Toddlers' transition to out-of-home day care: settling into a new care environment.
This study investigates toddlers' initial reaction to day care entry and their behaviour change over the first few months in care. One hundred and four toddlers (10-33 months of age) in Viennese childcare centres participated in the study. One-hour video observations were carried out at 3 time points during the first 4 months in the setting and coded into a total of 36 5-min observation segments. Multilevel models (observation segments nested within children) with an autoregressive error structure fitted data well. Two weeks after entry into care, toddlers' levels of affect and interaction were low. Overall, changes in all areas of observed behaviour were less than expected. There were considerable individual differences in change over time, mostly unrelated to child characteristics. Significant associations between children's positive affect, their dynamic interactions and their explorative and investigative interest were found.
Department of Education, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Wilfried
W
Datler
Katharina
K
Ereky-Stevens
Nina
N
Hover-Reisner
Lars-Erik
LE
Malmberg
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004644:Emotions; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010555:Personality Inventory; D013694:Temperament; D014741:Video Recording