effect of day care on social development

Question 1

what is day care?

Answer 1

A form of temporary care that is not provided by parents and usually takes place outside the home.

Question 2

what is social development?

Answer 2

how we interact with others

Question 3

name and describe one study which shows the negative impact of daycare on children’s aggression.

Answer 3

The National Institute of Child Health and Development (USA) longitudinal study. Over 1000 children from diverse families and locations, assessed at regular intervals to establish the effects of different experiences such as day care.

• When assessed at the age of 5, the more time a child spent in day care of any quality the more adults rated them as assertive, disobedient and aggressive.
• The same children were assessed at the end of their Primary education and still found the link between day care experience and aggressiveness.

Question 4

name and describe one study which doesn’t show the negative impact of daycare on children’s aggression.

Answer 4

Anderson (1989) Study of Swedish first borns found that childcare arrangements were not associated with aggression or non compliance

• It has been pointed out that the NICHD results could be stated differently 83% 0f children who spent 10-30 hours in day care did not show higher levels of aggression.
• Mothers sensitivity to her child was a better indicator of reported problem behaviours than time spent in childcare. The 2006 data again suggest that children’s development is more strongly affected by factors at home than those in day care.
• It maybe that aggression and data are linked in some way, the research is not causal. We need to know the processes by which aggression is increased, for example it maybe that it only increases when children are inadequately supervised.

Question 5

name a positive effect of daycare on children

Answer 5

Day care exposes children to the peers and thus opportunities to develop social strategies such as the ability to negotiate and to make friends.

Question 6

name one study that shows the positive effects on children social development in day care

Answer 6

• Clarke - Stewart (1994) studied 150 children and found those in day care were consistently more advanced in social development (independence, dinnertime obedience, interactions with peers) than those who stayed at home with their mothers.the isolation of being at home causes depression in mothers and affects interaction between them and their infants.

Evaluation: The findings that day care is positively related to sociability can be explained alternatively through temperament, shy and unsociable mothers have shy and unsociable children, who may prefer to stay home with their children, therefore it is more outgoing children who attend day care which explains why day care children are more sociable

Question 7

name one study which shows that the quality of day care effects the child’s social development.

Answer 7

• Bryant et al (1980) found that some children were actually disturbed and suggested that this may be because childminders do not feel that they have to form bonds with the children

Question 8

does childs age and number of hours in day care have any effect?

Answer 8

it has been found that negative effects were more likely to occur in children in day care before they were 18 months old. However, Clarke Stewart found no relationship between age that the child started day care (as early as 3 months and spending as much as 30 hours a week) and ill effects.