Testing a series of causal propositions relating time in child care to children’s externalizing behavior.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 46(2) of Developmental Psychology (see record 2010-03975-013). On the first page of the article “Testing a Series of Causal Propositions Relating Time in Child Care to Children’s Externalizing Behavior,” by Kathleen McCartney, Margaret Burchinal, Alison Clarke- Stewart, Kristen L. Bub, Margaret T. Owen, Jay Belsky, and the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (Developmental Psychology, 2010, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 1–17), author Alison Clarke- Stewart’s name was misspelled as Aliso Clarke-Stewart. In addition, the e-mail address listed for the corresponding author Kathleen McCartney is incorrect. The correct e-mail address is: kathleen_mccartney@gse.harvard.edu. The online versions of this article have been corrected.] Prior research has documented associations between hours in child care and children’s externalizing behavior. A series of longitudinal analyses were conducted to address 5 propositions, each testing the hypothesis that child care hours causes externalizing behavior. Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were used in this investigation because they include repeated measures of child care experiences, externalizing behavior, and family characteristics. There were 3 main findings. First, the evidence linking child care hours with externalizing behavior was equivocal in that results varied across model specifications. Second, the association between child care hours and externalizing behavior was not due to a child effect. Third, child care quality and proportion of time spent with a large group of peers moderated the effects of child care hours on externalizing behavior. The number of hours spent in child care was more strongly related to externalizing behavior when children were in low-quality child care and when children spent a greater proportion of time with a large group of peers. The magnitude of associations between child care hours and externalizing behavior was modest. Implications are that parents and policymakers must take into account that externalizing behavior is predicted from a constellation of variables in multiple contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Within-child associations between family income and externalizing and internalizing problems.

Within-child associations between family income and child externalizing and internalizing problems were examined using longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (2004a, 2004b; N = 1,132). Variations in income effects were estimated as a function of whether families were poor, whether mothers were partnered, and the number of hours mothers and their partners were employed. On average, children had fewer externalizing problems during times when their families' incomes were relatively high than during times when their families' incomes were relatively low; the estimated benefits of increased income were greatest for children who were chronically poor. For both externalizing and internalizing problems, income was most strongly associated with problems when chronically poor children's mothers were partnered and employed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of externalizing behavior from age 2 to age 9: Relations with gender, temperament, ethnicity, parenting, and rater.

Trajectories of children's externalizing behavior were examined using multilevel growth curve modeling of data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. According to ratings by both mothers and caregivers/teachers when children were 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9 years old, externalizing behavior declined with age. However, mothers rated children as higher in externalizing behavior than did caregivers and teachers. Higher levels of age 9 externalizing behavior were predicted by the following factors: child male gender (for caregiver/teacher reports only), infant difficult temperament (for children with harsh mothers only), harsher maternal attitude toward discipline, higher level of maternal depression (for maternal reports only), and lower level of maternal sensitivity (especially for boys). Caregivers and teachers reported higher levels of externalizing behavior in African American children than in European American children, increasingly so over time; mothers' ratings revealed the reverse. The declining slope of externalizing behavior was predicted by infant difficult temperament for mother reports only. Additional analyses suggested that the association between parenting and externalizing behavior was bidirectional. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child Personality and Parental Behavior as Moderators of Problem Behavior: Variable- and Person-Centered Approaches.

Parenting × Child Personality interactions in predicting child externalizing and internalizing behavior were investigated in a variable-centered study and a person-centered study. The variable-centered study used data from a 3-year longitudinal study of 600 children 7 to 15 years old at Time 1 and 512 children 10 to 18 years old at Time 2. Parents rated child personality (five factor model), negative control, positive parenting, and child problem behavior, whereas children rated parental behavior. Hierarchical moderated regression analyses showed significant Parenting × Child Personality (benevolence and conscientiousness) interactions, principally for externalizing behavior. The interactions were largely replicable across informants and across time. The person-centered study, which classified participants into 3 types, showed that negative parental control was more related to externalizing behavior for undercontrollers than for resilients. Negative parental control enhanced internalizing behavior for overcontrollers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child care and mother–child interaction in the first three years of life.

