Sandra Wood Scarr (1936-2021)

Memorializes Sandra Wood Scarr (1936-2021). Developmental psychologist Sandra Scarr was born on August 8, 1936. After earning her AB from Vassar College in 1958 and her doctorate in psychology and social relations from Harvard University in 1965, she began her career as a developmental psychologist whose research informed fundamental questions about experience and development. Scarr used a variety of methods to assess experience and development, including studies of early childhood intervention, childcare effects, and genetic and environmental influences using behavior genetics studies with adopted children and adolescents. In several theoretical papers, she argued that genes and environments were correlated, thereby challenging all research on parent-child socialization. In her childcare studies, she and her colleagues controlled for family selection effects, a first at the time, and demonstrated small to moderate reliable effects on cognitive and social outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Facts, Fantasies and the Future of Child Care in the United States

Psychologists in both family practice and developmental research may be puzzled about the scientific status of research on child care as it affects children, parents, and caregivers. What conclusions can be reached about mothers in the labor force, about the advisability of various child care arrangements, about their short and long-term consequences, and what advice do we as psychologists have to offer in the public interest to parents of infants and young children? In this article, we review research on child care, and discuss its implications for the nation and for psychology as a research enterprise and a helping profession.

Paternal Separation Anxiety: Relationships With Parenting Stress, Child-Rearing Attitudes, and Maternal Anxieties

Employed mothers of young children worry about the effects of daily separation on their children Do fathers have similar anxieties? Because fathers are expected to leave the home and go to work, psychologists have not studied fathers' concerns about daily separation from their babies and preschool children In this study, we investigated fathers' and mothers' separation anxiety and the relationships between separation anxiety and family and child-care characteristics The sample included 589 married couples from a larger study of families and center-based child care Data were collected through in-home and center visits Fathers and mothers had similar levels of Separation Anxiety However, fathers reported slightly higher Concern for the Child, and mothers reported higher Employment Concerns Fathers' perceptions of their wives' anxieties were higher by half a standard deviation compared with mothers' reports Fathers' and mothers self-reported separation anxieties were modestly correlated Paternal separation anxiety was most strongly associated with fathers' perceptions of their wives' separation concerns, not with mothers' reported anxieties, which suggested ego defensiveness and projection

Gene-environment interaction between DRD4 7-repeat VNTR and early child-care experiences predicts self-regulation abilities in prekindergarten

Intervention studies indicate that children's early child-care experiences can be leveraged to foster their development of effective self-regulation skills. It is less clear whether typical child-care experiences play a similar role. In addition, evidence suggests that children with a common variant of the DRD4 gene (48-bp VNTR, 7-repeat) may be more sensitive to their experiences than those without this variant. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we considered the degree to which children's early child-care experiences-quantity, quality, and type-were associated with their attention and self-regulation abilities in prekindergarten, and, in particular, whether these relations were conditional on DRD4 genotype. G × E interactions were evident across multiple neuropsychological and observational measures of children's attention and self-regulation abilities. Across most outcome measures, DRD4 7+ children spending fewer hours in child care showed more effective attention/self-regulation abilities. For those without a copy of the DRD4 7-repeat allele, such associations were typically null. The results for child-care quality and type indicated no interactions with genotype; the main-effect associations were somewhat inconsistent.

Health status, sexual and drug risk, and psychosocial factors relevant to postrelease planning for HIV+ prisoners

The prevalence of HIV infection among male prison inmates is significantly higher than in the U.S. population. Adequate planning to ensure continued medication adherence and continuity of care after release is important for this population. This study describes the prerelease characteristics of 162 incarcerated HIV-positive men (40 from jails and 122 from prisons). The results include a demographic description of the sample and the participants' sexual risk behaviors, substance use, health status and HIV medication adherence, health care utilization, mental health, and family and social support. The results highlight a potentially high level of need for services and low levels of support and social connectedness. Postrelease planning should include support for improving HIV medication adherence as well as reducing both sexual and injection drug-related transmission risk for these individuals.

