Effects on Peer Relations - Day Care

Effects on Peer Relations - Day Care

1. Negative effects - Belsky and Rovine (1988)

   • AO1
     • Meta-analysis of 5 studies using SS
       • Children under 1 y/o when began daycare and received at least 20 hrs a week
         • Children who attended day care were more likely to develop insecure attachments than those raised at home
   • AO2
     • Clear evidence that daycare can have a negative effect on peer relations
       • As if a child has an insecure attachment = negative IWM which could lead to difficulty forming relationships
     • SS seen as a reliable measure of attachment types
       • Widely used measure for recognising attachment types
         • Due to its strict standardised procedure it's seen as a valid and reliable measure of attachment security
     • Individual differences
       • Widespread differences within groups asa well as between because not all infants in the daycare group were classed as insecure and not all raised at home were secure
         • Therefore other factors could have been involved

2. Positive effects - Andersson (1992)

   • AO1
     • Longitudinal study of 100 Swedish children from middle and lower class families
       • Assessed at ages 8 and 13 for social development
         • Those who attended day care before age 1 showed:
           • 1. Highest scores for social development
             • 2. Able to interact wit other children better; more sociable and outgoing
               • 3. More likely to have friends and engage in more harmonious play
                 • 4. Those who hadn't attended day care at all showed least improvements in social development
   • AO2
     • Low population validity
       • Small sample size (only 100 children)
         • Difficult to generalise
     • Child's social development based on teacher ratings
       • Based on opinions and lack factual objective evidence
         • Therefore difficult to establish cause and effect
     • Factors other than day care could explain differences between groups
       • E.g. those who were in day care earliest were from more wealthy families, which may have increased confidence and sociability because of opportunities they could have gained due to the wealth