Study Of Early Child Care And Youth Development Research Articles

The Association Between Internalizing Symptomology and Risky Behaviors

Internalizing symptoms (withdrawn/depressed and anxious/depressed), measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), were examined as related to the development of externalizing problems, a pathway to risky behavior. A cross-section of children ages 6 to 15 was drawn from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) longitudinal data set of 1,364 families with full-term, healthy newborns throughout the United States. Internalizing and externalizing scores were determined through mothers' reports on the CBCL. When considered separately and together, internalizing symptoms significantly related to externalizing behaviors, with “anxious/depressed” accounting for the greatest proportion of variance. As age increased, internalizing symptoms accounted for a greater degree of externalizing problem variance. Sex was a significant moderator. Results suggest the utility of identifying and treating internalizing problems early, which may reduce the occurrence of externalizing and risky behaviors such as substance abuse.

Family income trajectory during childhood is associated with adiposity in adolescence: a latent class growth analysis

BackgroundChildhood socioeconomic disadvantage has been linked with obesity in cross-sectional research, although less is known about how changes in socioeconomic status influence the development of obesity. Researchers have hypothesized that upward socioeconomic mobility may attenuate the health effects of earlier socioeconomic disadvantage; while downward socioeconomic mobility might have a negative influence on health despite relative socioeconomic advantages at earlier stages. The purpose of the current study was to characterize trajectories of family income during childhood, and to evaluate the influence of these trajectories on adiposity at age 15.MethodsData were collected as part of the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) between 1991 and 2007 at 10 sites across the United States. A latent class growth analysis (LCGA) was conducted to identify trajectories of family income from birth to 15 years of age. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) were conducted to determine whether measures of adiposity differed by trajectory, while controlling for relevant covariates.ResultsThe LCGA supported a 5-class trajectory model, which included two stable, one downward, and two upward trajectories. ANCOVAs indicated that BMI percentile, waist circumference, and skinfold thicknesses at age 15 differed significantly by trajectory, such that those who experienced downward mobility or stable low income had greater adiposity relative to the more advantaged trajectories. Conversely, upwardly mobile children and those with consistently adequate incomes had similar and more positive outcomes relative to the most disadvantaged trajectories.ConclusionsFindings suggest that promoting upward socioeconomic mobility among disadvantaged families may have a positive impact on obesity-related outcomes in adolescence.

Trajectories of BMI from early childhood through early adolescence: SES and psychosocial predictors

This study examined the ways in which body mass index (BMI) percentile - an identified risk factor for overweight and cardiovascular disease in adulthood - develops from birth through early adolescence. In addition, we examined whether psychosocial factors, such as parenting style and maternal depression, mediated the link between socio-economic status (SES) and BMI growth. Design. Data were obtained from phases 1-3 of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) - a longitudinal study that followed children from 10 communities in the United States from birth to age 11. We applied growth mixture models to identify distinct subtypes of BMI development. Within these models, we performed between- and within-class mediation analyses to examine whether SES predicted class membership or differences in development within each class via maternal depression and parenting styles. Results identified three prototypic trajectories of BMI percentile growth, elevated, steady increase, and stable. We found evidence for both between- and within-class mediation, suggesting multiple pathways by which SES can affect BMI development. These findings add to the research that suggests that being in a family with a low SES is associated with falling into patterns of development characterized by early and lasting increases in BMI relative to one's peers, and that this association is partly accounted for by maternal depression and parenting styles. What is already known? Past research has found evidence that patterns of childhood overweight are impacted by socioeconomic status through psychosocial factors like parenting and depression. This evidence is often limited to individual points in time where neglectful, permissive, and authoritarian parenting and higher levels of maternal depression are associated with higher levels of overweight status among children from infancy to adolescence. However, little research has linked together whether the children who receive non-authoritative parenting and are overweight in infancy are the same children who are overweight in adolescence. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD?: • Evidence for 3 different prototypes of BMI percentile growth over the course of childhood approaching adolescence. • Adds complexity re the influence of parenting styles as an influence on patterns of weight gain. • Buttresses existing research as to early and lasting effects of SES on patterns of BMI.

Relational Aggression in Middle Childhood: Predictors and Adolescent Outcomes

AbstractThis study examined gender differences in the level and developmental course of relational aggression in middle childhood, as well as early predictors and outcomes of relational aggression, after controlling for concurrent physical aggression. Relational (RAgg) and Physical aggression (PAgg) scores for 558 boys and 545 girls at the ages of eight to 11 in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) were created by combining the highest rating for each item across mother and teacher reports. Longitudinal analyses were conducted using latent curve models of RAgg with PAgg as a time‐varying covariate, with all parameters allowed to vary by gender. Boys and girls had different growth parameters of RAgg. Girls' RAgg intercept was higher, and the slope was not different from zero; boys' RAgg intercept was lower, and the slope declined. Mother–child conflict in early childhood predicted RAgg intercept for both boys and girls, but maternal harsh control and sensitivity were also uniquely predictive for girls whereas center care was uniquely predictive for boys. RAgg intercept predicted adolescent self‐reports of depression for girls and delinquency and risk‐taking for both boys and girls; the magnitude of the association with risk taking was significantly greater for boys.