An ecosystem-based intervention to reduce HIV transmission risk and increase medication adherence among inmates being released to the community

HIV+ inmates reentering their communities are at increased risk for poor health outcomes and for transmitting HIV. This article reports on a randomized trial comparing an ecosystem-based intervention and an individually focused intervention for reducing HIV transmission risk and improving medication adherence. Reincarceration was considered as a secondary variable. Both groups decreased sexual risk behavior over the 12-month follow-up period. Unexpectedly, the ecosystem intervention group was less likely to be taking medication or to be adherent and more likely to have been reincarcerated. Failure to demonstrate a significant advantage of the ecosystem intervention may have resulted from the difficulty of engaging family and other ecosystem members in the intervention. Implications for developing and applying interventions for this population are discussed.

Gene-environment interaction between dopamine receptor D4 7-repeat polymorphism and early maternal sensitivity predicts inattention trajectories across middle childhood

Evidence suggests that the 7-repeat variant of a 48 base pair variable number tandem repeat polymorphism in the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene may be associated with the development of attention problems. A parallel literature suggests that genes linked to dopaminergic functioning may be associated with differential sensitivity to context, such that the direction of the genetic effect is hypothesized to vary across environmental experience. Guided by these literatures, we used data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to consider (a) whether individual differences in children's inattention problems across middle childhood are predicted by gene-environment interactions between the DRD4 gene 7-repeat polymorphism and children's experiences of maternal sensitivity across infancy and early childhood and (b) the degree to which such interactions are consistent with the differential-sensitivity model. Largely consistent with the hypothesized model, gene-environment interactions indicated that, in the context of insensitive early maternal care, the DRD4 7-repeat polymorphism was associated with higher levels of inattention. Although somewhat less consistently, there was also evidence that, in the context of highly sensitive care, the 7-repeat polymorphism was associated with lower levels of inattention. Overall, the magnitude of the absolute genetic effect increased over time, as children's inattention trajectories diverged.

Risks and Outcomes Associated with Disorganized/Controlling Patterns of Attachment at Age Three in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

Disorganized/controlling attachment in preschool has been found to be associated with maternal and child maladjustment, making it of keen interest in the study of psychopathology. Additional work is needed, however, to better understand disorganized/controlling attachment occurring as early as age three. The primary aims of this study were to evaluate risk factors and outcomes associated with disorganized/controlling behavior at age three and to evaluate the risk factors and outcomes differentiating the four subtypes of disorganized/controlling attachment. Analyses were conducted with the first two phases of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a prospective study of 1,364 children from birth. At 36 months of age, across the attachment-relevant domains of maternal well-being, mother-child interactions, and child social adaptation, the disorganized/controlling group evidenced the most maladaptive patterns in comparison to both secure and insecure-organized groups. At 54 months of age, the disorganized/controlling group displayed the highest levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, as rated by mothers and teachers, and the lowest quality relationships with teachers. Significant differences found among the disorganized/controlling subtypes indicated that the behaviorally disorganized and controlling-punitive subtypes had more maladaptive patterns across variables than did the controlling-caregiving and controlling-mixed subtypes.

Testing a series of causal propositions relating time in child care to children's externalizing behavior

Prior research has documented associations between hours in child care and children's externalizing behavior. A series of longitudinal analyses were conducted to address 5 propositions, each testing the hypothesis that child care hours causes externalizing behavior. Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were used in this investigation because they include repeated measures of child care experiences, externalizing behavior, and family characteristics. There were 3 main findings. First, the evidence linking child care hours with externalizing behavior was equivocal in that results varied across model specifications. Second, the association between child care hours and externalizing behavior was not due to a child effect. Third, child care quality and proportion of time spent with a large group of peers moderated the effects of child care hours on externalizing behavior. The number of hours spent in child care was more strongly related to externalizing behavior when children were in low-quality child care and when children spent a greater proportion of time with a large group of peers. The magnitude of associations between child care hours and externalizing behavior was modest. Implications are that parents and policymakers must take into account that externalizing behavior is predicted from a constellation of variables in multiple contexts.

Bringing it home: design and implementation of an HIV/STD intervention for women visiting incarcerated men

Incarceration has been identified as a key variable to be addressed in halting the HIV epidemic among African Americans. Our research team has been conducting and evaluating HIV prevention interventions for prisoners and their families since the early 1990s, including interventions specifically tailored to the needs of women with incarcerated partners. This article describes the development and implementation of a multicomponent HIV prevention intervention for women with incarcerated partners, and presents qualitative data from women who participated as peer educators in this intervention. Women with incarcerated partners reported low rates of condom use and HIV testing combined with a lack of information about prison-related HIV risks. We found that peer education is a feasible intervention to reach women with incarcerated partners and that flexibility and inclusiveness are important factors in designing intervention programs for this population.

