Effects of Home and Out-of-Home Care in Child Development

Lamb, M

Abstract

This project involves a longitudinal study conducted in Sweden examining the effects of center day care, family day care, and home care on the development of 145 children recruited in 1982 at an average of 16 months of age. Initial multivariate analyses indicated that prior to the start of formal schooling, type of care had no reliable impact on child development, but that the quality of home care and the quality of alternative care had substantial effects on the children's verbal abilities, their social skills, and their behavioral attitudes. Subsequent analyses of data gathered shortly after the children started school indicated that the development of verbal and mathematical abilities, as well as the development of personal maturity (as measured by field-independence, ego-control, and ego-resilience), were affected by the varying child-care histories the children experienced since their first enrollment in the study. These analyses indicated that family daycare has modest but significant negative effects on both verbal abilities and personal maturity, whereas center-based care has beneficial effects in both domains. The effects of the quality of home and alternative care appeared to diminish as the children moved into the formal educational system. Reassessment of these children at 14-15 years of age began in late FY96. In this phase, data are being obtained by interviewing the children and their parents, as well as from official school records. In a related study, SSED staff are assessing the psychophysiological and behavioral tendencies of young infants at home in order to assess the effects of individual differences in emotional reactivity and infant-mother attachment on the adaptation to out-of-home care. Data collection has now been completed, and data reduction and analysis are under way.