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Original Article

The Protective Role of Childcare Quality for Behavioral Adjustment in 3- to 5-Year-Old Children

Published Online:June 08, 2017https://doi.org/10.1026/0049-8637/a000162

Abstract

Abstract. This study examined the role of childcare process quality regarding the relation between family risks and preschoolers’ social–emotional problems. The study included 24 childcare centers with 42 groups in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The 162 children in the sample were aged 3 – 5 years. Parents and teachers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-Deu). Eight family risk factors were subsumed into a cumulative risk index. Childcare process quality was assessed by various observation instruments, for example, the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R) and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS–R). The calculated structural equation models show that high-quality teaching and interaction, and provisions for learning, can mitigate the negative effects of family risks on children’s internalizing problems. High process quality can provide the chance of considerable attention, encouragement, and new learning opportunities for children at risk; these high-quality centers thereby contribute to protective processes.


Die protektive Rolle pädagogischer Prozessqualität in Kindertageseinrichtungen: Zusammenhänge mit Verhaltensproblemen bei 3- bis 5–jährigen Kindern

Zusammenfassung. Ziel der Studie war es, die Rolle pädagogischer Prozessqualität in Bezug auf familiale Risiken und Verhaltensprobleme von 3- bis 5-jährigen Kindern zu untersuchen. Die Stichprobe bestand aus 162 Kindern aus 42 Gruppen in 24 Kindertageseinrichtungen der deutschsprachigen Schweiz. Zur Erfassung der familialen Risikobelastung wurden acht Risikofaktoren zu einem kumulativen Risikoindex zusammengefasst. Die pädagogische Prozessqualität wurde durch verschiedene Beobachtungsinstrumente erhoben, u. a. der Krippen- und Kindergarten-Skala (KRIPS-R, KES-R). Die Verhaltensprobleme der Kinder wurden über Einschätzungen der Eltern und pädagogischen Fachkräfte anhand des Fragebogens zu Stärken und Schwächen (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ-Deu) erfasst. Die Ergebnisse der berechneten Strukturgleichungsmodelle zeigen, dass eine hohe Interaktionsqualität und gute räumlich-materielle Ressourcen in Kindertageseinrichtungen die negativen Auswirkungen familialer Risiken auf internalisierende Verhaltensprobleme der Kinder abpuffern können. Eine hohe pädagogische Prozessqualität in Kindertageseinrichtungen kann zur Förderung von protektiven Prozessen bei Kindern mit familialen Belastungen beitragen.

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