CENTER-BASED CARE, SELF-REGULATION, AND BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN SINGAPOREAN PRESCHOOLERS

Abstract

Different patterns of association between center-based childcare and children’s behavior problems have been found in different countries. This study extended previous research by examining the relationship between center-based childcare and children’s behavior problems in Singapore and investigated the possible mediating role of children’s self-regulation. Data were drawn from the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study (SG LEADS). Three- to six-year-old preschoolers (n = 2,369) and their caregivers took part in the study. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to address the research questions. The SEM results with full sample suggested that a greater number of months of care (i.e., duration of care) and a greater number of hours of care per week (i.e., intensity of care) were associated with more behavior problems. Multigroup SEM results suggested that the associations were only significant for the group with greater duration and intensity of center-based childcare and those associations were significantly mediated by self-regulation