The Protective Role of Childcare Quality for Behavioral Adjustment in 3- to 5-Year-Old Children

Abstract

Abstract. This study examined the role of childcare process quality regarding the relation between family risks and preschoolers’ social–emotional problems. The study included 24 childcare centers with 42 groups in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The 162 children in the sample were aged 3 – 5 years. Parents and teachers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-Deu). Eight family risk factors were subsumed into a cumulative risk index. Childcare process quality was assessed by various observation instruments, for example, the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R) and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS–R). The calculated structural equation models show that high-quality teaching and interaction, and provisions for learning, can mitigate the negative effects of family risks on children’s internalizing problems. High process quality can provide the chance of considerable attention, encouragement, and new learning opportunities for children at risk; these high-quality centers thereby contribute to protective processes.

External childcare and socio-behavioral development in Switzerland: Long-term relations from childhood into young adulthood

“…To our knowledge, four other studies exist. Three found that center-based care was related to more externalizing but not internalizing problems [57][58][59]. A fourth study focused on motor, cognitive, language, and social skills but did not measure problem behavior.…”

Poor Motor Performance – Do Peers Matter? Examining the Role of Peer Relations in the Context of the Environmental Stress Hypothesis

“…The present study was part of the project "Long-term effects of early family risk on children's maladjustment and self-efficacy: individual, familial and extra-familial protective processes" (2016-2019) that belongs to the project "Promoting early learning and resilience through a strengthening learning dialogue -A project for promotion and professionalization of early childhood education in Swiss childcare centers" (2009-2012) (Wustmann Seiler et al, 2017). The study encompasses three measurement waves, from early childhood to middle school age.…”

Empirirsche Arbeit: Erziehungsbezogene elterliche Depressivität und Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung von Kindern: Die Rolle von Freundschaftsqualität

“…Grund dafür sind schützende, risikomildernde Faktoren, die nach Rutter (1990) die Auftretenswahrscheinlichkeit psychischer Störungen senken oder die Auftretenswahr-scheinlichkeit einer positiven Entwicklung erhöhen. Ein Schutzfaktor kann dabei gleichzeitig promotiv (entwicklungsförderlich) und protektiv (schützend) sein oder sich nur als promotiv beziehungsweise nur als protektiv erweisen (Burke, Sticca & Perren, 2017;Scheithauer & Petermann, 1999;Masten & Barnes, 2018;Rutter, 1990;Wustmann Seiler, Müller & Simoni, 2017). Untersuchungen auf der Basis der interpersonalen Theorie von Sullivan (1953) belegen, dass eine hohe Freundschaftsqualität zum besten Freund beziehungsweise zur besten Freundin ein promotives und protektives soziales Unterstützungssystem bei vorhandenen elterlichen Belastungen sein kann (Lansford, Criss, Pettit, Dodge & Bates, 2003).…”