Quality of center day care and attunement between parents and caregivers: center day care in cross-national perspective.

ABSTRACT

In a sample of 43 Dutch infants and toddlers (mean age = 1.7 years), the quality of care at day-care centers was assessed and compared with similar quality ratings in other European and North American countries. It was hypothesized that formal characteristics of care settings and caregivers as well as attunement between caregivers and parents would be associated with quality of care. Quality of center care was assessed with the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (T. Harms & R. M. Clifford, 1980), the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (T. Harms, D. Cryer, & R. M. Clifford, 1990), and the Caregiver Interaction Scale (J. Arnett, 1989). The children's interactions with both their mothers and their fathers at home were rated with several sensitivity scales. Caregivers and parents also completed questionnaires about childrearing attitudes and attunement. The results showed that the quality of center care in the Netherlands was rather good compared with that of other European and North American countries. Better quality of center care was associated with older caregivers who had less professional education, fewer years of experience, and who worked fewer hours per week. Communication and attunement between caregivers and parents did not appear to be important for quality of care.