This study, using a limited ecological model, will investigate certain developmental outcomes associated with patterns of early child care. The central questions is how and to what extent various combinations of care inside and outside the home influence the developmental trajectories of young children. The model uses a concept of alternate child care which is continuous rather than dichotomous with regard to quantity as well as quality. This concept mandates a research design which places children along this continuum, rather than assigning them to one of two theoretically completely separable groups, and examines associated developmental outcomes. Likewise, it specifies the necessity of looking at alternate care within the context of parental history (including early child care) and personality, current family stresses and supports, quality of home care, and extent and quality of alternate care utilized. The study will follow a cohort sample of all infants born during a one-month period in two Little Rock hospitals whose parents consent to participate. Contact with the families will be made every three months, alternately in person and by telephone, until the children reach 42 months of age. At all contacts, information will be obtained about the family, the child, and any alternate care received by the child during the interim. Attachment of the child to the parents, and, likewise, attachment of the parents to the child, will be monitored at several points during the early years rather than in a single assessment. This reciprocal attachment will be examined both as an intervening variable which can influence the impact of alternate care on the children and as a dependent variable. The major dependent variables assessed in the children will be developmental level, health, and social competence. The investigators are enthusiastic about participating in the collaborative project and will modify planned assessment instruments and the assessment timetable to accommodate the shared protocol.

Project Start
1989-05-01
Project End
1993-12-31
Budget Start
1991-01-01
Budget End
1991-12-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1991
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Department
Type
Schools of Education
DUNS #
City
Little Rock
State
AR
Country
United States
Zip Code
72204
Reynolds, Katharine C; Alfano, Candice A (2016) Childhood Bedtime Problems Predict Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms Through Emotional Reactivity. J Pediatr Psychol 41:971-82
Crosnoe, Robert; Smith, Chelsea; Leventhal, Tama (2015) Family Background, School-Age Trajectories of Activity Participation, and Academic Achievement at the Start of High School. Appl Dev Sci 19:139-152
Marceau, Kristine; Ram, Nilam; Susman, Elizabeth (2015) Development and Lability in the Parent-Child Relationship During Adolescence: Associations With Pubertal Timing and Tempo. J Res Adolesc 25:474-489
Crosnoe, Robert; Prickett, Kate Chambers; Smith, Chelsea et al. (2014) Changes in young children's family structures and child care arrangements. Demography 51:459-83
Augustine, Jennifer March; Crosnoe, Robert L; Gordon, Rachel (2013) Early child care and illness among preschoolers. J Health Soc Behav 54:315-34
Bradley, Robert H; Corwyn, Robert (2013) From parent to child to parent…: paths in and out of problem behavior. J Abnorm Child Psychol 41:515-29
Crosnoe, Robert (2012) Family-School Connections, Early Learning, and Socioeconomic Inequality in the US. Multidiscip J Educ Research 2:1-36
Crosnoe, Robert; Augustine, Jennifer March; Huston, Aletha C (2012) Children's early child care and their mothers' later involvement with schools. Child Dev 83:758-72
Marceau, Kristine; Ram, Nilam; Houts, Renate M et al. (2011) Individual differences in boys' and girls' timing and tempo of puberty: modeling development with nonlinear growth models. Dev Psychol 47:1389-409
Benner, Aprile D; Crosnoe, Robert (2011) The Racial/Ethnic Composition of Elementary Schools and Young Children's Academic and Socioemotional Functioning. Am Educ Res J 48:621-646

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