The impact of daycare and child temperament on parent-child interactions.

摘要

This study explored the potential impact of child temperament and daycare on behavior problems and parental sensitivity. It was expected that children with more "difficult" temperaments would exhibit more behavior problems and have less sensitive parents when experiencing high amounts of daycare. Measures from 60 families involved in the Southern Illinois Twins and Siblings Study (SITSS) were examined. Results indicated that highly active children exhibited more externalizing behaviors when experiencing less daycare. Shy children experiencing more daycare had more sensitive parents. Additionally, a temperamental difference between co-twins was related to differential parental sensitivity. Lastly, DZ co-twins were more temperamentally different when experiencing high amounts of daycare. These results demonstrate that daycare does seem to affect children; however, the specific effect depends on the child's temperament. Additionally, temperament is an important factor when examining parental sensitivity shown to twins and when determining how MZ and DZ twins react to daycare.