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Professor Kathleen McCartney is a principal investigator of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's (NICHD) Study of Child Care and Youth Development, which is tracking 1,364 children from birth through sixth grade to examine the effects of early child care on areas such as parent-child relationships, a child's development, and a child's later success in transitioning to school. NICHD recently released a paper examining the correlation between amount of time spent in child care and behavior. In this interview, McCartney offers comments on the research team's findings. Q: Does time in child care pose a risk for young children with respect to adjustment? A: Researchers from the NICHD network found that more time in child care was associated with more behavior problems, based on reports by mothers, child care providers, and teachers. Consider kindergarten teacher’s ratings of children in their classrooms: 9% of children in 0-9 hours of care per week had above average problems, 12% of children in 10-29 hours per week, 15% of children in 30-45 hours per week, and 19% of children in more than 45 hours per week. So, the simple answer to this question is yes.
On the other hand, the effects were small—smaller than associations between family variables, such as maternal sensitivity and family income, and behavior problems. Moreover, very few children were rated as having behavior problems high enough to warrant clinical intervention. In my opinion, it is important to keep these facts in mind when evaluating this risk. These findings are not new; we reported them two years ago at the Society for Research on Child Development meetings. They were published in the journal Child Development, in July 2003, along with commentaries from other social scientists, which is why there is renewed interest in them. Q: How did you measure behavior problems? A: We asked mothers, child-care providers, and teachers to complete a questionnaire about each child. The questionnaire asked about the frequency of behavior problems associated with aggression, disobedience, and assertiveness. For example, raters were asked to report how frequently children engaged in the following behaviors: gets in many fights, explosive/unpredictable (aggression items); fails to carry out assigned tasks, lying/cheating (disobedience items); and talks too much, demands attention (assertiveness items). Q: Are all children in child care at risk? A: No. 85% of children in full-time care (35-40 hours/week) did not have behavior problems. Nevertheless, some children in child care seem to be at risk. We know this because only 9% of children in little care have above-average behavior problems. Q: What causes the risk?
A: We do not know yet. We examined whether child-care quality had any impact on the risk associated with hours in care. It did not, which surprised most of the investigators because one would expect that more time spent in a low-quality setting would pose a greater risk to children. It is important to note, however, that other studies have demonstrated that the risk of hours is lower for children in high-quality child care. We are examining other possibilities. For example, maybe the risk varies depending upon the child’s exposure to large groups of peers—or because of family characteristics—or characteristics of the child, such as temperament. In my opinion, we need to know more before we can give solid advice to parents about what these data mean. Q: Why have the findings already received such publicity? A: There are at least three reasons. First, child care is used by more families than ever before. More than half the children in the U.S. are in some form of child care, including sitter care, family-based child care, and center-based care. Clearly, parents should care about the effects of child care. Second, the media tends to report on negative news much more than on positive outcomes. Our findings on risks associated with hours in care have received far more coverage than our findings on the benefits of high-quality child care. Third, the investigators did not speak with a unified voice about the findings. Q: Can you say more about why the investigators disagreed about the findings? A: It is probably more accurate to say that we disagreed about the implications of the findings for parents and policymakers. We disagreed about whether the findings suggested that parents should limit or curtail the use of child care for their children. The problem is that one cannot really tease apart the many factors that influence children’s development. So many factors influence a child’s behavior problems, including family income and maternal depression. Suppose a mother read about these findings two years ago when they were first reported and decided not to work outside the home. The decrease in family income and a potential increase in her depression might pose a far greater risk than any associated with child care. Q: So, what should parents do? A: I have four pieces of advice: First, parents should remember that the quality of their parenting is the most important predictor of their children’s development. Good parenting means a lot of things—being sensitive and responsive to children’s needs, setting appropriate limits for children, and loving children. Second, parents need to make choices that will enable them to be good parents. For some, this will mean working full-time—for the money, for personal fulfillment, or for both. For others, this will mean working part-time or not working outside the home. I do not think these data mandate specific life choices for families. Third, parents need to monitor their children’s development. Parents should observe for themselves whether their children seem to be having behavior problems. And they should ask their children’s child-care providers about their children’s behavior. Parents should bring any concerns they may have to their pediatrician. Fourth, parents need to find the best care that they can. Parents need to take the time to observe their children’s child care and make sure they like what they see. They should also take the time to talk to child care providers to make sure that their values are consistent with their own. Quality child care costs money, and not all parents can afford the child care they want. However, state subsidies, and other programs like Head Start, are available for families in need. For More Information
HGSE News, Harvard Graduate School of Education
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