Quality Child Care Supports the Achievement of Low-Income Children: Direct and Indirect Pathways Through Caregiving and the Home Environment

Existing studies of child care have not been able to determine whether higher quality child care protects children from the effects of poverty, whether poverty and lower quality child care operate as dual risk factors, or whether both are true. The objective of the current study was to test two pathways through which child care may serve as a naturally occurring intervention for low-income children: a direct pathway through child care quality to child outcomes, and an indirect pathway through improvements in the home environment. Children were observed in their homes and child care settings at 6, 15, 24, and 36 months. An interaction between family income-to-needs ratio and child care quality predicted School Readiness, Receptive Language, and Expressive Language, as well as improvements in the home environment. Children from low-income families profited from observed learning supports in the form of sensitive care and stimulation of cognitive development, and their parents profited from unobserved informal and formal parent supports. Policy implications are discussed.

Are There Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care?

Effects of early child care on children's functioning from 4(1/2) years through the end of 6th grade (M age=12.0 years) were examined in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n=1,364). The results indicated that although parenting was a stronger and more consistent predictor of children's development than early child-care experience, higher quality care predicted higher vocabulary scores and more exposure to center care predicted more teacher-reported externalizing problems. Discussion focuses on mechanisms responsible for these effects, the potential collective consequences of small child-care effects, and the importance of the ongoing follow-up at age 15.

Within-child associations between family income and externalizing and internalizing problems

Within-child associations between family income and child externalizing and internalizing problems were examined using longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (2004a, 2004b; N=1,132). Variations in income effects were estimated as a function of whether families were poor, whether mothers were partnered, and the number of hours mothers and their partners were employed. On average, children had fewer externalizing problems during times when their families' incomes were relatively high than during times when their families' incomes were relatively low; the estimated benefits of increased income were greatest for children who were chronically poor. For both externalizing and internalizing problems, income was most strongly associated with problems when chronically poor children's mothers were partnered and employed.

Gene–environment processes in task persistence

Task persistence is a construct that appears to have broad influence on child competence generally, from self regulation in carrying out tasks, to cognitive performance. In a recent developmental study of task persistence, Deater-Deckard and colleagues report that heritability of task persistence increased over time, whereas the contribution from the shared environment decreased during the transition from early to middle childhood. Two explanations for the developmental shift are discussed here: a choice hypothesis and a schooling hypothesis. An important next step lies in documenting gene-environment processes directly via hybrid research models, combining work in molecular biology with longitudinal observations of behavior.

"You cannot do nothing in this damn place": sex and intimacy among couples with an incarcerated male partner

In an effort to deepen our understanding of how circumstances of forced separation and the interdiction of physical contact affect women's sexual behavior, we investigated the development and maintenance of heterosexual couples' intimacy when the male partner is incarcerated. As HIV-prevention scientists who work with women visiting men at a California state prison, we recognize that correctional control extends to these women's bodies, both when they are within the facility's walls visiting their mates and when they are at home striving to remain connected to absent men. This paper analyzes the impact of a peculiar public "place", a penitentiary, on couples' romantic and sexual interactions, drawing out the implications of imprisonment for relationship decision making, sexual health, and HIV risk. Using qualitative interviews with 20 women who visit their incarcerated partners and 13 correctional officers who interact with prison visitors, we examined how institutional constraints such as the regulation of women's apparel, the prohibition of physical contact, and the lack of forums for privacy result in couples forging alternative "spaces" in which their relationships occur. We describe how romantic scripts, the build-up of sexual tension during the incarceration period, and conditions of parole promote unprotected sexual intercourse and other HIV/STD risk behavior following release from prison.

Implications of family income dynamics for women's depressive symptoms during the first 3 years after childbirth

OBJECTIVES

We examined within-person associations between changes in family income and women's depressive symptoms during the first 3 years after childbirth.

METHODS

Data were analyzed for 1351 women (mean baseline age = 28.13 years) who participated in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Nineteen percent of these women belonged to an ethnic minority, and 35% were poor at some time during the study.

RESULTS

Changes in income and poverty status were significantly associated with changes in depressive symptoms. Effects were greatest for chronically poor women and for women who perceived fewer costs associated with their employment.

CONCLUSIONS

Given that women head most poor households in the United States, our findings indicate that reductions in poverty would have mental health benefits for women and families.

