Family and Child Care Influences on Toddler's Compliance

HOWES, CAROLLEE, and OLENICK, MICHAEL. Family and Child Care Influences on Toddler's Compliance. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1986, 57, 202-216. Influences and interrelations of family dynamics and of varying quality of child-care on the child's capacity for compliance and self-regulation were examined. 3 family types, all with toddler-age children, were compared: families using high-quality day-care centers, families using low-quality day-care centers, and families not using day-care centers. 89 families were interviewed and observed at home and in a laboratory, and the children were observed in their day-care centers. Families that placed their children in low-quality day-care centers had more complex lives, and at home they were less involved and invested in their children's compliance than were parents who either placed their children in a high-quality day-care center or did not use day-care. Children in high-quality day-care centers were more compliant in day-care and had teachers who were more involved and invested in child compliance than children in low-quality day-care centers. In the laboratory, children who attend high-quality day-care centers were the most likely to self-regulate. Parents with children in high-quality day-care centers were the most invested in child compliance in the laboratory. The stability of children's compliance in the 3 settings increased with age. Multiple regression techniques were used to examine relationships between child care, family, and child and parent behaviors. Different patterns appeared for boys and girls, suggesting that boys may be more sensitive than girls to the effects of day-care quality.