Relations between nonmaternal child care and ratings of maternal sensitivity and child positive engagement during mother–child interaction at 6, 15, 24, and 36 months were examined for 1,274 mothers and their children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development(NICHD) Study of Early Child Care. In longitudinal analyses that controlled for selection, child, and family predictors, child care was a small but significant predictor of maternal sensitivity and child engagement. For the whole sample, including families who did and did not use child care, more hours of child care predicted less maternal sensitivity and less positive child engagement. For children who were observed in child care, higher quality child care predicted greater maternal sensitivity, and more child-care hours predicted less child engagement. The effects of child care on mother–child interaction were much smaller in the analytical models than the effects of maternal education but were similar in size to the effects of maternal depression and child difficult temperament. Patterns of association with child care did not differ significantly across ages of assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting Stability and Change in Toddler Behavior Problems: Contributions of Maternal Behavior and Child Gender.

This study examined the stability and continuity of early-identified behavior problems and the factors associated with this stability. Children and their mothers (N=125) were seen when the children were 2 and 4 years of age. Maternal reports of child externalizing behavior and laboratory observations of child noncompliance were stable from age 2 to age 4. Early externalizing behaviors decreased over time; however, child noncompliance in the laboratory did not. Although few associations were found between maternal positive behavior and child behavior problems, maternal controlling behavior was related to increases in child behavior problems, particularly at high levels of both prior noncompliance and prior maternal control. Child noncompliance was predictive of increases in maternal controlling behavior over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavior problem trajectories and first-grade cognitive ability and achievement skills: A latent growth curve analysis.

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the authors investigated whether there was evidence of intraindividual stability in behavior problems over time as well as whether children with higher levels of behavior problems at 24 months and more rapid increases in behavior problems prior to school entry performed more poorly on 1st-grade tests of cognitive ability and achievement than their peers. Three findings were noteworthy. First, there was evidence of both intraindividual and interindividual variability in behavior problems between 24 months and 1st grade. Second, children with higher initial levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors at 24 months had lower cognitive ability and achievement scores in 1st grade. Finally, children with more rapid increases in internalizing behaviors over time had lower cognitive ability scores in 1st grade; this association did not exist for externalizing behaviors. Implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Productive Activity and the Prevention of Behavior Problems.

This study used data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care to examine relations between parenting, self-control, and externalizing behavior among 1st graders. Of special concern was the relation between opportunities for productive activity and behavior problems and whether the relation was mediated by self-control. Evidence in favor of the hypothesis was observed for both mother-reported and teacher-reported externalizing behavior even with substantial controls on the models examined. Self-control also mediated relations for maternal harshness and maternal sensitivity. Somewhat surprisingly, the direct effect of maternal sensitivity on mother-reported externalizing behaviors was positive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Externalizing problems in fifth grade: Relations with productive activity, maternal sensitivity, and harsh parenting from infancy through middle childhood.

This study used data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to examine relations between parenting, self-control, and externalizing behavior from infancy through 5th grade. Results indicate that self-control measured during middle childhood mediates relations between maternal sensitivity, opportunity for productive activity, and parental harshness and both mother-reported and teacher-reported externalizing behavior. Results showed that parenting measured during middle childhood was more strongly related to 5th-grade externalizing behavior compared with parenting measured during infancy and early childhood. However, there was evidence that parenting during the preschool years was related to 5th-grade externalizing behavior through later parenting and self-control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal stress and emotional status during the perinatal period and childhood adjustment.

An emerging literature suggests that maternal distress during the prenatal and perinatal period may adversely affect offspring development. The association between maternal stress and emotional status in the perinatal period (defined as 1 month after birth) and adjustment of first-grade children was examined in 948 mother-child dyads from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care using hierarchical multiple regression. Maternal demographic characteristics, including maternal education and income, accounted for 4% of the variance in Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) externalizing scores when children were in first grade. Maternal stress and emotional status at 1 month accounted for an additional 4% of the variance in CBCL externalizing t scores; statistically significant contributions were made by maternal depression and perceived social support. Maternal depression and parenting stress at 1 month made statistically significant contributions to CBCL internalizing scores at first grade. These findings contribute to a growing body of literature indicating that perinatal maternal adjustment is associated with children's emotional and behavioral functioning years later. Implications for school psychologists' involvement in prevention, assessment, and intervention practices are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental criticism and externalizing behavior problems in adolescents: The role of environment and genotype–environment correlation.

