The Impact Of Day Care

Question 0

What does Droege argue?

Answer 0

Children in high quality child care are less timid and fearful

Question 1

What approximate percentage of mothers with infants under the age of one year work in the UK?

Answer 1

70%

Question 2

Outline the NICHD longitudinal study of 1991.

Answer 2

Undertaken in America - over 1000 children from diverse backgrounds and from 10 locations studied. Parents and children regularly assessed. At 5 years the data suggested that the more day care,of any quality - the more likely the child was to be assessed as assertive, disobedient and aggressive. Those in full time child care found to be three times more likely to display behavioural problems than those looked after by their mothers.

Question 3

What did Belsky (2007) find?

Answer 3

Found that the link between more day care and behavioural problems was still evident when children were assessed at the end of primary school.

Question 4

What does EPPE stand for?

Answer 4

Effective Provision of Pre-School Education.

Question 5

Outline the EPPE 2003 study.

Answer 5

Major European longitudinal study of children’s behaviour between 3 and 7 years.
Wide ranging information on 3000 children. Looked at: background, home environment and experience of childcare. Looked at local authority day nurseries, private nurseries and nursery schools. Also had group who had minimal or no childcare experience who were recruited once school started.

Question 6

What were the results of the EPPE 2003 study?

Answer 6

Those who spent longer in childcare rated by teachers as more likely to be aggressive and disobedient. This was particularly noted in local authority nurseries and private day nurseries. If day care was of high quality, the duration of this behaviour was reduced. Therefore better quality care can reduce,but not eliminate, the negative impact of long periods in day care.

Question 7

Outline Belsky and Rovine’s findings of their 1998 study.

Answer 7

Assessed attachment using SS on children who received more than 20 hours of day care each week before one year old. Found to be more likely to be insecurely attached.

Question 8

Who has found positive impacts of day care?

Answer 8

Alison Clarke-Stewart (1994).
Studied 150 children and found that those in day care were consistently more advanced in social development than those who had stayed at home.

Question 9

What is meant by social development?

Answer 9

The ability to seek and enjoy the company of others and to make personal relationships with them.

Question 10

What did Field (1995) find?

Answer 10

The amount of time spent in day care positively correlated to the number of friends children had once they went to school.

Question 11

What did Vernon-Feagans (1999) find?

Answer 11

Children who started day care before the age of six months were more sociable than those who started later.

Question 12

What is meant by peer relations?

Answer 12

Forming relationships with those the same age.

Question 13

In what ways might the quality of day care vary?

Answer 13

1. The ratio of child to adult
2. Staff turnover
3. Physical provision
4. Staff training
5. Type of child catered for.

Question 14

Outline Penelope Leach’s 1998 study.

Answer 14

Studied 1200 children and their families in Oxford and North London.
Mothers interviewed when babies were 3 months old and then again at 10, 18, 36 and 51 months. Results published in 2007 - young children looked after by their mothers did significantly better developmentally than those cared for in nurseries or by childminders or relatives. Babies in nurseries fared worst, then childminders or nannies.

Question 15

What percentage turn over of staff did Leach discover in day care?

Answer 15

Between 30 - 40%

Question 16

What did Egeland and Heister (1995) find? How could this be explained?

Answer 16

Day care appeared to have a negative impact for secure children but a positive impact on insecure children. We could explain this in terms of the fact that insecurely attached children needed compensatory care while separation from good care can be detrimental.

Question 17

Outline the High/Scope Perry Pre-school Project of 1962-1967.

Answer 17

This project provided high-quality pre-school education to 3 a 4 year old African- American children living in poverty and assessed to be at a high risk of school failure. Those who took part in this project subsequently had lower delinquency rates in adolescence and were less likely to have criminal records as adults than a control fro up who had not been part of the project.

Question 18

What were the aims of the 2003 EPPE project?

Answer 18

The project aimed to find out whether some types of pre-school experiences were more effective than others in promoting children’s development and to discover the characteristics of an effective pre-school setting .

Question 19

Outline Harvey (1999).

Answer 19

Evaluated the health and development of more than 6000 young people and found that children of mothers who work outside the home suffered no permanent damage because of their mother’s absence.

Question 20

Why is Harvey (1999) important?

Answer 20

Earlier studies on the same group of children had reached different conclusions. Harvey’s study suggests that problems faced by 3 or 4 year olds may have disappeared by 12 years of age.

Question 21

What does NICHD stand for?

Answer 21

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Question 22

What does day care mean?

Answer 22

Temporary care not given by family members or someone known well to the child and usually outside the home.

Question 23

How can the NICHD results be reinterpreted?

Answer 23

Friedman (2006) pointed out that results could be stated differently…. 83% of those children who spent 10-39 hours in day care did NOT show higher levels of aggression.
Mother’s sensitivity was a better indicator of reported behaviour.
Higher maternal education and family income predicted lower levels of aggression.

Question 24

Are the NICHD findings causal?

Answer 24

NO. It links day care and aggression- but does not demonstrate that day care causes aggression.

Question 25

Name methodological limitations of any study into day care.

Answer 25

It is possible that parents of children who found day care hard themselves might opt to care for them theirselves … This could result in a population of outgoing and socially competent children in day care centres.

Question 26

Outline Bryant et al’s 1980 study.

Answer 26

Some children in a childminding setting were actually disturbed. He suggested that this may be because some childminders do not feel the need to form an emotional bond.

Question 27

Outline Gregg et al’s 2005 study.

Answer 27

The only children adversely affected by day care were those whose care consisted solely of unpaid care by a friend, relative or neighbour. This implies that in such situations, carers feels less responsible.

Question 28

Which study considered temperament?

Answer 28

Pennebaker et al (1981). Shy children may find day care quite frightening.

Question 29

Name two important variables in day care study.

Answer 29

1. The age if the child when s/he starts day care.

2. How long a child spends each day or week in day care.

Question 30

What can be concluded from the fact that there are so many contradictory results on the effects of day care on social development?

Answer 30

Such research is too problematic.

Question 31

Explain the work of the Soho Family Centre.

Answer 31

This day care centre’s programme is based on attachment theory.

Question 32

Give three examples of how research into attachment has influenced child care practices.

Answer 32

1. Hospital care - visiting times
2. Institutional care of children
3. Adoption - today most babies are adopted within the first week of birth allowing for strong attachments to be formed.

Question 33

What steps can be taken to ensure high quality day care? Name studies to support your points.

Answer 33

1. NICHD (1999) found that if the staff- child ratio was as low as 1:3, sensitive care offered.
2. Schaffer (1998) identified consistency of care as one of the most important factors for good outcomes.
3. Sylva et al (2003) found quality of care positively correlated with qualification level of staff: higher qualifications = better outcomes.