Li et al. (2013) Child Care and Development (Edexcel A-Level Psychology): Revision Notes
Li et al. (2013) Child Care and Development
Background
Over recent decades, increased access to education and employment for women has led to greater provision of non-maternal childcare in the USA. This has raised concerns about how childcare affects children's social and cognitive development. Research indicates that higher-quality care during the first five years of life is linked to better cognitive and academic outcomes. However, few studies have examined differences in childcare quality during the infant-toddler period versus the preschool period, and the potential outcomes from different combinations of quality care across these two developmental stages.
Li et al. (2013) investigated the effects of high- versus low-quality childcare during infant-toddlerhood and preschool periods using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care (NICHD study).
Aims
Li et al. formulated three main predictions:
First hypothesis: High-quality infant-toddler care would improve cognitive outcomes at 12 months of age. However, without continuing high-quality care during the preschool period, children with high-quality infant-toddler care would not maintain higher cognitive, language and pre-academic scores at 54 months compared to children who received low-quality childcare during both periods.
Second hypothesis: High-quality care during the preschool period would improve cognitive, language and pre-academic outcomes at 54 months. This improvement would be mediated by both high-quality infant-toddler care and high-quality preschool care, relative to those receiving high-quality preschool care but low-quality infant-toddler care.
Overall prediction: High-quality childcare during both the infant-toddler and preschool periods would be associated with higher cognitive, language and pre-academic performance at the end of the preschool period than any other childcare quality combination during the two periods.
Method
Participants
The sample comprised 1364 families recruited from ten sites across North America in 1991. Recruitment occurred at various hospitals at the birth of a child. When the children were one month old, they and their families were assessed using multiple research methods.
Measures and procedure
Childcare quality assessment:
- Quality was assessed using the Observational Record of the Caregiving Environment (ORCE) when children were aged 6, 15, 24, 36 and 54 months.
- Observations took place in various settings, including homes and nurseries.
- A 44-minute observation was conducted over two days.
- Quality was rated on a scale, with a score of 3.0 used to distinguish between low- and high-quality care for both infant-toddler and preschool periods.
- Scores above 3.0 indicated high-quality care, where caregivers were sensitive to children's needs, provided greater cognitive stimulation and fostered greater exploration.
Critical Threshold: A score of 3.0 on the ORCE scale was used as the dividing line between low- and high-quality care. This threshold was crucial for classifying children into different care quality groups throughout the study.
Developmental assessments:
- At the end of the infant-toddler period: the Bayley Mental Developmental Index assessed cognitive development.
- At the end of the preschool period: the Woodcock-Johnson Cognitive and Achievement Batteries and the Preschool Language Scale (PLS) measured language, memory and intelligence.
Confounding variables:
Information was gathered on potential confounding variables including ethnicity, gender, birth order, child temperament, maternal attitudes on raising children, maternal age, parental educational level, child's health, maternal separation anxiety, maternal depression, maternal employment status and family income. These variables were measured at varying intervals throughout the study.
Classification groups:
Children were classified into four groups according to childcare quality at both stages:
- Low-low: low-quality infant-toddler care and low-quality preschool care
- High-low: high-quality infant-toddler care and low-quality preschool care
- Low-high: low-quality infant-toddler care combined with high-quality preschool care
- High-high: high-quality infant-toddler care and high-quality preschool care
Statistical analysis was employed to examine the relationship between the key variables identified.
Results
First hypothesis
The data suggests there was a positive relationship between childcare quality during the infant-toddler period and cognitive outcomes at 24 months, supporting the first hypothesis. The positive effect of high-quality infant-toddler care would decline by the end of the preschool period if children received low- as opposed to high-quality preschool childcare. Support was found for this hypothesis except where memory was the outcome. However, this hypothesis was not supported for language and reading ability.
Second hypothesis
High-quality care during the preschool period was associated with improvement in cognitive and language, reading, and maths results. This was found to be accurate. Additionally, those who received high-quality preschool care in addition to high-quality infant-toddler care scored better than low-high comparison children on reading and maths ability at 54 months. This suggests that high-quality preschool care improves language, reading and maths outcomes, and is additive to infant-toddler high-quality care.
Third hypothesis
High-high care produced better 54-month outcomes than any of the other combinations, and the results support this hypothesis. Therefore, the high-high pattern produced the best outcomes, the low-low pattern produced the worst outcomes, and there was little observable difference between the outcomes produced by high-low- versus low-high-quality childcare. However, memory development seemed to benefit from early high-quality care in the infant-toddler period, but maths ability benefited from high-quality care in the preschool period.
Conclusions
High-quality care during the first 24 months is important for memory development, but not as beneficial for academic skill development. High-quality preschool care prepared children for scholastic achievement, and children who were also exposed to high-quality infant-toddler care benefited most. Early exposure to good-quality care that was not maintained did not benefit the children, but maintained high-quality care resulted in the greatest gains for children.
Key Finding: The timing and consistency of high-quality childcare matters significantly. Early high-quality care that is not maintained shows limited long-term benefits, whereas consistent high-quality care across both developmental periods produces the best outcomes.
Evaluation
Strengths
Detailed measurement and control of confounding variables: The detailed measures and assessments on the timings of specific cognitive outcomes provide rich information and also account for numerous confounding variables such as the home environment. This strengthens the validity of the findings.
Practical application: The study provides practical application in suggesting how policy makers should invest in childcare in the USA. This is important to prevent unequal distribution of childcare provision into either the early or preschool years, but also to encourage provision that is equally distributed throughout childhood. However, acknowledging that high-quality day care is costly, a preference to provide better care during preschool years is probably more cost-effective.
Longitudinal design: The design was longitudinal, which meant that the children could be assessed as soon as they entered the country for developmental and physical issues, and prospectively followed up during the course of the study.
Weaknesses
Non-representative sample: The data used from NICHD Study of Early Child Care is not a representative sample, which may limit generalisation. The response rate at the six-month interview was around 50 per cent and tended to be biased towards economically advantaged, white families, who do not represent the American general population. Teenage mothers and low birth weight babies were excluded altogether.
Sampling Bias: The sample was biased towards economically advantaged, white families, limiting the generalisability of findings to the broader American population. This is a significant limitation when considering policy implications.
Oversimplified categorisation: The way that quality of childcare was categorised may be oversimplified as it did not include a wide range of quality childcare characteristics when creating the groups; they were divided into high- and low-quality care but did not distinguish between the types of care or the quantity of care received.
Limited scope of outcomes measured: The current study did not look at the social benefits of quality childcare, such as attention skills and socio-emotional behaviours, including problem-solving and social skills. Research suggests that such skills are important predictors for later achievement.
Remember!
Key Points to Remember:
- Timing matters: High-quality care during infant-toddlerhood (first 24 months) particularly benefits memory development, while high-quality preschool care is more important for academic skills like reading and maths.
- Consistency is key: Children who received high-quality care during both periods (high-high) showed the best outcomes overall, whilst low-low care produced the worst outcomes.
- Additive effects: High-quality preschool care improves outcomes, but the gains are even greater when combined with high-quality infant-toddler care.
- Methodological strengths: The study used longitudinal design and controlled for multiple confounding variables, but was limited by a non-representative sample biased towards advantaged families.
- Quality measurement: Childcare quality was assessed using the ORCE scale, with scores above 3.0 indicating high-quality care characterised by caregiver sensitivity, cognitive stimulation and exploration opportunities.