Depression Risk among Mothers of Young Children: The Role of Employment Preferences, Labor Force Status and Job Quality

This study examines how desire for employment, employment status, and job quality associate with depressive symptoms among mothers of infants and toddlers. We use the longitudinal NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) to estimate regression models with a variety of controls including prior depression. We find that employment in high-quality versus low-quality jobs is associated with reductions in depressive symptoms, both for mothers who do and do not desire employment. Furthermore, non-employed mothers have elevated depression levels only if they desire employment. Our results demonstrate that neither employment nor non-employment is best for all mothers of young children; rather mental health depends on mothers’ employment preferences and, when they do work for pay, job quality.

Dynamic changes in anger, externalizing and internalizing problems: attention and regulation

Low levels of dispositional anger and a good attention span are critical to healthy social emotional development, with attention control reflecting effective cognitive self-regulation of negative emotions such as anger. Using a longitudinal design, we examined attention span as a moderator of reciprocal links between changes in anger and changes in externalizing and internalizing problems from 4.5 to 11 years of age. Participants were children from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD), assessed four times between 4.5 and 11 years. Composite scores for anger and attention were computed using indicators from multiple informants. Externalizing and internalizing problems were reported by mothers. Latent difference score analysis showed reciprocal lagged effects between increased anger and elevated levels of externalizing or internalizing problems. Significant moderating effects of attention indicated more persistent effects of anger on externalizing problems in the poor attention group. Although the poor and the good attention groups did not differ regarding the effects of anger on internalizing problems, significant moderating effects of attention indicated stronger and more persistent reciprocal effects of internalizing problems on anger in the poor attention group. Attention control mechanisms are involved in self-regulation of anger and its connections with changes in behavioral and emotional problems. Strong attention regulation may serve to protect children with higher levels of dispositional anger from developing behavioral and emotional problems in middle childhood.

Attachment in US children experiencing nonmaternal care in the early 1990s

This review paper presents and places in context findings from 23 manuscripts based on the data sets of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). The NICHD study tracked the development of more than 1000 children from birth through age 15. The children were born across the USA to families that were diverse in terms of their economic, educational, and ethnic background. The children also varied in terms of the timing, extent, quality, and type of their child care experiences. The findings reported in this review paper pertain to (1) predictors of child–mother attachment; (2) links between child–mother attachment and children's developmental outcomes; and (3) methods for assessing attachment. The review paper also includes suggestions for future attachment research afforded by the data sets of the NICHD SECCYD. Not all the hypotheses tested in the reviewed papers were confirmed, and those that were confirmed were associated with modest effect sizes. Some findings emerged under specific conditions, even though they were expected to be more universal. These findings need to be discussed and aligned with theory. Also, the extent to which the findings generalize beyond the historical period and the country in which the data were collected merits discussion and exploration.

Attachment and non-maternal care: towards contextualizing the quantity versus quality debate

In this commentary to Friedman's and Boyle's review we focus on the context of early child care as it is reflected in the debate on the effects of quality of care versus amount of care and attachment relations. It is argued that cross-national research should be considered along with the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) in order to promote better understanding of the interface of attachment, child care, and context. In addition, some methodological issues are discussed including the status of the Strange Situation assessment, definition of non-maternal care, and longitudinal correlates of attachment.

Attachment to mother and nonmaternal care: bridging the gap

In this commentary to the child–mother attachment findings of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) we focus on the contextual conditions under which child care and the child's attachment relationship(s) may function as a risk or protective factor for child development. First, the authors' conclusion concerning child care as a risk factor for attachment security is refined. Second, suggestions are provided for incorporating possible moderators and mediators of the relations between child care, child–mother attachment, and developmental outcomes. Children's attachment relationship to nonmaternal caregivers, their temperament, and their genetic make-up may be relevant factors; and we discuss them in the context of children's differential susceptibility to influences from the caregiving environment. Third, and following from the above, we argue for specificity in predicting developmental outcomes from attachment security and nonmaternal care.

Structural and Process Features in Three Types of Child Care for Children from High and Low Income Families.

We use observations from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) to compare structural and process characteristics of child care centers, family child care homes (nonrelative care in a home setting) and care by relatives for 2, 3- and 4 ½-year-old children. Type of care differences in structural and caregiver characteristics were consistent across ages: centers had higher child-to-adult ratios and bigger groups; centers had caregivers with better education, more training in early childhood, and less traditional beliefs about child rearing. Children in centers experienced more cognitive stimulation, less frequent language interactions with adults, less frequent negative interactions with adults, and less television viewing than did those in other types of care. In centers and family child care homes compared to relative settings, children engaged in more positive and negative interactions with peers and spent more time in transition and unoccupied. Curvilinear associations were found between structural features of care and family income, particularly for caregiver education and training. In contrast, process measures of caregiving rose monotonically with family income. Children from high-income families experienced more sensitive care, more cognitive stimulation, and fewer negative interactions with adults than did those from low-income families. We interpret the findings by linking the structural features and caregiver training to the cognitive and social processes observed in different types of care. Future research designed to understand the influences of child care on children's behavior might benefit from using this more nuanced description of child care experiences.