1-188 - The Dosage of High Quality ECE and Children’s Social Outcomes: Evidence from International Settings

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Both quality and quantity of early childhood care and education (ECE) are thought to play an important role in children’s socio-emotional development. Various developmental theories argue that young children who experience frequent high quality interactions with care providers learn positive social skills through modeling, positive reinforcement, and careful scaffolding in which the child’s social needs are met and fostered. Yet, little research focused on the high dosage of ECE as a positive predictor of young children’s socio-emotional development. Typically, high quantity of ECE has been cast as a negative predictor in children’s development and inconsistent or small associations between child care quality and child socio-emotional development have been reported. These inconsistencies are likely related to factors such as the magnitude of the dosage, family socio-economic background, and country or type of ECE system that is examined. The purpose of this symposium is to examine the quality by quantity interaction in three different contexts and illuminate the common finding that higher dosage of high quality ECE is positively associated with children’s socio-emotional development. The first paper examines quality by quantity interactions of ECE in a sample of two-year-old children from advantaged backgrounds in the Netherlands. The second paper examines quality by quantity interactions of ECE in a sample of preschool-age children from mixed socio-economic background in Portugal. The third paper examines two versus one versus no years of high quality of ECE in a sample of low-income children in the US at the time of transition from preschool to kindergarten.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Irina Mokrova, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Discussant

• Margaret Burchinal, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Individual Presentations

• Effects of Early Child Care Quality on Child Socio-Emotional Outcomes: Does Quantity of Care Matter? - Presenting Author: Martine Broekhuizen, Utrecht University; Marcel van Aken, Utrecht University; Judith Semon Dubas, Utrecht University; Paul PM Leseman, Utrecht University

• Dosage as a Moderator of Classroom Organization Quality Effects on Children’s Social Skills - Presenting Author: Cecília Aguiar, Instituto Superior de Ciencias do Trabalho e da Empresa; Joana Cadima, Porto; Ana Margarida Fialho, ISPA-University Institute, Lisboa, Portugal; Nadine Correia, ISPA-University Institute, Lisboa, Portugal; Inês Peceguina, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), CIS, Lisboa, Portugal; Ana Madalena Gamelas, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal

• Link between Two Years of Classroom Quality and Children’s Behavioral and Social Skills during the Transition to School - Presenting Author: Irina Mokrova, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Martine Broekhuizen, Utrecht University; Margaret Burchinal, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Patricia T Garrett-Peters, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill