The number of employed women with children has increased worldwide. One reason that more women with children work than a decade ago is possibly the result of the increased accessibility of the women to childcare services. As more women begin to use childcare services as the primary care arrangement for their children during the working hours, the quality of care now become the concern of many people. Researchers have conducted an extensive number of studies to investigate the relationship between childcare quality and children’s developmental outcomes. Findings have consistently shown that quality childcare significantly influences child developmental outcomes that high quality cares associated with positive cognitive (NICHD, 2005a; Burchinal & Cryer, 2003 & Harrison & Ungerer, 2000) and social (NICHD, 1998; 2001; 2005) developmental outcomes.
Studies have also indicated that the predictive effect of quality childcare is stable across ages. In Sweden and America, researchers have found that the effects of quality childcare continue to show significant effects until adolescent (Andersson, 1992; Belsky, Vandell, Burchinal, Clark-Stewart, McCartney, & Owen, 2007). As studies have demonstrated that quality childcare is a significant predictor of child developmental outcomes, it is important that every parent sends their children to quality childcare.
What is quality childcare?
Quality childcare can be understood from two components that are structural and process. Structural components are defined as the physical characteristics of childcare that can be regulated and these include: the number of children per adult, the group size and the qualification and specific training undertaken by caregivers. In contrast, process components are defined as childcare features that cannot be regulated; examples include the caregivers’ behaviour and characteristics, their attitudes towards children, and how they interact with children under their care.
Process and structural features can influence child development in different ways. Process factors are generally thought to have a direct effect on child development, whereas structural features affect outcomes indirectly. For example, although warm, sensitive and responsive caregiving is a process feature, the likelihood of this style caregiving being provided is likely to be greater when the childcare facility has fewer children per adult and small group sizes. Hence, looking at both structural and process features of the childcare centre are significantly important before making the decision to choose which centre for children. Below are the summary tables that consist of characteristics (both structural and process features) of a childcare centre that has been found to have significant influences on child developmental outcomes.
From Table 1 below, it is shown that positive developmental outcomes as reported in the previous literature are significantly associated with the low ratio between children and caregivers, small group size, and high and relevant qualifications and training of caregivers.
How about process features of quality care? The first feature, which is the overall classroom quality, consists of seven subdivisions. Its seven subdivisions (see Table 2) include all important aspects of care that associated with positive child development. Total score of the seven subdivisions indicates to parents the overall conditions of the childcare centres. Studies have demonstrated that the higher the total score of the scale, the greater the positive effect of quality childcare on child developmental outcomes (Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2001; Burchinal et al., 2000).
Another feature of process quality, caregiver child interaction, also has a significant influence on child developmental outcomes. Research has suggested that sensitive and stimulating interaction that experienced by children with their caregivers positively influenced children’s cognitive, language and social development (Bruchinal & Cryer, 2003). In contrast, a harsh style of interactions was found associated with negative social developmental outcomes. Janon’s (2010) study has found that a harsh style of caregiver interaction was associated with high scores in child conduct problems measures. In addition, the negative effects of the harsh style of caregiver interaction become greater when the children spent a high number of hours in the childcare centre.
To conclude, quality childcare (both structural and process) is very important in influencing child developmental outcomes. Parents should exercise no compromise in quality when they choose where to send their children. The significant effects of quality childcare as found in previous studies have provided evidence that high-quality care influenced child development positively while low-quality ones influenced child developmental outcomes negatively.
References:
Andersson, B. (1992). Effects of day-care on cognitive and socio-emotional competence of thirteen-year-old Swedish school children. Child Development, 63(1), 20-26.
Belsky, J., Vandell, D. L., Burchinal, M. R., Clark-Stewart, K. A., McCartney, K., & Owen, M. T. (2007). Are there long-term effects of early childcare? Child Development, 78(2), 681-701.
Bowes, J., Harrison, L.J ., Sanson, A., Wise, S., Ungerer, J. A., Watson, J. et al. (2003). Families and childcare arrangements: Findings from the Childcare Choices Study. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the Health Life Forum, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Old Canberra House, ANU.
Broberg, A. G., Wessels, H., Lamb, M. E., & Hwang, C. P. (1997). Effects of day care on the development of cognitive development of cognitive abilities in 8-year-old: A Longitudinal Study. Developmental Psychology, 33, 62-69.
Burchinal, M. R., Roberts, J. E., Nabors, L. A., & Bryant, D. M. (1996). Quality of centre childcare and infant cognitive and language development. Child Development, 67, 606-620.
Burchinal, M.R . & Cryer, D. (2003). Diversity, childcare quality, and developmental outcomes. Early childhood research quarterly, 18, 401-426.
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Harrison, L. J., & Ungerer, J. A. (2000). Children and Childcare: A longitudinal study of the relationship between developmental outcomes and use of non-parental care from birth to six. Paper presented at the Panel data and Policy Conference, Canberra.
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Janon, N. S. (2010). Effects of the amount of time in child care on children’s cognitive and social development (PhD Dissertation), University of Adelaide, Australia.
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NICHD Early Childcare Research Network studies. (2001). Early childcare and children’s peer relationships at 24 and 36 months: The NICHD Study of Early Childcare. Child Development, 72, 1478-2000.
NICHD Early Childcare Research Network studies. (2003). Does quality of childcare affect child outcomes at ages 4 1/2? Developmental Psychology, 39, 451-469.
NICHD Early Childcare Research Network. (2005a). Child outcomes when childcare centre classes meet recommended standard for quality. In NICHD Early Childcare Research Network (Ed.), Childcare and Child Development: Results of the NICHD Study of Early Childcare and Youth Development (pp. 318-336). New York: The Guildford Press.
NICHD Early Childcare Research Network. (2005b). Does quality of childcare affect child outcomes at ages 4 1/2?. In NICHD Early Childcare Research Network (Ed.), Childcare and Child Development: Results of the NICHD Study of Early Childcare and Youth Development (pp. 318-336). New York: The Guildford Press.
Peisner-Feinberg, E.S., Burchinal, M.R., Clifford, R.M., Culkin, L.M., Howes, C., et al. (2001). The relation of preschool child-care quality to children’s cognitive and social development trajectories through second grade. Child Development, 75, 1534-2010.
Phillips, D. (1992). The social policy context of childcare: Effects on quality. American Journal of Community Psychology, 20, 25-51.
Sagi, A., Koren-Karie, N., Gini, M., Ziv, Y., & Joels, T. (2002). Shedding further light on the effects of various types and quality of early child-care on infant-mother attachment relationship: The Haifa Study of Early Childcare. Child Development, 73, 1166-1186.
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About the Author:
Nazariah Shar’ie Janon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Her full profile can be found at
Note: This article gives the views of the Authors, and not the position of the Department of Psychology IIUM Blog, nor of the Department of Psychology IIUM.