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INTERNALIZING/EXTERNALIZING BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS
NATIONAL STUDY OF CHILD CARE FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES
Measure: Individual items from the Child-Focused Observation included in the observation battery of the In-Depth Study of Family Child Care
Background
The National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families is a study of how states and communities implement policies and programs to meet the child care needs of low-income families, including those moving from welfare to work. The study examines how policies change over time, and the effect of relationships between policies and other factors on the type, amount, and cost of care in communities. It also examines factors that affect the decisions low-income families make about child care and what role child care subsidies have on the families’ decisions. The study also provides insights into the characteristics and functioning of family child care (a little studied type of care frequently used by low-income families), and the experiences of parents and their children with this form of care. For instance, the study will address the extent to which family child care meets parents’ work-related needs and children’s needs.
The items taken from the Child-Focused Observation are one part of a multipart coding scheme that measures various aspects of the focal child’s activities (e.g., language use, peer play, use of objects, prosocial behavior) within the family care environment. Wave 3 (the only instrument made available to the authors) indicates that 15 snapshots were made. The length of the observation is unclear from available information.
The study, funded through the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services, is being conducted by Abt Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University’s Joseph Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.
Population Assessed
The National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families is a nonexperimental, longitudinal 5-year research effort in 25 communities within 17 states. “Information for the study is collected at three levels, with nested samples of communities within States and families and providers within communities. The first level is a sample of 25 communities in 17 States. The communities were selected to be a nationally representative sample of counties with child poverty rates above 14 percent, but these communities are not intended to be nationally representative of all 50 states” (Department of Health and Human Services, 2003).
At the family level, various samples were created to meet the needs of specific research questions. The sample in which this particular measure was used was a sample of 650 low-income families who used family child care. These 650 families were selected from the total study sample (2,500 families from 25 communities) based on their use of family child care and having a child between the ages of 1 and 9. The total study sample was stratified by subsidy status and age of child. The sample considered here consisted of families who were all receiving subsidies, a group of 325 families with children between the ages of 1 and 5 and 325 with children between the ages of 6 and 9 (Department of Health and Human Services, 2000).
Periodicity
This information is not publicly available.
Subscales/Components
This information is not publicly available.
Procedures for Administration
Items relevant to behavior problems are included within the Child-Focused Observation, and tap pro- and antisocial behaviors. Observers are required to note whether specific behaviors occurred during the observation. It appears that there were a total of 15 observations, though the length of each is not included in the information made available.
Psychometrics/Data Quality
This information is not publicly available.
Languages Available
This information is not publicly available.
Items Included
Observers are to note whether specific behaviors were exhibited by the focal child during each observation. For each observation, one of seven categorical descriptions is chosen to indicate the behavior of the child within that period.
- No prosocial or antisocial.
- Prosocial to peers.
- Prosocial to adult.
- Prosocial to peers and adult.
- Antisocial to peers.
- Antisocial to adult.
- Antisocial to peers and adult.
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