Child-Care Provider Attachments in Child Care Centers as related to Child Stress Regulation

There is no doubt that children develop attachments to care providers in public child care centers. Although facets of these relationships might differ from those to mothers, the basic functions of both relationships are similar. That is, the child may develop expectations for support in regulating and balancing his stress system. The present paper therefore questioned how effectively care provider–child attachments influence the stress system of n=104 children (aged 10 to 36 months). Care provider–child attachments were assessed using the Attachment-Q Sort two weeks (T1) and four months (T2) after children’s first experiences in the center, which the mother had entered together with the child and had remained there. Child stress reactivity was illustrated by daily profiles of saliva cortisol which were obtained throughout a day based on four saliva samples and was represented by the slope of the profile, with greater slopes suggesting high stress reactivity. These profiles were received two weeks (T1) and four months (T2) after entry and served as a general baseline two weeks before entry (T0). Findings suggest that younger (≤ 24 months) as opposed to older children (> 24 months) developed higher AQS-scores to the care providers. In addition, cortisol profiles changed over time with younger children showing more critical changes. That is, slopes in younger compared to older children remained high until T2 suggesting high stress processing in young children. Interestingly, higher AQS-scores were not related to lower slopes at T1, but to those at T2. This might mean that child initial stress reactivity and accompanying behaviors only work in the long run and might trigger care providers’ attention, which in turn intensifies the care. Intensified care may then lead to both a better counterbalance of child stress system, as well as a better attachment towards the care provider.