The Impact of Program Structure on Cortisol Patterning in Children Attending Out-of-Home Child Care
Publication Date
Winter 2016
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology
Keywords
Child care, Cortisol, Stress, Program structure
Abstract
Full-day center-based child care has repeatedly been associated with rising levels of cortisol, a hormone that helps the body manage challenge, across the day at child care. This article presents findings from two studies examining the relationship between child care program structure (number of days per week, and hours per day) and cortisol production across the day. Study 1 presents findings comparing cortisol production in 3- to 5-year-old children enrolled in either full-day (N = 55) or half-day (N = 63) Head-Start-funded programs. Study 2 presents findings comparing young children enrolled in either full-day full-time (5 days per week; N = 37) or full-day part-time (2–3days/week; N = 41) primarily tuition-funded programs. Using multilevel modeling and controlling for a number of child factors, attending full-day, full-time programs (as compared to either half-day or part-time programs) was associated with increased cortisol production across the day on child care and home days. Implications for early childhood educators are discussed.
Copyright Date
10-24-2015
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by Elsevier Inc. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as:
Lumian, D. S., Dmitrieva, J., Mendoza, M. M., Badanes, L. S., & Watamura, S. E. (2016). The impact of program structure on cortisol patterning in children attending out-of-home child care. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 34, 92-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.09.004
Accepted Manuscript is openly available through the "Link to Full Text" button.
The published Version of Record is available at libraries through Compass or Worldcat.
Rights Holder
Elsevier Inc.
Provenance
Received from CHORUS
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
12 pgs
File Size
763 KB
Publication Title
Early Childhood Research Quarterly
Volume
34
First Page
92
Last Page
103
ISSN
1873-7706
PubMed ID
26568654
Recommended Citation
Lumian, D. S., Dmitrieva, J., Mendoza, M. M., Badanes, L. S., & Watamura, S. E. (2016). The impact of program structure on cortisol patterning in children attending out-of-home child care. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 34, 92-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.09.004