barrier to the provision of screening services for potentially correctable conditions such as amblyopia (Kemper & Clark, 2006). Amblyopia is the most common form of unilateral blindness in children, with an estimated prevalence of 1-5% (Holmes & Clarke, 2006). To address the need for vision screening services in areas where primary care is limited, the Lions Clubs of Tennessee established a network of lay screeners who were trained to follow a standardized screening protocol (Donahue, Johnson, & Leonard-Martin, 2000). The success of the Tennessee program led the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) to incorporate vision screening into its Core Four sight preservation initiatives and provide matching funds for Lions Clubs in various states, including Wyoming, to initiate vision screening programs (see Donahue et al., 2006, for a review). THE PROGRAM The Wyoming Lions Early Childhood Vision Program (WLECVP) provides children aged 6 months to 6 years with free annual vision screening, administered by trained lay persons from the community. In a state where vision screening is not mandated and where public schools do not begin vision screening until a child registers for kindergarten, WLECVP affords Wyoming children access to modern vision screening services well before they enter school. Similar to the Tennessee Lions Vision Screening Project, WLECVP utilizes trained Lions volunteers to set up and conduct screenings throughout the state, but WLECVP utilizes the services of Lions volunteers to a much lesser extent. What makes WLECVP unique is its use of 14 regional Child Development Centers and their staff members to conduct vision screenings in 46 sites. The Child Development Centers are state-supported entities that provide education and related services to children with developmental delays and disabilities from birth through 5 years of age. To meet children's needs, the centers work in conjunction with other early child care and education sites such as Head Start programs, developmental preschools, and private childcare settings. Child Development Centers were chosen by WLECVP as primary screening sites for several reasons. First, they serve children with developmental delays--a population with higher rates of vision problems than the general population (Sandfeld-Nielsen, Skov, & Jensen, 2007). Second, their staff members have regular contact with the children being screened, which provides more consistent and secure lines of communication with the parents or guardians of a child who has failed a screening activity. Third, their staff members are specially trained to work with children and families and may be more adept in attaining the cooperation of children who are difficult to screen, such as those with developmental delays. Finally, given their location in population centers throughout the state, they provide readily accessible developmental screening services for the entire population of children from birth to five years of age. At the outset of the program in 2001, the WLECVP project coordinators assembled an advisory team made up of optometrists, ophthalmologists, teachers of visually impaired students, early childhood special education teachers, and specialists in early childhood education to develop a vision-screening protocol for that could be administered by lay screeners. At the time, no single tool had been developed that was capable of reliably identifying amblyopia risk factors. Therefore, the team decided on a battery of five different vision screening tools that took into consideration the particular strengths of each tool in detecting specific amblyopia risk factors. …

“No-o-o-o Peeking”: Preschoolers’ Executive Control, Social Competence, and Classroom Adjustment

The goals of this study were to evaluate (1) how specific aspects of executive control, briefly assessed, predict social competence and classroom adjustment during preschool and (2) differences between two aspects of executive control, according to child’s age, socioeconomic risk status, and gender. The facets of executive control were defined as cool executive control (CEC; affectively neutral, slow acting, and late developing) and hot executive control (HEC; more emotional, fast acting, and early developing). Two hundred eighty-seven 3- to 5-year-old children from private child care and Head Start centers were directly assessed during executive control tasks, and preschool teachers provided information on their school success. Aspects of executive control varied with age, socioeconomic risk, and gender. Specifically, older children performed better on CEC tasks across three age levels; for HEC tasks, change was seen only between 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds. Children of mothers with less formal education performed less well on CEC than those whose mothers had more education; girls performed better than boys on HEC tasks. Further, facets of executive control were differentially related to later social competence and classroom adjustment. HEC predicted social competence, whereas CEC uniquely predicted classroom adjustment. Implications for everyday practice and specific curricula formulation are discussed.

