Elsevier

Infant Behavior and Development

Volume 18, Issue 2, April–June 1995, Pages 177-188
Infant Behavior and Development

Infant day care and children's social competence

https://doi.org/10.1016/0163-6383(95)90047-0Get rights and content

Abstract

Although children enrolled in infant day care during their first year have sometimes been characterized as aggressive with their peers and more noncompliant with adults, they have been characterized as more sociable with their peers as well. Few studies have examined individual differences in day care children's social competence nor have studies examined multiple influences on the nature of toddlers' social interactions in day care. In this investigation, socioeconomic status, family relations, temperament, and day care quantity and quality were examined as predictors of toddlers' social interactions using a sample of 36 children who had been enrolled in either a high- or low-quality day care center sometime during their first year. Quality of care served as a compensatory factor in decreasing the likelihood of social difficulties for temperamentally vulnerable children. Multiple-regression models revealed that day care quality was a consistent predictor of children's nonsocial play and positive interactions with caregivers, whereas day care experience was not.

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  • Cited by (0)

    This research was supported by grant MCJ-420565 from the Maternal and Child Health Program (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services to L.V.F. and Ingrid Blood.

    ∗∗

    The authors are grateful for the assistance of Elizabeth Kipp, Lisa Berlin, Elizabeth Manlove, and Juliet Nuss, and to Jay Belsky for his comments on an earlier draft of this article.

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