Purpose
The purpose of this report is to describe behaviour and social competences in two-year-old children at daycare centres in the light of selected family circumstances, the abilities of the child, the size of the child group at the daycare centre and the age composition of the group. The report presents the initial results of the Barns sosiale utvikling (children’s social development) project, and in future reports the authors will carry out further analysis on the basis of the data collected for possible causal relationships.
Result
The study shows that the younger children are when they start in daycare, the more aggressive, refractory and norm-breaking behaviour they show at the daycare facility, and at the same time they show a higher degree of social competence. Another result of the study is that children in groups, in which the oldest child is three years old or younger, display a higher degree of refractory and norm-breaking behaviour as well as social competences compared to children in groups with children older than three years. The authors stress that the report does not demonstrate causal relationships regarding the daycare centre’s significance for behaviour and social competences.
Design
A total of 1,159 children from five municipalities in south-eastern Norway took part in this study. When they were about six months old their parents were interviewed regarding social and socio-economic conditions in the family as well as the children’s development. Around the time of the children’s second birthday, the pedagogical managers at the daycare facilities answered a questionnaire with a view to measuring the children’s behaviour and their social competences. Data was analysed using bivariate and multivariate analyses.
References
Zachrisson, H.D., Nærde, A., Janson, H. & Ogden, T. (2011). ”Atferd og sosial kompetanse i barnehagen hos 2-åringer sett i lys av barnehagefaktorer og tidlig utvikling”. Oslo: Atferdssenteret.
Financed by
Not disclosed