Effects Of Child Day Care

640 Words3 Pages
The time children spend in day care is associated with negative effects in social development. More hours in day care during a child’s early years is associated with less social competence and cooperation, more problem behaviors, negative mood, aggression, and conflict. Negative effects of day care on social–emotional development persist throughout early childhood and adolescence. Day care is linked with poorer average outcomes when children spend more time in center care, enter day care at an earlier age, or are in lower-quality care. Maternal sensitivity is strongly linked to the effects of day care on children’s social development and is the most crucial predictor of children’s development, even when children spend long hours in day care. Time spent in non-maternal child care (day care) is strongly linked to children’s social–behavioral development. Entry into child care before the age of one and continued and extensive child care throughout early childhood years are associated with less social competence and cooperation, more problem behaviors, negative moods, aggression, and conflict. In teachers’ reports of kindergarteners’ social behavior, the effect of hours spent in day care is greater than the effect of the quality of parenting and comparable to the impact of poverty. Moreover, the negative effects of hours spent in non-maternal care remain throughout childhood and adolescence. Maternal sensitivity is the strongest and most consistent predictor of children’s social–behavioral adjustment throughout development. When a low level of maternal sensitivity is coupled with more time spent in day care and/or a lower quality of day care, children tend to experience insecurity in their attachment to their mothers. A secure mother–child attachment is associated with positive peer interactions, social behaviors, emotions, and exploratory behaviors. Children are most
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