Poster group
Details of individual items:
poster
Seventy 15-month old infants were involved in a study that investigates cardiac activity (Heart period and RSA) and emotional responses (infant mood) during their adjustment to child care. Prior to entry infant cardiac activity were recorded at home. HP and RSA were quantified from interbeat intervals. When mother and infant arrived at the centers they were videotaped and heart rate was recorded during 30 min, on first and last Days on which the mother were also present in the group, and subsequently on Days 1, 5, 9, and in Month 5 (maternal separation). Behaviors and heart rate records were synchronized for three different situations; (1) daily Baseline, (2) in-group Play, and (3) Group experience.Infants were also seen twice in Ainsworth's Strange Situation with their mothers prior to child care entry, and with their primary careproviders almost five months later. At home, secure infants did not differ in HP and RSA from other infants. In child care, secure infants exhibited slower heart rates and higher RSA (i.e., less physiological distress) in both Play and Group measures when their mothers were also present. Even on Day 1, when all infants displayed negative mood on high levels, slower heart rates in Play was typical for secure infants. However, associations between distress indexes and attachment to mother faded out with continued child care attendance, and attachment to careproviders became important. Combined mother-careprovider attachments revealed the lowest distress indexes for infants who formated secure attachments to the providers.
poster
The child's experience of stability in the daycare setting is said to be an important factor contributing to the child's positive socio-emotional functioning (Howes & Hamilton, 1992; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1997). In this study three different domains of center daycare stability will be included: 1) caregiver stability, 2) group stability and 3) stability of the child care environment. In previous research, a variety of operationalizations of the stability construct as used in day care settings can be found. For instance, in the domain of caregiver stability it is referred to as the amount of time a caregiver spent with the child in the daycare setting, as changes in primary caregiver, and as staff turnover rate. Also, frequency of care starts and multiplicity of care are often viewed as indicators of stability of care. A different aspect concerns the stability of the child's daily experiences in a daycare setting. In this study a (Likert scale) questionnaire is developed to measure this latter aspect of stability in center day care. Both the child's daily experiences of stability and long-term experiences of stability are explored within the aforementioned three domains of the construct. These three domains of stability are related to various structural dimensions of daycare quality, such as caregiver-child ratio, group size and caregiver training and experience. Also, the differential effects of these three domains of stability on the child's well-being and on problem behaviors are studied.The mother and primary professional caregiver of 226 children, aged 6-30 months, participated in this survey study. The children were visiting 133 different daycare centers randomly selected. The child's daily experienced stability and the child's well-being are both measured with 6-point Likert scale questionnaires for professional caregivers. Both questionnaires were developed and validated in a pilot study comprising 40 children and were tested in the current sample with the help of factor analyses and reliability analyses. The child's internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors were assessed with the CBCL-TRF/2-5 (Achenbach, 1992). Cronbach's alpha's were .83 and .92 respectively. Pearson correlations between measures of stability in center day care on the one hand, and quality of day care, the child's well-being and the child's problem behaviors on the other, will be discussed.
poster
The importance of positive trusting relationships between infants and their caregivers both at home and in child care has been the topic of previous studies. However, little is known about the ways in which non-familial caregivers and the infants in their care develop these relationships. The purpose of this study was to explore the process through which infants and their new caregivers form relationships within an infant-toddler child care center. Twenty caregivers-in-training and 20 children (9-28 months old) participated in the study. Each child was designated as 'key' child for one of the caregivers. Dyads were followed during the caregivers' first 15 weeks at the center. Multiple measures were used to examine similarities and differences in the patterns and quality of developing relationships. In order to measure changes in children's responses to caregivers over time, children's attachment behaviors were assessed by observers using the Waters' Attachment Q-Set at two time points--the initial stage of caregiving, and the end of the 15-week period. For a subset of the sample (n3D12), Attachment Q-Sets were also completed by children's mothers and their key caregivers. The Pianta Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) was used to measure caregiver perceptions of the relationship at Time 2. Additionally, caregivers were asked to respond weekly to a set of open-ended questions regarding their developing feelings as caregivers and their relationships with the children, and children and caregivers were videotaped as they engaged in spontaneous interactions at 3 time points spaced throughout the 15-week period of observation. Questionnaires and videotapes were reviewed and analyzed for common emerging themes and individual differences in the relationship-building process. Overall, findings indicate that caregivers formed secure relationships with their key children over time. Attachment Q-Set security scores increased significantly (t(18) 3D 5.49, p<.001). Many caregivers noted a similar time line for this process in their responses to the questionnaires. Pianta STRS ratings indicated that most caregivers perceived their relationships with their 'key' children to be closer than their relationships with other center children. Videotape analyses corroborated these changes in the quality of caregiver-child interactions. For some caregiver-child dyads, however, the process was challenging. Approximately half of the caregivers, for example, perceived greater conflict in their relationships with their key children than with other center children. Caregiver Q-set security scores, as opposed to observer scores, showed a positive correlation with total STRS scores, suggesting the importance of taking the cargivers' perceptions into consideration. Results are discussed in terms of common findings, individual differences between caregivers and children, and implications for policy and practice.
poster
Attachment security with non-parental caregivers is increasingly consideredan important aspect of quality in infant child care. However, little isknown about the factors that lead to infants' attachment security in variouschild care settings. This study employed the Attachment Q-Set (AQS), usedby trained observers, to assess the security of 105 toddlers' (10-27 months)relationships with their full-time child care providers (20 or more hoursper week in child care). Attachment security and its contextual correlateswere compared in two distinct settings: child care centers and family childcare homes. Several measures of attachment security, including secure basebehaviors, attachment subscales, attachment categories, and securitycriterion scores, were derived from the AQS. The Attachment Q-sorts werebased on at least 4 hours of naturalistic observation on two occasions.Child care context variables included global child care quality, specificquality subscales, child/adult ratio, group size, caregiver education andexperience, level of caregiver-child involvement, age at entry into childcare, and number of months with the current caregiver.Group sizes and child/adult ratios were significantly higher, and caregiverswere older and had more years of child care experience in family child careas compared to center care. However, only two significant differences werefound in the level or quality of attachment security across the two childcare settings. Toddlers in centers were more likely to share with theircaregivers (Q-item), and their behavior with the caregiver was rated higherin 'harmony' (Q-subscale) than for toddlers in family child care. Toddlers'level of involvement with the caregiver was significantly correlated withattachment security and did not differ in centers and homes, but thecontextual correlates of involvement and security were different. Incenters, group size, child/adult ratio, caregiver years of experience withinfants & toddlers, and global child care quality were all significantlycorrelated with level of caregiver involvement, which in turn was correlatedwith attachment security. In family child care, only group size wassignificantly correlated with level of involvement, which along with globalchild care quality was correlated with attachment security. These findingssupport the importance of the caregivers' involvement with children for thedevelopment of attachment security, regardless of the child care setting.However, the results also point to the importance of analyzing variations inchild care quality and other aspects of the social environment within thedistinctive forms of infant-toddler child care, as they relate to theformation of children's attachment relationships.