Early nonparental care and social behavior in elementary school : support for a social group adaptation hypothesis

Abstract

We examined the contribution of non-parental child care services received during the preschool years (i.e. between 5 months and 5 years) to the development of social behavior between kindergarten and the end of elementary school (i.e. between 6 and 12 years) with a birth cohort from Québec, Canada (N=1544). Mothers reported on the use of child care services, while elementary school teachers rated children’s shyness, social withdrawal, prosociality, opposition and aggression. Children who received non-parental child care services during the preschool years were less shy, less socially withdrawn, more oppositional and more aggressive at school entry (age 6 years). However, these differences disappeared during elementary school as children who received exclusive parental care during the preschool years caught up with those who received non-parental care services. We discuss this “catch-up” effect from the perspective of children’s adaptation to the social group.