ERIC Number: ED229106
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1983-Mar
Pages: 11
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Children in Group Day Care and Family Care: A Longitudinal Study of Children with Different Child Care Experiences.
Gunnarsson, Lars; And Others
School Research Newsletter, Mar 1983
A longitudinal, process-oriented study was conducted to compare the content and effects of day care attendance with care in the home. Collection of baseline data involved 120 children of 12 through 18 months of age. Sixty of these children spent their weekdays in 1 of 12 day care centers, while the other 60 were cared for in homes by their mothers or family day care mothers. The main purpose of the first part of the study was to describe and compare the daily activities of children in centers and at home, reporting their interaction with adults, their emotional attachment to the mothers, and their general development. Methods used were direct observation of activities and interaction with adults in the children's natural surroundings, a mother-attachment test, and a development test. The first follow-up investigation, which took place when the children were 5.5 years old, involved 102 of the 120 families and focused on family changes, descriptions and comparisons of the children's social interaction with adults and playmates, and measurements of the children's general development. Fifty-two children and their families participated in the second follow-up assessment, which was conducted first, when children were in first grade and again, when they were in third grade. Children studied in the second follow-up had either attended day care centers during their entire preschool career or had been cared for in their homes during all of this period. Results are discussed. (RH)
Descriptors: Adjustment (to Environment), Childhood Attitudes, Comparative Analysis, Day Care Centers, Early Childhood Education, Educational Environment, Family Environment, Family Life, Foreign Countries, Longitudinal Studies, Newsletters, Parent Child Relationship, Sex Differences, Teacher Attitudes
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Collected Works - Serials
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Swedish Board of Education, Stockholm.
Identifiers - Location: Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A