The most far-reaching and comprehensive study to date has found that using child care does not affect infants’ trust in their mothers.
The results, announced Saturday at a conference in Providence, R.I., run counter to several previous studies that seemed to show that infants in child care were slightly more likely to have an insecure relationship with their mothers than those whose mothers stayed at home with them.
The earlier research had alarmed some experts and parents because other studies indicate that troubled bonds between infants and mothers could signal emotional and behavioral problems later.
The new study was designed to try to address one of the most emotionally charged issues in society today: Does a mother put her child at risk by working outside the home?
It reported that the sense of trust felt by 15-month-old children in their mothers was not affected by whether or not the children were in day care, how many hours they spent there, the age they entered day care, the quality or type of care or how many times care arrangements were changed.
Instead, what affected that trust was a mother’s sensitivity and responsiveness to her child.
“Part of what elicited this study was real worries that child care in and of itself was unhealthy,” said Dr. Deborah Lowe Vandell, one of the 25 researchers on the project, which was sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health.
“I think that is the wrong analysis. One message from the study is that if the quality of the interaction with the mother is sensitive, then the child is likely to develop a secure relationship with her. I’m sure that will be reassuring to many mothers and families.”
But the researchers cautioned that the study found some aspects of child care appeared to pose risks for certain vulnerable children. When a mother does not handle her child sensitively, the likelihood of a troubled mother-child bond can be increased by child care that is of poor quality, changes several times or extends more than 10 hours a week.
The ongoing study, which brought together researchers who have often clashed about the risks of child care, has been following more than 1,300 families nationwide since 1991.
Compared with previous studies, this one includes more diverse families and more types of child care. It has observed children at home as well as in child care and laboratories, following children from birth through age 7.
Researchers emphasize that many questions remain unanswered, and they must await later stages of the project to see if the links described Saturday last.
What seem to be risks of child care now could prove unimportant as children grow, or new risks could surface.
Later stages of the study will examine children’s bonds to their mothers at 3 years old, and their cognitive and language development, physical development, health, behavior and relationships with peers.
