Psychosocial Risk and Wellbeing Among Infant and Toddler Childcare Providers

• In Event: The Well-Being of Early Childhood Teachers and Practice Implications for Promoting Child Development

Abstract

Infant/toddler childcare teachers are some of the most essential and undervalued workers in the United States (Gould, 2015; Whitebook et al., 2014). They receive low wages, work long hours, and often come from marginalized groups (e.g. women, minorities; Gould, 2015). Childcare teachers also have higher levels of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and depression than the general public (Hubel et al., 2020; Whitaker et al., 2014). In order to provide high-quality care to infants and toddlers, providers must be warm, responsive, and engaging (Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Mashburn et al., 2008). Experiences of past trauma are associated with lower quality social and emotional classroom climates and interpersonal problems (Hubel et al., 2020). ACEs are also associated with depression, which negatively affects childcare quality (Hubel et al., 2020; Jeon et al., 2014; Pianta et al., 2005). Only a few studies (Gerber et al., 2007; Hubel et al., 2020) have examined the associations between ACEs, depression, and quality of interactions in infant/toddler classrooms. Existing evidence suggests that teacher ACEs and depression are negative predictors of social-emotional climate and sensitivity. However, little is known about how these characteristics are related to teacher’s support for early learning. Given the amount of time infants and toddlers spend in the care of early childhood teachers, further exploration of early childhood teacher’s psychosocial risk is sorely needed.
In the current study, we surveyed infant/toddler childcare providers about their childhood adversities, current mental health, and work-related well-being. We also observed and rated their teaching quality using the CLASS (Pianta et al., 2009). Our aims were (1) to describe the mental health and well-being of infant/toddler childcare teachers in low-income areas of Washington, D.C., (2) to determine whether past trauma predicted teacher’s current depressive symptoms, health, and well-being, and (3) to determine whether past trauma or current depressive symptoms predicted quality of classroom interactions. Participants included 160 infant/toddler teachers (69% African American, 98% Women) from 18 childcare centers. All centers were participating in Head Start -Child Care Partnerships. Teacher education varied, with 32% having only a high school diploma or GED and only 16% having a bachelor’s degree. Surveys and CLASS Observations were both completed in the Spring of 2019.
On average, teachers reported exposure to 2 ACEs. Approximately 29% of teachers had experienced zero, 45% experienced one to three, and 26% experienced four or more. 35% of teachers scored in the clinical range for depression on the CES-D. Multiple regressions showed that ACEs were significantly associated with current depression, number of health conditions, perceived connectedness with other staff and organizational wellbeing, controlling for classroom, race, and education (see Table 1). Multi-level regression models indicated that current depression, but not ACEs, significantly predicted teacher’s engaged support for learning in toddler classrooms, controlling for teacher knowledge of child development (see Table 2). These findings show that ACEs and depression are prevalent among childcare providers and that they have important implications for wellbeing and teaching quality. Future studies should examine whether depression mediates the link between ACEs and classroom quality.

Authors

• Cassandra Simons Gerson, Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)
  Presenting Author

• Brenda Jones Harden, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kerry A. Lee, University of Maryland, College Park
  Non-Presenting Author