Yes, according to Jay Belsky, it matters that young children are spending increasingly more time in day care.
Belsky has extensively studied infant-parent attachment security, the way marriages change across the transition to parenthood, the manner in which infant temperament, marital quality, occupational experiences, and social support affect parenting and the effects of parenting on child development.
To reach his conclusion, Belsky reviewed the main findings from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care in America – “a unique and massive collaborative enterprise”, in which over 1200 children from 10 communities were followed from birth through to starting school. (Abstracts of study published findings)
The study found that when controlling for the quality of child care, the quantity of day care still matters. Children who spent early, extensive and continuous time in the care of non-relatives were more likely to show later behavioural problems, such as aggressiveness and disobedience, as indicated by ratings from their caregivers, their mothers and eventually their teachers.
Children who spent more time in a child care center (not in another person’s home with a non-relative, or in a home with a relative other than their mother) show benefits in their cognitive and linguistic development, but also show more behavioural problems.
Low quality care was detrimental to the children of mothers who lacked sensitivity. High quality care was associated with later superior cognitive-linguistic functioning.
Belsky, J. (2006). Early child care and early child development: Major findings of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 3, 95-110.
Reported March 29, 2006 in British Psychological Society Research Digest Blog.