Linking Quantity and Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care to Children’s Socio-Emotional Adjustment: A German Cross-Sectional Study

ABSTRACT

This study examined how quantity and quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) are related to the socio-emotional adjustment of children born in Germany (30–48 months old, N = 395). Previous research focused on a small set of ECEC features, used broad measures, and yielded inconclusive results. We assessed ECEC quantity (age at entry, hours per week), process quality (CLASS Pre-K), structural quality (child-teacher ratio), and classroom composition (percentage of immigrant children). Controlling for child, family, and teacher characteristics, we tested main and interaction effects in regression analyses. Research Findings: More hours per week predicted lower adjustment only on specific indicators (hyperactivity, conduct problems) and only in classrooms with a high percentage of immigrant children or a high child-teacher ratio. In addition, a higher child-teacher ratio predicted more conduct problems, but only for children who entered ECEC at a very young age. Process quality did not predict adjustment. Practice or policy: In sum, this implies that German ECEC does not pose a major risk for children’s socio-emotional adjustment, as only certain aspects of quantity and structural quality are linked to very specific socio-emotional outcomes under very specific circumstances.

Acknowledgments

The research project SEIKA-NRW was funded by the Ministry for Children, Families, Refugees and Integration (MKFFI) of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. We would like to thank all participating families and child-care centers as well as our research partners from the German Youth Institute (DJI) and the research network DJI/TU Dortmund for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry for Children, Families, Refugees and Integration (MKFFI) of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.