Differential susceptibility to parenting and quality child care.
Research on differential susceptibility to rearing suggests that infants with difficult temperaments are disproportionately affected by parenting and child care quality, but a major U.S. child care study raises questions as to whether quality of care influences social adjustment. One thousand three hundred sixty-four American children from reasonably diverse backgrounds were followed from 1 month to 11 years with repeated observational assessments of parenting and child care quality, as well as teacher report and standardized assessments of children's cognitive-academic and social functioning, to determine whether those with histories of difficult temperament proved more susceptible to early rearing effects at ages 10 and 11. Evidence for such differential susceptibility emerges in the case of both parenting and child care quality and with respect to both cognitive-academic and social functioning. Differential susceptibility to parenting and child care quality extends to late middle childhood. J. Belsky, D. L. Vandell, et al.'s (2007) failure to consider such temperament-moderated rearing effects in their evaluation of long-term child care effects misestimates effects of child care quality on social adjustment.
Pluess
Michael
M
Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues, Birkbeck University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Belsky
Jay
J
D000124:Achievement; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D002654:Child Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012917:Social Adjustment; D013694:Temperament; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States