Federal Study Links Time Spent in Day Care to Aggressiveness

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The more time young children spend in day care, the more likely they are to be aggressive or disobedient, says the latest report from an ongoing U.S. federal study released today by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIHCD).  The report confirmed the importance of the majority of young children’s time being spent with their parents.  The link between daycare hours and behavioural problems “occurred across all family backgrounds and all types and quality of care,” said the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which involved more than 1,000 children. Problem behaviours included disobeying adults, destroying other people’s possessions, arguing, fighting, lying, cheating, screaming, bragging or bullying.  The study did find evidence of the importance of quality day care, but found that high quality of child care “did not eliminate the link between hours in care and behavioural problems.” Author Julie Shields said that while high-quality day care is better than low-quality day care, parents should avoid putting their children in child care when they are too young or for too long a period. The link was particularly strong among children in centre-based day care.  See Washington Times:  https://washingtontimes.com/national/20030715-114917-5245r.htm