# THE NICHD STUDY OF EARLY CHILD CARE

> **NIH NIH U10** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 1994 · $725,524

## Abstract

The objective of the proposed research is to investigate the
effects of nonparental infant day care on socio-emotional and
cognitive development in infants and preschoolers.  This will
entail a prospective longitudinal study of 220 mothers and their
firstborn children, beginning shortly after the child's birth and
continuing until the child is 42 months of age.  Mothers will be
interviewed 2 to 6 weeks postpartum; mothers and children will be
seen again when the child is 3, 15, 18, 24, 36, and 42 months of
age.  Information about the child's nonparental care will be
collected every 6 months.  Because of the significance of
nonparental infant care for the development of secure mother-infant
relationships, concepts from attachment theory will be used to
guide the investigation.

A framework is presented in which to consider the contributions of
variables often associated with nonparental care.  These include
(1) differences in employed and nonemployed mothers' attitudes
toward separation  and  attachment, views of their infants, and
life circumstances, (2) differences in employed and nonemployed
mother's interactions with their infants, and (3) specific features
of the child's experience in nonparental care.  Maternal life
circumstances to be examined include role preference and role
congruence, social support, stress, maternal coping and marital
adjustment.

Not only will the separate contributions of each of these variables
be considered, but also to be assessed are how these variables
operate in combination and over time to influence child
developmental outcome.  In addition, special attention will be
given to the developmental timing of the mother's return to
employment as it might moderate the effects of nonparental care.

This information will be useful to individual families, child care
professionals, developmental psychologists, and public policy
planners in planning nonparental day care for infants.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2199575
- **Project number:** 3U10HD025455-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **SAM.gov UEI:** QD4MGHFDJKU1
- **Principal Investigator:** MARSHA WEINRAUB
- **Activity code:** U10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $725,524
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1989-05-01 → 1995-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2199575

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2199575, THE NICHD STUDY OF EARLY CHILD CARE (3U10HD025455-05S1). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2199575. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*