McKinney, R., DiLalla, L.F., Jones, S. (1999). Family and daycare experiences predict aggressive and prosocial behaviors. Poster presented to the Society for Research on Child Development, April, Albuquerque, NM.

Studies of the effects of daycare experiences on children’s externalizing problem behaviors have been equivocal. It is imperative to identify any particulars of daycare settings that may increase the likelihood that children will behave in socially appropriate ways. The focus of the proposed project was on the ways that family environment and daycare quality may interact to predict aggressive responses to social cues of aggression. 75 5-and 6-year-old boys were tested in the Spring or Summer before beginning kindergarten. 60 of the boys (80 %) currently were in daycare settings. The boys viewed pictorial vignettes that displayed social interactions and were asked what the child in the vignettes would say next, with their responses coded as aggressive, prosocial, or withdrawn. Parents completed questionnaires, including the Colorado Childhood Temperament Inventory (CCTI; Rowe & Plomin, 1977), the Family Climate Inventory, and the History of Daycare Quality. The Teacher Checklist of Peer Relationships (Dodge, 1986) and a release form signed by the parents were mailed to the daycare teachers, who returned the questionnaire by mail. A Preschool Environment Checklist composite variable of three items predicted aggression and prosocial responses to the social vignettes in the lab. Neither daycare quality, as measured by parent ratings of quality and by teacher/child ratio, nor daycare attendance were related to children’s aggressive or prosocial behaviors in the daycare or the lab. Longitudinal assessment of whether fighting in the home and daycare aggressive/prosocial behaviors are predictive of behavioral problems in kindergarten will be assessed over the following year.