NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development: Phase IV, 2005-2008 [United States]

The overall purpose of this study was to examine the influence of variations in early childcare histories on the psychological development of infants and toddlers from a variety of family backgrounds. This general objective was addressed through a prospective, longitudinal study of the experiences of 1,364 children and their families, which took into account the complex interactions among child characteristics and those of the human and physical environments in which the children were reared. Research Goals The specific research aims were as follows: Examining the relationship between infants' childcare arrangements (defined in terms of hours, type, quality, and stability of care and the age at which the child entered care) and children's concurrent and long-term development. Specifically, the study investigated the association between children's experiences in childcare and their social, emotional, language, and cognitive development. The social-emotional assessments included measures of attachment, independence, compliance, behavior problems, prosocial and antisocial behavior, and general competence in interacting with peers. Cognitive variables include general developmental level and problem solving skills. Language assessments incorporated measures of children's expressive and receptive communicative competence. Examining whether the social ecology of the home moderates the effects of childcare, i.e., whether children from different home environments are differentially affected by similar childcare experiences. The study examined the moderating effects of parents' values and attitudes, psychological adjustment and mental health, stress and social support, child-rearing practices, time use, interactions with the child, the marital relationship, and family demographics. Examining whether individual differences among children moderate the effects of infant care on child development. The study examined the moderating effects of such child characteristics as age, sex, health, birth order, and temperament. Identify demographic and family characteristics associated with families' childcare decisions. The study examined whether specific childcare arrangements are related to the parents' social class, marital status, psychological adjustment and personality, child-rearing values and attitudes, parenting practices, stress, social support, marital relationship, and the availability of childcare in the community. Provide a natural history of infant care in the 1990s, and help establish a baseline of data pertaining to the kinds of care being used by families. Whereas other national databases, such as those provided by the United States Census Bureau, provide static estimates of the number of children in different types of childcare, this network study supplements that knowledge with longitudinal data on successive enrollments into day care at various ages, patterns of arrangements used concurrently and over time, and the stability of arrangements during the first three years of life. One of the most valuable aspects of the collaborative study is the opportunity it provides to obtain a more complete and accurate picture of patterns of infant care used by families today. Census surveys use only gross categories of care (e.g., center vs. in-home). In this study, more fine-grained information regarding the types of centers and home-care facilities was gathered. Examine the consequences for families of maternal employment and childcare choices. Family relationships, parental mental health, family stress, and so on, are not just inputs to child development or moderators of childcare effects, they are also outcomes. High-quality childcare may alleviate family stress and enhance parental adjustment. Low-quality childcare may add to the stress parents experience. Although the main focus in the study was on the effect of childcare on the child, the study also examined the effect of childcare on the family. Identify demographic characteristics of childcare associated with childcare quality. Of interest to policy makers is another aspect of the study, the investigation of those regulatory characteristics that predict care of higher quality. These characteristics included the level and type of caregiver training, the size of the childcare group, the auspices of the childcare program (public/private, profit/nonprofit, independent/chain, em

本研究的总体目标在于探讨早期儿童保育经历在不同家庭背景下的婴幼儿心理发展的影响。为实现此一目标，本研究采取前瞻性、纵向的研究方法，对1,364名儿童及其家庭的经验进行考察，并考虑了儿童特征与养育其的人类及物理环境之间的复杂互动关系。研究目标具体而言包括：探讨婴幼儿保育安排（包括保育时间、类型、质量、稳定性以及儿童开始接受保育的年龄）与儿童同时期及长期发展之间的关系。特别是，研究调查了儿童在保育中的经历与其社会、情感、语言和认知发展的关联。社会情感评估包括依恋、独立性、遵从性、行为问题、亲社会和反社会行为以及与同龄人互动的一般能力等方面的测量。认知变量包括一般发展水平和问题解决技能。语言评估则涵盖了儿童表达和接受沟通能力的测量。研究旨在考察家庭的社会生态是否调节了保育的影响，即不同家庭环境中的儿童是否会受到相似保育经历的不同影响。研究还考察了父母的价值观和态度、心理调适和心理健康、压力和社会支持、养育实践、时间利用、与儿童的互动、婚姻关系以及家庭人口统计等因素的调节作用。研究还考察了儿童个体差异是否调节了婴儿保育对儿童发展的影响。研究考察了年龄、性别、健康状况、出生顺序和气质等儿童特征的调节作用。识别与家庭保育决策相关的人口统计和家庭特征。研究考察了特定的保育安排与父母的社会阶层、婚姻状况、心理调适和个性、养育价值观和态度、养育实践、压力、社会支持、婚姻关系以及社区保育的可获得性之间的关系。提供20世纪90年代婴儿保育的自然历史，并帮助建立关于家庭所使用的保育类型的基线数据。尽管其他国家数据库，如美国人口普查局提供的数据，提供了关于不同类型保育儿童数量的静态估计，但本网络研究通过纵向数据补充了这方面的知识，包括在不同年龄阶段的连续入园、同时期和长期使用的安排模式以及生命头三年的安排稳定性。协作研究的最有价值之处在于，它为获取更全面、更准确的当前家庭保育模式提供了机会。人口普查调查仅使用粗略的保育类别（例如，中心保育与家庭保育）。在本研究中，收集了关于中心和家庭保育设施类型的更精细信息。研究还考察了母亲就业和保育选择对家庭的影响。家庭关系、父母心理健康、家庭压力等不仅是儿童发展的输入或保育影响的调节因素，也是结果。高质量的保育可能缓解家庭压力并增强父母的调适。低质量的保育可能会增加父母所经历的压力。尽管本研究的主要焦点是保育对儿童的影响，但研究也考察了保育对家庭的影响。识别与保育质量相关的保育人口统计特征。对政策制定者而言，研究的另一重要方面是调查那些预示高质量保育的监管特征。这些特征包括照顾者的培训水平与类型、保育小组的大小、保育项目的赞助（公立/私立、营利/非营利、独立/连锁）以及是否为儿童提供高质量的保育。