1. Objectifs

Intentions :
In this study, the authors «tested whether exposure to child care during the preschool years […] has a protective effect on disruptive behavior problems during adolescence […], and whether the putative effects vary by the SES [socioeconomic status] of the family.» (p. 2)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
L’échantillon est composé de 1 588 participants provenant de l’Étude longitudinale du développement des enfants du Québec (ELDEQ).

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Significant differences on child, family, and parents’ characteristics were observed between children following different trajectories of child-care use intensity […].» (p. 3) «In this population-based study, children exposed to high and moderate intensity of child-care services during early childhood reported lower levels of physical aggression and opposition during adolescence (12–17 years) compared to those who were exposed to low levels of child care. Moderate intensity corresponds to a pattern of use where children attend child-care services regularly from ages of 1– 1½ to 5 years for about 35–40 hr per week. While for opposition the effect was the same regardless of family SES, for physical aggression the positive effect was specific to children from low SES families. In particular, [the authors] found that children from low SES families exposed to a moderate number of hours of child-care services reported lower levels of physical aggression during adolescence.» (p. 6) Overall, the «results from the present study provide evidence that governmentally regulated early child-care services, offered population-wide at a low cost for families, may prevent disruptive behavior problems during adolescence, especially for children from low SES families.» (p. 7)