Infant day care as a treatment intervention: a follow-up comparison study
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Early infant day care intervention showed no negative effects on children by age three. Children in the program exhibited positive emotional development, with no detrimental impact from early separations.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Developmental Psychology
- Early Childhood Education
Background:
- Early childhood education is a critical period for development.
- The impact of infant day care on long-term child development requires further investigation.
- Understanding the effects of early separation on children is crucial for parental decision-making.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effects of early day care intervention on three-year-old children.
- To compare children with prior infant day care experience to those entering day care for the first time at age three.
- To assess the impact of early day care on emotional development and separation adjustment.
Main Methods:
- Naturalistic observation of children in day care settings.
- Assessment of general pathology, play, socialization, and separation variables.
- Comparison of children with and without early day care intervention.
Main Results:
- No significant differences were found between groups in pathology, play, socialization, or separation variables.
- The early day care group showed positive emotional developments.
- The control group exhibited distinct coping and disturbance style patterns compared to the day care group.
Conclusions:
- Early infant day care intervention does not appear to be detrimental to children's development by age three.
- Early day care supports positive emotional development and does not negatively impact separation adjustment.
- Children with early day care experience demonstrate different coping mechanisms than those new to day care.
Abstract:
Three-year-old children who had been in an infant day care treatment program were compared with matched normal children who were entering regular day care for the first time at age 3, to evaluate the effects of early day care intervention. All children were assessed on general pathology, play, socialization, and separation variables in arrival, play, and mealtime situations and were naturalistically observed in the day centers. No significant differences between groups were found on any of the variables within situations or across situations, supporting the hypothesis that the treatment intervention supported major positive emotional developments and that the early separations were not detrimental in effect. Significant differences between the two groups on clusters of variables suggest patterns in coping and disturbance style specific to the control group and significantly different from the day care group.