그림책을 활용한 인성교육활동이 유아의 친사회적 행동에 미치는 영향

본 연구는 그림책을 활용한 인성교육활동이 유아의 친사회적 행동에 미치는 영향을 알아보고자 하였다. 연구대상은 G시에 위치한 민간 어린이집의 만 5세 유아 46명으로 실험집단과 비교집단으로 구성하였다. 그림책의 내용을 듣고, 이야기 나누기, 동극, 언어활동, 음률활동, 수활동, 과학활동, 게임 등의 통합 활동으로 구성된 인성교육활동을 12주 동안 주 3회 총 36회 실시하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 그림책을 활용한 인성교육활동을 경험한 만 5세 실험집단이 비교집단의 유아들에 비해 친사회적 행동 증진이 증진된 것으로 나타났다. 친사회적 행동의 하위요인인 지도성, 도움주기, 의사소통능력, 주도적 배려, 시도하기, 나누기, 감정 이입 및 조절 능력에 효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 그림책을 활용한 인성교육활동은 유아들에게 신뢰감 형성과 사회적 태도를 익히게 하여 친사회적 행동 증진에 영향을 주었으므로 유아교육현장에서 유아들의 인성교육지도를 위해 활용되어야 할 것이다. The purpose of this study was to identify how character education activities utilizing picture books affect pro-social behaviors of young children. The subjects were 46 children aged 5 who attended private child care centers in G city. The children were allocated to either the experiment group or the control group. The data were collected for 12 weeks and the activity sessions were provided to the experiment group 3 times a week (36 times in total). The sessions consisted of an integrated approach toward character education. Therefore, various activities were included such as listening to the stories of picture books, discussion, drama, language activities, music, mathematics, science and games. The findings of this study were as follows: The experiment group which experienced character education utilizing picture books has significantly improved their pro-social behaviors compared to the control group. The approach positively influenced the overall sub-variables such as leadership, helping, communication, initiative consideration, approach trial, sharing, empathy, and emotional control. The character education activities should be applied to character education utilizing picture books for young children because they let young children experience building up trust and learn social attitude, and influenced increase of pro-social behaviors on young children.

Preschool teachers’ classroom behavioral socialization practices and low-income children's self-regulation skills

The present study examined associations between teachers’ classroom behavioral socialization practices and the development of preschoolers’ self-regulation skills throughout the year, as well as the moderating roles of child gender and initial self-regulation skills. The predominantly low-income sample consisted of 216 children from 68 preschool classrooms within 29 private child care centers. Findings suggest that teachers devoted very little time to whole-group classroom behavioral socialization practices. Hierarchical linear models revealed that classroom behavioral socialization time negatively predicted both spring self-regulation scores (lagged dependent variable models) and change in children's self-regulation scores from fall to spring (change score models). These patterns remained even after controlling for a variety of child, family, teacher, and classroom characteristics. Cross-level interactions indicated that the negative association between behavioral socialization time and change in self-regulation was stronger for girls than for boys. Preschoolers’ initial self-regulation in the fall did not moderate the association between behavioral socialization time and self-regulation in either model. Implications for practice are discussed.

Identifying Barriers to Permanency: The Recruitment, Selection, and Training of Resource Parents

Staff and resource parents in the public child welfare agency and private child care facilities were invited to participate in research in one state to examine the barriers surrounding resource parent recruitment, training and selection, and strategies for achieving more timely permanency. Issues identified included the need for a shared vision among all stakeholders and the need to focus more on developing public and private agency partnerships. Data-driven strategies were then designed to address identified barriers. This process can serve as an example of how systems may use solicited input from the field to develop interventions or modify casework practice in an attempt to improve child and family outcomes as needed.