Testing a maternal attachment model of behavior problems in early childhood

BACKGROUND

The purpose of the present study was to test a maternal attachment model of behavior problems in early childhood using phase I data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, a prospective study of 1,364 children from birth through sixth grade.

METHODS

Mothers' and caregivers' ratings of children's internalizing and externalizing problems at age three were regressed separately on a set of fifteen predictors that included security and disorganization scores from 15, 24, and 36 months using hierarchical and logistical modeling.

RESULTS

There were three main findings. First, Q-set mother-child attachment security, based on home observations at 24 months, provided the best evidence that attachment was associated with behavior problems, especially above-average levels of problems. Second, insecurity in the 36-month modified Strange Situation predicted mothers' and caregivers' ratings of internalizing problems for boys and girls as well as their ratings of externalizing problems for boys. Third, maternal depressive symptoms predicted mothers' ratings of internalizing and externalizing problems.

CONCLUSIONS

There are meaningful associations between attachment insecurity and behavior problems as assessed not only by mothers but also by caregivers.

Change in family income-to-needs matters more for children with less

Hierarchical linear modeling was used to model the dynamics of family income-to-needs for participants of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care (N = 1,364) from the time that children were 1 through 36 months of age. Associations between change in income-to-needs and 36-month child outcomes (i.e., school readiness, receptive language, expressive language, positive social behavior, and behavior problems) were examined. Although change in income-to-needs proved to be of little importance for children from nonpoor families, it proved to be of great importance for children from poor families. For children in poverty, decreases in income-to-needs were associated with worse outcomes and increases were associated with better outcomes. In fact, when children from poor families experienced increases in income-to-needs that were at least 1 SD above the mean change for poor families, they displayed outcomes similar to their nonpoor peers. The practical importance and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Effects of parental separation and divorce on very young children

Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were analyzed to explore effects of marital separation on children in the first 3 years of life. The sample included 73 never-married mothers and 97 separated mothers; a comparison group of 170 was conditionally randomly selected from the 2-parent families. Children in 2-parent families performed better than children in 1-parent families on assessments of cognitive and social abilities, problem behavior, attachment security, and behavior with mother. However, controlling for mothers' education and family income reduced these differences, and associations with separated-intact marital status were nonsignificant (the effect size was .01). Thus, children's psychological development was not affected by parental separation per se; it was related to mothers' income, education, ethnicity, child-rearing beliefs, depressive symptoms, and behavior.

Effect size, practical importance, and social policy for children

Real decisions for real children are influenced by the papers developmentalists write, regardless of whether we ever intended our papers to be used in the policy arena. Yet most social scientists seldom analyze data in ways that are most useful to policymakers. The primary purpose of this paper is to share three ideas concerning how to evaluate the practical importance of a finding or set of findings. First, for research to be most useful not only in the policy arena but also more generally, significance tests need to be accompanied by effect size estimates. The practical importance of an effect size depends on the scientific context (i.e., measurement, design, and method) as well as the empirical literature context. Second, researchers need to use all existing data when weighing in on a policy debate; here, meta-analyses are particularly useful. Finally, researchers need to be careful about embracing null or small findings, because effects may well be small due to measurement problems alone, particularly early in the history of a research domain.

Growing up and growing apart: a developmental meta-analysis of twin studies

Developmental change in twin similarity was examined with age contrasts in a meta-analysis of twin studies from 1967 through 1985. Intraclass rs were coded from 103 papers that included data for monozygotic or dizygotic twins, or for both, on personality or intelligence variables. Analyses indicated that there was a general tendency for some intraclass rs to decrease with age. In other words, as twins grow up, they grow apart. There were also developmental differences associated with components of variance for heritability, the shared environment, and the nonshared environment. Mechanisms through which the nonshared environment may operate are discussed.

How people make their own environments: a theory of genotype greater than environment effects

We propose a theory of development in which experience is directed by genotypes. Genotypic differences are proposed to affect phenotypic differences, both directly and through experience, via 3 kinds of genotype leads to environment effects: a passive kind, through environments provided by biologically related parents; an evocative kind, through responses elicited by individuals from others; and an active kind, through the selection of different environments by different people. The theory adapts the 3 kinds of genotype-environment correlations proposed by Plomin, DeFries, and Loehlin in a developmental model that is used to explain results from studies of deprivation, intervention, twins, and families.