Are there long-term effects of early child care?
Effects of early child care on children's functioning from 4(1/2) years through the end of 6th grade (M age=12.0 years) were examined in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n=1,364). The results indicated that although parenting was a stronger and more consistent predictor of children's development than early child-care experience, higher quality care predicted higher vocabulary scores and more exposure to center care predicted more teacher-reported externalizing problems. Discussion focuses on mechanisms responsible for these effects, the potential collective consequences of small child-care effects, and the importance of the ongoing follow-up at age 15.
Belsky
Jay
J
Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues, Birkbeck University of London, UK. j.belsky@bbk.ac.uk
Vandell
Deborah Lowe
DL
Burchinal
Margaret
M
Clarke-Stewart
K Alison
KA
McCartney
Kathleen
K
Owen
Margaret Tresch
MT
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002657:Child Development; D002668:Child Rearing; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012951:Socialization; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014825:Vocabulary