Child care effects on the development of toddlers with special needs

Among children with significant developmental delays or with biomedical risk factors for developing delays, those who were in nonmaternal child care (n = 80) did not differ from children staying at home with their mothers (n = 73) on mental, motor, or adaptive functioning; behavior problems; or attachment security at 30 months of age. An ecological model then was used to predict outcomes for children who had been observed in child care. After accounting for selection effects, child characteristics at 12 months of age, and quality of home caregiving, none of the child-care variables (age of entry, hours, quality) predicted mental or motor development or attachment security among children in nonmaternal care. Older age of entry into child care predicted greater behavioral organization during testing. Higher observed quality of caregiving in child care predicted better adaptive behavior. Additionally, quality of home caregiving predicted mental development, behavioral organization, and secure attachment to mother. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.