Genetic factors are important for the association between parental negativity and child problem behavior, but it is not clear whether this is due to passive or evocative genotype–environment correlation (rGE). In this study, we applied the extended children-of-twins model to directly examine the presence of passive and evocative rGE as well as direct environmental effects in the association between parental criticism and adolescent externalizing problem behavior. The cross-sectional data come from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden (N = 909 pairs of adult twins) and from the Twin Study of Child and Adolescent Development (N = 915 pairs of twin children). The results revealed that maternal criticism was primarily due to evocative rGE emanating from their adolescent's externalizing behavior. On the other hand, fathers' critical remarks tended to affect adolescent problem behavior in a direct environmental way. This suggests that previously reported differences in caretaking between mothers and fathers also are reflected in differences in why parenting is associated with externalizing behavior in offspring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child-care effect sizes for the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

This report summarizes findings from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development as effect sizes for exclusive maternal care and--for children in child care--type, quality, and quantity of care. Children (n = 1,261) were recruited at birth and assessed at 15, 24, 36, and 54 months. Exclusive maternal care did not predict child outcomes, but multiple features of child-care experience were modestly to moderately predictive. Higher quality child care was related to advanced cognitive, language, and preacademic outcomes at every age and better socioemotional and peer outcomes at some ages. More child-care hours predicted more behavior problems and conflict, according to care providers. More center-care time was related to higher cognitive and language scores and more problem and fewer prosocial behaviors, according to care providers. Child-care effect sizes are discussed from 3 perspectives: (a) absolute effect sizes, reflecting established guidelines; (b) relative effect sizes, comparing child-care and parenting effects; and (c) possible individual and collective implications for the large numbers of children experiencing child care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young children's social information processing: Family antecedents and behavioral correlates.

Little research has examined whether social information processing (SIP) measures from early childhood predict externalizing problems beyond the shared association with familial risk markers. In the present study, family antecedents and first-grade externalizing behaviors were studied in relation to preschool and 1st-grade SIP using data from the U.S. National Institute for Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care (N=1,364). A subgroup of low-risk children reported only benign attributions in preschool and had few externalizing problems in 1st grade according to both teacher and mother reports. After controlling for gender and cognitive functioning, the authors found that maternal education and authoritarian attitudes were key predictors of this "Pollyanna preschooler" status and of SIP in 1st grade. However, small effect sizes for SIP variables underscore the need for new approaches to measurement and for further research on moderators of the link between SIP and children's behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachement et problèmes de comportements intériorisés et extériori?s auto-rapportés à la période scolaire.

The association between attachment and self-reported externalizing and internalizing behavior problems was examined for a diverse SES French-Canadian sample of 108 children. Attachment classifications were assigned on the basis of reunion behavior with mother when the children were approximately 6 years old. Child problem behavior was assessed two and a half years later using the Dominic test. Results indicated that boys with disorganized attachment and children with ambivalent attachment reported a higher level of externalizing problems then did secure children. Moreover, disorganized children also reported a higher level of internalizing problems than secure children. Child assessments using the Dominic in conjunction with a measure of separation-reunion behavior at age 5 to 7 can play an important role in the identification of school-aged children at risk for aggressive or anxious-depressive adaptive problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does quality of child care affect child outcomes at age 4 1/2?

Research reveals associations between child-care quality and child outcomes. But are these associations causal? Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care, a longitudinal study of children from birth to age 4 1/2, were used to explore 5 propositions that would support a causal argument. Three propositions received support, principally in the cognitive domain: (a) Associations between quality and outcomes remained even with child and family factors controlled; (b) associations between care and outcomes were domain specific; and (c) outcomes were predicted by quality of earlier care with concurrent care controlled. The 4th proposition, that associations between quality and outcomes would be significant with earlier abilities controlled, received limited support. There was no support for the 5th proposition, that quality and outcomes would exhibit dose-response relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in the longitudinal relations among family risk factors and childhood externalizing symptoms.

