L.W.C. Tavecchio

Child Care in The Netherlands: Trends in Quality Over the Years 1995-2005

The authors assessed the quality of child care in a representative national sample of 42 child-care centers in the Netherlands and compared it with the quality of care that researchers have found using similar samples in 1995 (M. H. van IJzendoorn, L. W. C. Tavecchio, G. J. J. M. Stams, M. J. E. Verhoeven, & E. J. Reiling, 1998) and 2001 (M. J. J. M. Gevers Deynoot-Schaub & J. M. A. Riksen-Walraven, 2005). In the present study, results showed a low level of overall process quality for the 2005 sample, measured by the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (T. Harms, D. Cryer, & R. M. Clifford, 2003) and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (T. Harms, R. M. Clifford, & D. Cryer, 1998). The present authors found a significant decline in process quality in comparison with the 1995 and 2001 findings. They concluded that, from an international perspective, the Netherlands has lost its leading position in child-care quality compared with that from 10 years ago.

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

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 childrens 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.

Students’ Perception of the Moral Atmosphere in Secondary School and the Relationship Between Moral Competence and Moral Atmosphere

Abstract This study of students’ perceptions of the moral atmosphere in secondary schools was mainly inspired by the Just Community theory of Power, Higgins and Kohlberg (1989). The concepts they used in their intervention studies of schools developing into a Just Community were operationalised through a paper‐and‐pencil instrument for the measurement of students’ perception of the moral atmosphere in school. To assess the reliability, validity and the power of the instrument a study was carried out in which 1553 students from 32 Dutch secondary schools participated. The schools were selected from among four types of schools varying in educational level: (1) junior vocational secondary education, (2) intermediate secondary education, (3) university preparatory and higher secondary education and (4) schools that were a mixture of intermediate secondary education, and university preparatory and higher secondary education. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences between schools and school types...

The relation of flexible child care to quality of center day care and children's socio-emotional functioning: A survey and observational study

In two studies in daycare centers, we investigated a newly developed index for flexible child care describing parents’ use of evening care and flexible attendance scheduling for their child. We examined the relation between this index together with stability in care, mother’s stress and the child’s temperament on the one hand, and quality of caregivers’ behavior and a child’s socio-emotional functioning in day care on the other. In Study I, the mothers and caregivers of 186 children (aged 6–30 months) participated in a survey. In Study II, approximately 18 months later, 52 children from Study I were observed in their daycare setting. Children showed more well-being in day care when they had few parallel care arrangements, and when there was more daily stability in staffing and grouping patterns. Unexpectedly, caregivers in groups with more stability in staffing and grouping patterns, showed less positive caregiving behavior. When staff turnover rate was higher, positive caregiving behavior was lower. Finally, children in more flexible child care showed more non-compliance.

Measuring the Interactive Skills of Caregivers in Child Care Centers: Development and Validation of the Caregiver Interaction Profile Scales

Research Findings: High-quality caregiver–child interactions constitute the core of high-quality child care for young children. This article describes the background and development of the Caregiver Interaction Profile (CIP) scales to rate 6 key skills of caregivers for interacting with 0- to 4-year-old children in child care centers: sensitive responsiveness, respect for autonomy, structuring and limit setting, verbal communication, developmental stimulation, and fostering positive peer interactions. Each interactive skill is rated on a 7-point scale based on observation of video-recorded caregiver–child interactions. Together, the 6 scale scores constitute an Interaction Profile for individual caregivers that may serve as a starting point for education and training to improve the quality of caregiver–child interactions. This article also presents the results of a 1st study with the CIP scales, in a sample of 145 caregivers from 75 child care groups in 47 child care centers in The Netherlands. Practice or Policy: Results provide promising preliminary evidence supporting the reliability and validity of the CIP scales.

Dependent Attachment: B-4 Children in the Strange Situation

Over the past 15 years the status of the B4 category in Ainsworths classification system for the Strange Situation has remained unclear, especially as regards the question whether it belongs to the B or the C category. As 22 of a sample of 136 Dutch children were classified as B4, their behavior could be analysed in some detail. This resulted in a characterization of B4-children whom we propose to call ‘dependency attached’. The borderline status or hybrid character of the group was confirmed as the B4-children have ‘many reactions similar to those of C-children but differ from them in showing less resistant behavior.

The development of attachment theory as a Lakatosian research program : philosophical and methodological aspects

In this chapter, we analyze the development of attachment theory from a Lakatosian perspective. It is argued that attachment theory should be regarded as a research program, developing through the stages “formulation”, “construction”, and “saturation”. At least two anomalies threaten to block further progress of the attachment research program: The problem of the stability of attachment, and the problem of cross-cultural variability of attachment qualities. After suggesting a solution to the latter problem, we discuss the monotropy-thesis as a “degenerative problem shift”. Studying attachment in social networks should be considered a viable alternative.

Stability of attachment across time and context in a Dutch sample.

Children were observed twice in Ainsworths Strange Situation to measure the stability of their attachment relationship with the caregiver across 1 mo. To get some insight into the ecological validity of the procedure, the children were randomly divided over four sets of conditions: the home-home, home-lab, lab-home, and lab-lab conditions. The test-retest reliability of the interactive scores was high as was the stability of the classifications. The results of the Strange Situation at home and in the laboratory remain non-comparable.

Attachment to soft objects : Its relationship with attachment to the mother and with thumbsucking

In this article, two investigations into the attachments of Dutch children to objects like cuddlies and blankets are reported upon. In the first study (n=140), the hypothesis of Spock that attachment to objects and thumbsucking are strongly related is tested. This hypothesis proved only partially to be correct. In the second study, (n=66) Ainsworths hypothesis that attachment to objects is especially prevalent among securely attached children, is tested. The results of the Strange Situation point out that anxiously and securely attached children do not differ in their attachments to objects. Sex differences in this regard will also be discussed.

How B is B4? Attachment and security of Dutch children in Ainsworth's Strange Situation and at home.

Ainsworths Strange Situation is a procedure for determining the quality of the attachment between caregivers and young children. This procedure, developed in the United States, has here been applied to a Dutch sample of 66 mother-child pairs. In doing so, the stability, reliability, and validity of the instrument have also been investigated. The instrument was validated by means of a questionnaire for the mothers concerning the feelings of (in-)security their children experience in everyday separations.