Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 3, 337-339 (1988)

From ERWEECE

Summarized below are recent ERIC documents and journal articles relating to the topics examined in this issue of the Quarterly.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

“Effects of Maternal Absence Due to Employment on the Quality of Infant- Mother Attachment in a Low-Risk Sample,” by Peter Barglow and others. (Child Development, Vol. 58, No. 4, 1987, p. 945-54.)

Results from this study of 110 low-risk, middle-class infants showed that a significantly greater proportion of infants whose mothers worked full- time outside the home were assigned to the category “insecure-avoidant” than infants whose mothers remained in the home during the child’s first year.

ERIC DOCUMENTS

Syracuse University Longitudinal Follow-up Study: Questionnaire Ratings of Children’s Behaviors, Attitudes and Achievement, by Sydney L. Hans. (ED 288 649, 1987, 18 pp.)

This study assessed the long-term effects of an intensive, five-year day care intervention by the Syracuse University Children’s Center on children from multi-risk, low-income families. A total of 65 program participants and 54 comparison subjects were questioned when they were in the eighth and ninth grades. Additional data were gathered from parents and teachers. Questions focused on children’s social interaction, emotional well-being, self-esteem, creativity, and academic achievement. A significant effect was found for the interaction between intervention group and sex on the teacher questionnaire only. The MANOVAs for males and females revealed lasting intervention effects for girls only.

Long-term Effects of Day Care, by Jean Ipsa. (ED 285 694, 1987, 9 pp.) Effects of early out-of-home care on college students’ social and emo-

tional development, academic achievement, and choice of profession were explored in this study. The sample included 736 white and 163 black college undergraduates in Missouri who were questioned about the type of child care they had received during infancy, and at ages 2 and 4. Other informa- tion obtained included demographic data, high school and college grade point averages, number of extracurricular activities, major area of study, and preferences for employment after graduation. Among the seven pre-

337

338 From ERlClEECE

dominant patterns of child care which emerged from the data, parent-only care in infancy was the early care arrangement most associated with high functioning among college students, especially men. Part-time care in in- fancy and at age 2, with full-time care at age 4, was most associated with low scores for both races and sexes.

Infant Day Care and Social Behavior: An Analysis of Home, Individual and Group Care Effects, by E.C. Melhuish, and others. (ED 217 464, 1986, 11 PP.)

This study of women and their first-born children focused on the socio- emotional development of 18-month-old children who had received at least 9 months of continuous day care. Particular attention was paid to effects of group care in day nurseries, individual care by a relative, individual care by a child minder, and home care by the mother. Findings indicated that day care experience significantly affected children’s socio-emotional develop- ment. Children in nursery care showed fewer signs of pleasure when ap- proached by a stranger than did children in other groups. Nursery group children were less oriented to people and were more negative in mood than were other children.

Socio-Emotional Behaviour at 18 Months, as a Function of Day Care Ex- perience, Gender and Temperament, by E.C. Melhuish. (ED 275 424, 1986, 12 PP.)

A major aim of this study was to gain a full account of the history and experience of women who returned to full-time employment while their first child was still young; and of their children, who received nonparental day care from an early age. The study also assessed the consequences of full- time maternal employment, and nonparental day care initiated at an early age, on the well-being of each woman and child. Also considered were the ways in which these consequences were influenced by mediating factors- including type and stability of nonparental day care-and by characteristics of the children. Data were collected from the 255 women and their children when children were 5, 10, 18, and 36 months old. The paper reports and dis- cusses data on socio-emotional development collected at the third contact.

Quality Infant/Toddler Caregiving: Are There Magic Recipes? by Alice Sterling Honig. (ED 288 625, 1987, 15 pp.)

This survey of research on environmental and person variables concen- trates on what is required for a high quality infant-toddler program. Adult qualities which nurture intellectual competence, cooperative interaction, and resilience in coping include tender, careful holding; provision of feed- ings that respect individual tempos; accurate interpretation of, and prompt attention to, distress signals; provision of opportunities for exploring toys

From ERIUEECE 339

on the floor; and the ability to give babies control over social interactions. Opportunities for language interchanges and turn-taking talk also promote development. Adults should (1) understand infant developmental levels and sensorimotor states when planning environments for infants and toddlers; (2) be aware of their importance as rule-givers and models; and (3) encour- age prosocial, altruistic behaviors in children by their own actions and by their manner of handling conflicts.

ABOUT ERIC

Funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, ERIC (the Educational Resources Information Center) is the largest education database in the world. Included in the ERIC system are 16 clearinghouses, each responsible for collecting and disseminating information on a specific area in education. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Child- hood Education (ERIC/EECE) deals specifically with information relating to the education and development of children from birth through age 12. Other clearinghouses cover reading, higher education, testing, and addi- tional areas in education.

Each month, abstracts and bibliographic information for more than 1,200 documents and 1,500 journal articles on all phases of education are entered into the ERIC database and listed in two publications: Resources in Educa- tion (RIE) and Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE). RIE lists ERIC documents, most of which can be read on microfiche in libraries and information centers. CIJE provides access to journal articles, which may be read in the periodicals in which they were originally published. Documents and articles in ERIC on specific topics can be retrieved by manually search- ing the RIE and CIJE indexes or by conducting a computer search.

The ERIC documents cited in this column are available in paper copy and/or on microfiche from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), 3900 Wheeler Ave., Alexandria, VA 22304. For complete ordering information, please consult the most recent issue of RIE. Ordering inforrna- tion, as well as further information on the ERIC system and ERIC/EECE, is also available from ERIC/EECE Information Services, University of Illinois, College of Education, 805 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 (Telephone 217-333-1368).