어린이집 운영의 공공성에 영향을 미치는 요인

본 연구의 목적은 어린이집 유형별 공공성 수준 차이를 살펴보고, 공공성에 영향을 미치는 어린이집 특성을 알아보는 데 있다. 구체적으로, 어린이집 운영의 공공성 구성요소별 수준을 파악하기 위한 문항을 개발하고, 이를 통해 어린이집 유형별 차이를 살펴보았으며, 어린이집 운영의 공공성에 영향을 미치는 요인을 규명해 보고자 하였다. 연구대상은 어린이집 총 511개소로, 국공립어린이집 108개소, 법인어린이집 110개소, 민간어린이집 101개소, 가정어린이집 80개소, 공공형어린이집 121개소이다. 자료 분석을 위하여 빈도, 백분율, 평균, 표준편차, F검증, Duncan 사후검증, 중다회귀분석을 실시하였다. 연구결과는 첫째, 국공립어린이집이 보편성, 참여성, 투명성이 가장 높고, 공공형어린이집은 공개성이 가장 높았다. 반면에 민간과 가정 어린이집은 모든 공공성 구성요소에서 가장 낮은 수준을 나타내었다. 둘째, 어린이집 운영의 공공성 구성요소, 즉 보편성은 국공립어린이집과 대도시나 중소도시에 소재할수록 높았고, 공개성은 반대로 법인, 민간, 가정 어린이집일수록 낮았으며, 투명성과 참여성은 국공립과 법인 어린이이며, 정원충족률이 높을수록 높았다. 어린이집에 대한 지원 확대와 이에 대한 정부의 관리감독이 수반되며, 어린이집 운영의 공공성 확보를 이룰 수 있음을 시사하였다. The purpose of this study is to analyze publicness by the types of childcare centers, and factors related to publicness in the operation of childcare centers. The subjects of this study were 511 childcare centers. Data were analyzed by frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, F-test, Duncan's post hoc test, and regression. The findings of the study were: First, Among childcare centers, Public childcare centers were high in universality, transparency and participation. But family daycare homes and private centers were low in universality, transparency, participation, and openness. Second, public childcare centers, family daycare homes, private childcare centers, major city and medium-sized cities affected universality in the operation of childcare centers. Public childcare centers, social welfare foundation childcare centers, family daycare homes, private childcare centers and proportion of capacity affected transparency in the operation of childcare centers. Public childcare centers, family daycare homes, private childcare centers and proportion of capacity affected participation in the operation of childcare centers. Government able to accomplish publicness in the operation of childcare centers if it would strengthen management process and expanded financial for childcare centers.

Relations between executive function and emotionality in preschoolers: Exploring a transitive cognition-emotion linkage.

Emotions play a crucial role in appraisal of experiences and environments and in guiding thoughts and actions. Moreover, executive function (EF) and emotion regulation (ER) have received much attention, not only for positive associations with children’s social–emotional functioning, but also for potential central roles in cognitive functioning. In one conceptualization of ER (Campos etal., 2004), processes of ER, and those of emotional expression and experience (hereafter referred to as emotionality) are highly related and reciprocal; yet, there has been little research on young children’s EF that focuses on emotionality, although it is easily observed within a classroom. The two goals of the study were to: (1) investigate the relatively unexplored role of emotionality in the development of EF in early childhood and (2) assess the relations between an observational rating of EF obtained after direct assessment with a standardized EF rating scale. We predicted that observed emotionality and EF would both demonstrate stability and predict one another within and across time. 175 children aged 35–60 months were recruited from Head Start and private childcare centers. Using partial least squares modeling, we chose T1 emotionality as the exogenous variable and tested pathways between emotionality and EF across two time points, 6 months apart. Results showed that both T1 observed EF and emotionality predicted their respective T2 counterparts, supporting the idea that both constructs build upon existing systems. Further, T1 emotionality predicted T1 observed EF and the T2 BRIEF-P composite. In turn, T1 observed EF predicted emotionality and the T2 BRIEF-P composite. These findings fit with literature on older populations in which EF and emotionality have been related, yet are the first to report such relations in early childhood. Last, T1 observed EF’s positive prediction of the T2 BRIEF-P composite lends credence to the use of both EF measures in applied and research settings.

Child Care Providers’ Perceptions of Children’s Lifestyles and Risk Factors for Obesity: A Focus Group Study

Objective: This study attempts to understand child care providers’ perceptions of remarkable children’s lifestyles and discusses potentially successful strategies of cooperation among child care providers, parents, and health professionals for health promotion and the prevention of obesity in preschool children. Methods: We conducted 6 focus group discussions consisting of 34 child care providers employed by private and public child care centers, and a public kindergarten in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Systematic thematic analysis was conducted to generate themes to address the study questions. Results: What the focus group participants discussed with felt mainly into the 3 different kinds of points: “Concerns of Child Care Providers Regarding Parental Attitudes about Nutrition and Nurture,” “Tensions between Parents and Child Care Providers,” and “Current Obesity Prevention Activities and the Role of Child Care Professionals.” Conclusions: Childcare providers had many concerns that fell into 5 main issues of the possible detrimental effects on children’s health due to parents’ nurturing methods and lifestyles. Participants described possible strategies for the prevention of childhood obesity in childcare settings as well as barriers to effective intervention. Childcare providers felt that a system to demand helps from public health nurses in guiding parents would be effective in preventing childhood obesity.