Child care and family processes: Bi‐directional relations between child care quality, home environments, and maternal depression

Abstract

The current study examined whether within‐family changes in child care quality and quantity predicted subsequent changes in home environment quality and maternal depression across early childhood (6 to 54 months of age). Data were drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1239; 77% White; 48% female; data collection from 1991 to 1996), and were analyzed using Random Intercept Cross‐Lagged Panel Models. Within‐family increases in child care quality predicted modest increases in home environment quality (β = .13–.17). These effects were most robust from child age 6 to 15 months. Increases in child care quality produced small, statistically non‐significant, reductions in depression. Time‐specific increases in child care quantity were not consistently predictive of either outcome.

The Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD): Studying Development from Infancy to Adulthood

“…These reports could be examined in relation to observed caregiving in different types of settings, as well as child developmental outcomes over time. A recent paper by Hart et al (2022) is an example of the use of the SECCYD's repeated childcare and family assessments to ask if within-family changes in childcare quality and quantity predicted changes in the home environment and maternal depression. Researchers and practitioners have speculated that highquality ECE could positively influence home environments and parenting.…”

“…Researchers and practitioners have speculated that highquality ECE could positively influence home environments and parenting. Hart et al (2022) used repeated childcare and family assessments to test this idea, finding that within-family increases in childcare quality predicted improvement in home-environment quality, with the largest relations found when children were infants (6 to 15 months).…”