Early parenting intervention: Family risk and first-time parenting related to intervention effectiveness

The effects of cumulative risk and parity on the effectiveness of a home based parenting intervention were tested in a randomized controlled trial with 237 families with 1- to 3-year-old children screened for high levels of externalizing behavior. The intervention was aimed at enhancing positive parenting and decreasing externalizing behaviors. The results showed that cumulative risk was not associated with either change in child externalizing behaviors or change in positive parenting. When intervention effectiveness was compared for primiparas (i.e., first-time mothers) versus multiparas (i.e., mothers with more than one child), we found that intervention mothers of first-born children displayed an increase in their use of positive discipline strategies as compared to first-time mothers in the control group, whereas a similar effect for multiparas was absent. Among multiparas we found an intervention effect on sensitivity, with control group mothers showing an increase in sensitivity, whereas the intervention group showed a constant level of sensitivity over time. These results suggest that parity may be a moderator of intervention effectiveness. Implications for investigating moderators of intervention effectiveness are discussed. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Criteria voor kwaliteit van kinderopvang: Visies van sleutelfiguren

In a national survey, child care centre administrators, caregivers, parents and child care experts were asked to (a) rate the importance of 22 structural and 15 process quality indicators for inclusion in an instrument assessing quality of centre day-care, (b) list the five most important indicators per category (structural vs. process quality), and (c) rate the importance of all quality indicators for younger versus older children. The results show that respondents in all four stakeholder groups agreed on the importance of the quality indicators that were listed in the survey. Differences between stakeholder groups were observed only when respondents were asked to prioritise quality indicators by type. Finally, respondents emphasized different quality indicators for child care of younger (0-2) versus older children (2-4 years). The results of this survey provide support for the quality instrument that is currently being validated

UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Goodness-of-fit in Center Day Care: Relations of temperament, stability and quality of care with the child's adjustment Goodness-of-fit in center day care: relations of temperament, stability, and quality of care wit

Abstract In this study, the concept of 'goodness-of-fit' between the child's temperament and the environment, introduced by Thomas and Chess [Temperament and Development, Brunner/Mazel, New York, 1977], is applied within the setting of center day care. Mothers and primary professional caregivers of 186 children, aged 6-30 months, participated in this study. The child's problem behaviors were assessed with the CBCL Teacher Report Form [Achenbach, T.M., Guide for the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form for Ages 2-5, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 1997]. The child's socio-emotional well-being in day care was measured with the Leiden Inventory for the Child's Well-Being in Day Care. The Infant Characteristics Questionnaire measured the child's temperament. Children with an easier temperament showed less internalizing and total problem behavior and more well-being. The results suggest that for children with a more difficult temperament, several parallel care arrangements interfere with the process of adapting to the day care setting. Also, our results indicate that in the group of children with greater availability of trusted caregivers, a more easy-going temperament was associated with more well-being. The association between temperament and well-being was not found in the group of children with less access to trusted caregivers