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Infant and Toddler Child‐Care Quality and Stability in Relation to Proximal and Distal Academic and Social Outcomes
Author(s) -
BratschHines Mary E.,
Carr Robert,
Zgourou Eleni,
VerFeagans Lynne,
Willoughby Michael
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13389
Subject(s) - toddler , psychology , developmental psychology , structural equation modeling , academic skills , child care , social skills , academic achievement , longitudinal study , social relation , clinical psychology , pediatrics , social psychology , medicine , statistics , mathematics education , mathematics , pathology
This study considered the quality and stability of infant and toddler nonparental child care from 6 to 36 months in relation to language, social, and academic skills measured proximally at 36 months and distally at kindergarten. Quality was measured separately as caregiver–child verbal interactions and caregiver sensitivity, and stability was measured as having fewer sequential child‐care caregivers. This longitudinal examination involved a subsample ( N = 1,055) from the Family Life Project, a representative sample of families living in rural counties in the United States. Structural equation modeling revealed that children who experienced more positive caregiver–child verbal interactions had higher 36‐month language skills, which indirectly led to higher kindergarten academic and social skills. Children who experienced more caregiver stability had higher kindergarten social skills.