Effects of nonparental child care on child development: an update

To review the published literature on the effects of nonparental and out-of-home care on infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Narrative literature review.

Although substantial controversy persists, the accumulated evidence suggests that nonparental care does not necessarily have either beneficial or detrimental effects on infants and children, although it can have such effects. In some circumstances, careproviders establish relationships with children that have significant effects on development, and this increases the importance of ensuring that careproviders are well trained, behave sensitively, and are stable rather than ephemeral figures in children's lives. Nonparental care is associated with behaviour problems (including aggression and noncompliance) when the care is of poor quality and opportunities for meaningful relationships with stable careproviders are not available, however.

The effects of out-of-home care vary depending on the quality of care as well as the characteristics of individual children, including their age, temperaments, and individual backgrounds.