Are There Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care?
Jay Belsky, Deborah Lowe Vandell, Margaret Burchinal, K. Alison Clarke-Stewart, Kathleen McCartney, Margaret Tresch Owen, The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network,
The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network
Birkbeck University of London
Search for more papers by this authorJay Belsky, Deborah Lowe Vandell, Margaret Burchinal, K. Alison Clarke-Stewart, Kathleen McCartney, Margaret Tresch Owen, The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network,
The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network
Birkbeck University of London
Search for more papers by this author concerning this article should be addressed to Jay Belsky, Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues, Birkbeck University of London, 7 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3RA, UK. Electronic mail may be sent to [email protected].
This study is directed by a steering committee and supported by NICHD through a cooperative agreement (U10) that calls for a scientific collaboration between the grantees and NICHD staff. Participating investigators on the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, listed in alphabetical order, are: Jay Belsky, Birkbeck University of London; Cathryn Booth-LaForce, University of Washington; Robert Bradley, University of Arkansas, Little Rock; Margaret Burchinal, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Susan B. Campbell, University of Pittsburgh; K. Alison Clarke-Stewart, University of California, Irvine; Sarah L. Friedman, Institute for Public Research, CAN Corporation, Alexandria, Virginia, Maryland; Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University; Aletha Huston, University of Texas, Austin; Kathleen McCartney, Harvard University; Marion O'Brien, University of North Carolina, Greensboro; Margaret Tresch Owen, University of Texas, Dallas; Robert Pianta, University of Virginia; and Susan Spieker, University of Washington; Deborah Lowe Vandell, University of California, Irvine.
Abstract
Effects of early child care on children's functioning from 4½ years through the end of 6th grade (M age=12.0 years) were examined in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n=1,364). The results indicated that although parenting was a stronger and more consistent predictor of children's development than early child-care experience, higher quality care predicted higher vocabulary scores and more exposure to center care predicted more teacher-reported externalizing problems. Discussion focuses on mechanisms responsible for these effects, the potential collective consequences of small child-care effects, and the importance of the ongoing follow-up at age 15.
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