EARLY CHILD-CARE EXPERIENCES AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH FAMILY AND CHILD CHARACTERISTICS DURING MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

Long-term correlates of early child care and maternal employment were examined in a representative sample of 333 6- to 12-year-old middle-cl ass children. Intellectual, social, and behavioral development and par ent-child relationships were related to nonparental infant care, cente r or preschool experiences, and maternal employment. Contextual analys es included child, parent, and family covariates related to choice of child care and children's development. Preschool and center day care w as associated with slightly higher Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Chi ldren-Revised (WISC-R) Vocabulary scores and externalizing t scores on the Child Behavior Checklist. In addition, for African American child ren, center preschool experience was associated with 10-point-higher v erbal intelligence scores and better ratings of positive behavioral at tributes by parent and observers. Nonparental care during infancy and maternal employment patterns during the preschool years were not consi stently related to the outcomes. The results of this study further sup port the growing consensus that the effects of early child care experi ences must be considered in the context of parent, family, and child c haracteristics.