Self-Regulation Mediates the Relationship between Center-Based Child Care and Behavior Problems: Evidence from Singapore

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - School Readiness/Childcare

Abstract

Previous research has found that center-based child care is related to heightened behavior problems for preschoolers in the US and Australia (Coley et al., 2015; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2001). However, this association has not been observed in some European countries (Beijers et al., 2013). It is possible that unique characteristics of center-base child care in different countries influence the relationship between center-based child care and children’s behavior problems. The current research had two central aims: (1) to further the literature by exploring the relationships between the quantity and quality of center-based child care and behavior problems in Singaporean preschoolers, and (2) to examine if the relationships are mediated by children’s self-regulation.
Data were drawn from the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study (SG LEADS) conducted in 2018 and 2019. Three- to six-year-old preschoolers (n = 2,369) took part in the study. The duration (the total number of months that the children had attended child care centers), the intensity of center-based child care (the number of hours per week cared for in child care centers), and the teacher-child ratio of the children’s class were reported by children’s primary caregivers. Children’s behavior problems and overall self-regulation skills were assessed using items selected from the Behavior Problem Index (Peterson & Zill, 1986) and the Positive Behavior Scales (Quint et al., 1997). Children’s self-regulation was also assessed using a delay of gratification task where children were asked to choose if they wanted one gift immediately or multiple gifts later (Prencipe & Zelazo, 2005). We adopted Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to address our research questions.
The results from the SEM analysis using the whole sample suggested that longer duration and higher intensity of center-based child care were related to heightened externalizing problems. But the results from the multigroup SEM analyzing groups of different quantity and quality of center-based child care showed that this relationship held only for the low intensity group (i.e., no more than 40 hours of center-based child care per week). For children who received high intensity of center-based child care (i.e., more than 40 hours per week), higher child care intensity was related to fewer problem behaviors. The effect of months of center-based child care was only observed among children who had been attending child care for more than one year, and a greater total duration of care was associated with more behavior problems. The effect of the teacher-child ratio was only observed for children in centers with a teacher-child ratio smaller than 1:6, and a larger ratio was related to fewer problem behaviors. Results also showed a significant mediating effect of child self-regulation on the relationship between the quantity of center-based child care and children’s problem behaviors for children receiving higher amount of center-based child care.
In conclusion, the current research revealed a different pattern of associations between center-based child care and children’s behavior problems from what had been found in Western cultures, and suggested self-regulation as the mechanism underlying the relationship between center-based child care and children’s problem behavior.

Authors

• Yue Bi, National University of Singapore
  Presenting Author

• Xiao Pan Ding, National University of Singapore
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jean Yeung, National University of Singapore
  Non-Presenting Author