Kryzer Erin M, Kovan Nikki, Phillips Deborah A, Domagall Lindsey A, Gunnar Megan R
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota.
Early Child Res Q. 2007;22(4):451-466. doi: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2007.08.004.
One hundred and twelve children, 56 toddlers and 56 preschoolers, were observed in their family child care settings to determine whether toddlers cared for in settings that also included preschoolers were, relative to the preschoolers, receiving more or less high-quality care and/or whether their functioning at child care appeared to be more or less dependent on aspects of the care providers' interactions with the children. Quality of care was analyzed along two dimensions: Sensitive/Supportive Care and Structured Care. Four indices of child functioning at child care were examined: integration in social activities, attention, positive mood, and angry/aggressive behavior. Results indicate that toddlers received less sensitive, supportive care than preschoolers in these mixed-age settings and toddlers were less socially integrated and less engaged in activities in the child care setting. Preschoolers displayed increased levels of angry/aggressive behavior relative to toddlers. In addition, associations of care provider behaviors and child functioning were larger for toddlers than preschoolers, suggesting that toddlers were more dependent on caregiver support for more successful functioning in these family child care settings. For both toddlers and preschoolers, care provider behavior and child functioning was generally poorer in settings with more children.
112名儿童，其中56名幼儿和56名学龄前儿童，在他们的家庭式儿童保育环境中接受观察，以确定与学龄前儿童相比，在同时包含学龄前儿童的环境中接受照料的幼儿是否得到了更多或更少的高质量照料，以及他们在儿童保育中的表现是否或多或少依赖于照料者与儿童互动的某些方面。照料质量从两个维度进行分析：敏感/支持性照料和结构化照料。研究了儿童在儿童保育中的四个功能指标：社交活动融入度、注意力、积极情绪和愤怒/攻击性行为。结果表明，在这些混合年龄的环境中，幼儿得到的敏感、支持性照料比学龄前儿童少，并且幼儿在儿童保育环境中的社交融入度较低，参与活动较少。与幼儿相比，学龄前儿童表现出更高水平的愤怒/攻击性行为。此外，照料者行为与儿童功能之间的关联在幼儿中比在学龄前儿童中更大，这表明在这些家庭式儿童保育环境中，幼儿在功能发挥更成功方面更依赖照料者的支持。对于幼儿和学龄前儿童来说，在儿童更多的环境中，照料者行为和儿童功能总体上较差。