Despite potential sex differences in base rates, predictors, and maintaining processes for children's externalizing behaviors, little prospective research has examined sex differences in the relations between concurrent, proximal family risk factors and children's externalizing behaviors. The current study examined the relations among maternal depressive symptoms, maternal parenting behaviors (i.e., negativity and low warmth), and child externalizing symptoms at 24 months and first grade in a community-based sample of 1,364 children enrolled in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Structural equation modeling revealed that maternal depression and negative parental behaviors were associated with concurrent externalizing behaviors, though maternal depression may be differentially linked to boys' and girls' externalizing problems. The relation between depression and boys' externalizing symptoms was more pronounced at 24 months, and over time, the relation between maternal depression and boys' externalizing symptoms decreased in magnitude, whereas this relation increased among girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of water pipelines on the quality of drinking water

Examined whether marital discord over childrearing contributes to child behavior problems after taking into account general marital adjustment, and if child age moderates associations between child behavior problems and either general marital adjustment or marital discord over childrearing. Participants were 146 two-parent families seeking services for their child's (4 to 9 years of age) conduct problems. Data on marital functioning and child behavior problems were collected from both parents. Mothers' and fathers' reports of marital discord over childrearing related positively to child externalizing problems after accounting for general marital adjustment. Child age moderated associations between fathers' reports of general marital adjustment and both internalizing and externalizing child problems, with associations being stronger in families with younger children. The discussion highlights the role that developmental factors may play in understanding the link between marital and child behavior problems in clinic-referred families.     

Relations between family predictors and child outcomes: Are they weaker for children in child care?

Studies suggesting that family factors predict developmental outcomes more strongly for children reared principally by their parents than those with extensive early child-care experience stimulated the examination of the differential prediction of child outcomes using a subsample of families participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care. A variety of factors were used to predict development of children who averaged 30 hr of nonparental care per week for each month of their lives and for those who never experienced more than 10 hr of care per week by someone other than their mothers. Multivariate analyses provided no evidence that family factors predicted outcomes differentially for these 2 groups, though exploratory analyses revealed several instances of differential prediction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in the reciprocal relationships between parental physical aggression and children's externalizing problem behavior in China.

The study examines gender differences in the reciprocal relations between parental physical aggression and child externalizing problem behavior in China. Four hundred fifty-four Chinese elementary school-age children reported on three forms of their parents' physical aggression toward them (i.e., mild corporal punishment, severe corporal punishment, and physical abuse) and their externalizing problem behavior at two time points, 6 months apart. Structural equation modeling revealed that the three types of parental physical aggression predicted child externalizing problem behavior for girls but not boys, whereas child externalizing problem behavior predicted severe corporal punishment and physical abuse for boys but not girls; child externalizing problem behavior did not predict mild corporal punishment for either gender. The findings suggest that the intervention for and prevention of child externalizing problem behavior may be somewhat different for boys and girls in China. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child care effects in context: Quality, stability, and multiplicity in nonmaternal child care arrangements during the first 15 months of life.

Main and interactive effects of child care quality, stability, and multiplicity on infants' attachment security, language comprehension, language production, and cognitive development at 15 months were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care. Thirty-nine percent of the infants in this sample experienced arrangement change, and 46% experienced multiple concurrent arrangements during the first 15 months. As in previous studies, concurrent quality, average quality, and quality slope significantly predicted cognitive and language development. There was some evidence that certain forms of unstable child care--including nonfamilial change, familial to nonfamilial change, and within-home to out-of-home change--were associated with poorer language development. Multiple child care arrangements involving family members positively predicted language comprehension; multiple care involving a mix of family and nonrelative caregivers negatively predicted language comprehension. Interactions among variables exhibited "effects in context." That is, under conditions of low or moderate quality in the primary care arrangement, the use of fewer multiple arrangements was associated with higher language scores; under conditions of high primary care quality, the use of more multiple arrangements was associated with higher language scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)