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Non-Maternal Care Linked to Reduced Physical Aggression in Children of Mothers with Less Education |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Among children of mothers with low education levels, those who receive regular care from other adults during preschool years may be less likely to have problems with physical aggression, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Mothers were interviewed yearly from the time the children were age 5 months to 60 months, answering questions about family, parent and child characteristics and behaviors. This included details about non-maternal care services, provided to care for a child, usually while the mother is working. Children of mothers who graduated from high school were at lower risk of developing physical aggression problems, and non-maternal care had no additional effect on their behavior. "In summary, we provide robust evidence that the provision of non-maternal care services to children of mothers with low levels of education could substantially reduce their risk of chronic physical aggression, and that the protective impact is more important if children begin to receive these services before age 9 months," the authors conclude. "Because the children most likely to benefit from non-maternal care services are those less likely to receive them, universal programs involving the provision of non-maternal care should include special measures encouraging the use of non-maternal care services among high-risk families."
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