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Parents gave histories of 589 children just before kindergarten. Children were later assessed with teacher, peer, and observer measures of social adjustment in school. Children with higher day-care amounts in each of 3 eras (0-1, 1-4, and 4-5 years) scored higher on the composite negative adjustment and lower on positive adjustment (however, they also scored lower on teacher-rated internalizing problems). Day care predicted even after statistical control for measures representing alternative explanations, such as family stress and socioeconomic status, accounting for 2.7% of variance in negative adjustment and 2.9% of positive adjustment. Interactions between day care and other variables did not add to predictions of the molar adjustment composites
Bates et al. (Thu,) studied this question.