Effects of early nonparental care on preschoolers' socioemotional behaviors

영·유아기 타인양육이 학령전 어린이의 사회정서적 행동에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of early full-time nonparental care during infancy/toddlerhood on children's socioemotional behaviors during the preschool period. Subjects for this study were 105 three- to five-year-olds from middle-class families in the U. S. A. Children were assigned to one of three groups according to their early care history. Children's social interactions with peers and caregivers during indoor free-play sessions in day care centers were observed for 20 minutes. The head teachers rated the children's social and emotional behaviors on two questionnaires. Mothers completed the Attachment Q-sort for attachment assessment for the preschoolers. In addition, mothers were asked to fill out a questionnaire on their parenting practices. Children who had received full-time nonparental care during infancy and/or toddlerhood were rated by their teachers as being more intellectually competent than children who did not receive full-time nonparental care during first three years of life. They were, however, rated by teachers and were observed by the researcher as being more aggressive than children with no full-time nonparental care. These children were observed to engage in less wandering/onlooking behaviors than children who had not had any full-time nonparental care. Children's attachment security scores and dependency scores did not differ as a function of early nonparental care histories. When the effects of early care patterns, sex of child, and current attachment security to mothers on aggressive behaviors of the preschoolers were examined by a hierarchical regression model, then any "pure" effects of nonparental care and of attachment security on child aggression were minimal after controlling for family background, child care center quality, and maternal childrearing practices. Strong buffering factors for the preschool children (family characteristics, parenting styles, and high quality nonparental care) mediated a possible risk factor of early nonparental care and promoted optimal outcomes for the children.