Does the Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care Centers Mitigate the Risk of Externalizing Problems? A Genetic-Sensitive Study of Preschoolers in Germany

Köln Z Soziol https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-023-00885-4 ABHANDLUNGEN Does the Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care Centers Mitigate the Risk of Externalizing Problems? A Genetic-Sensitive Study of Preschoolers in Germany Bastian Mönkediek · Pia Schober · Martin Diewald Harald Eichhorn · C. Katharina Spiess · Received: 28 October 2021 / Accepted: 7 March 2023 © The Author(s) 2023 Abstract This paper examines the extent to which quality characteristics of early childhood education and care (ECEC) experienced at ages 4–6 influence externalizing problems at ages 6–8. Based on a random sample of 713 same-sex twins (55% female, 41% with a migration background) in 364 ECEC centers in Germany, the paper not only distinguishes between detailed ECEC quality characteristics but additionally investigates whether these characteristics affect the relevance of genetic and envi- Online Appendix: https://kzfss.uni-koeln.de/sites/kzfss/pdf/Moenkediek-et-al.pdf  B. Mönkediek · M. Diewald Faculty of Sociology, Bielefeld University Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany E-Mail: M. Diewald E-Mail: P. Schober Department of Sociology, University of Tübingen Wilhelmstraße 36, 72074 Tübingen, Germany E-Mail: H. Eichhorn Deutsches Jugendinstitut e. V. Nockherstr. 2, 81541 München, Germany E-Mail: C. K. Spiess Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) Wiesbaden, Germany Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Saarstraße 21, 55122 Mainz, Germany IZA 53113 Bonn, Germany E-Mail: K B. Mönkediek et al. ronmental influences on externalizing problem behavior. Results demonstrate that with educators’ further training and the child–staff ratio only a few specific ECEC quality indicators moderate the relevance of genetic and environmental influences. In particular, further training of educators reduces genetic contributions to externalizing problems in children. Although there was also evidence for gene–environment correlation owing to selection into ECEC centers with an unfavorable child–staff ratio, the findings suggest that improving educators’ training is the most promising way of counteracting externalizing problems. Keywords Germany · Behavioral problems · Childcare centers · Quality · Twin study Verringert die Qualität von frühkindlichen Bildungs- und Betreuungseinrichtungen das Risiko von Externalisierungsproblemen? Eine genetisch-sensitive Studie über Vorschulkinder in Deutschland Zusammenfassung In diesem Beitrag wird untersucht, inwieweit Qualitätsmerkmale der frühkindlichen Bildung und Betreuung (ECEC), die im Alter von 4–6 Jahren erfahren wurden, externalisierendes Problemverhalten im Alter von 6–8 Jahren beeinflussen. Auf der Grundlage einer Zufallsstichprobe von 713 gleichgeschlechtlichen Zwillingen (55 % weiblich, 41 % mit Migrationshintergrund) in 364 Kindertagesstätten in Deutschland wird nicht nur zwischen detaillierten Qualitätsmerkmalen der frühkindlichen Bildung und Betreuung unterschieden, sondern auch untersucht, ob diese Merkmale entweder das genetische Risiko oder die Bedeutung des sozialen Umfeldes für externalisierendes Problemverhalten beeinflussen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass mit der Fortbildung der Erzieherinnen und Erzieher und dem Kind-Personal-Verhältnis nur wenige spezifische ECEC-Qualitätsindikatoren die Relevanz von genetischen und Umwelteinflüsse moderieren. Insbesondere die Fortbildung von Erzieherinnen und Erziehern reduziert den genetischen Beitrag zu externalisierendem Problemverhalten bei Kindern. Obwohl es auch Hinweise auf eine Gen-UmweltKorrelation aufgrund einer Selektion in Kindertagesstätten mit ungünstigem Betreuungsverhältnis gibt, deuten die Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass eine Verbesserung der Erzieherausbildung der vielversprechendste Weg ist, externalisierendem Problemverhalten entgegenzuwirken. Schlüsselwörter Deutschland · Verhaltensauffälligkeiten · Kindertagesstätten · Qualität · Zwillingsstudie 1 Introduction Externalizing problems (EPs) in young children, usually understood as impulsive, disruptive, aggressive, anti-social, and overactive behavior (Hinshaw 1992), can have a long-standing detrimental effect on success in life, in particular on children’s later academic achievement and school career (e.g., Palmu et al. 2018). There is consistent evidence that genetic as well as environmental influences, such as the family K Does the Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care Centers Mitigate the Risk of... environment, contribute to EPs in young children (e.g., Tucker-Drob and Harden 2013). Genetic influences in particular have been shown to contribute to individual initial and continuing differences in EPs, whereas changes in initial differences in EP with age have been attributed mainly to age-specific environmental influences (e.g., Lewis and Plomin 2015; Hatoum et al. 2018). However, genes and environment do not work completely independently of one another. Environmental factors can compensate for or trigger genetic influences. Although compensation refers to an environmental setting that prevents expression of a genetic vulnerability, triggering refers to a setting with the opposite effects (Shanahan and Hofer 2005). Thus, at this point we can speak of a “genetic risk” for EPs, which can potentially be compensated for or even buffered by environments that work against this genetic risk (Leve et al. 2010). With the expansion of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, in almost all industrialized countries, ECEC services have increasingly become relevant for child development. Therefore, the question arises how far ECEC services are able to moderate the contributions of genetic influences as well as the contributions of other environments experienced by children, primarily household and family conditions, on EPs. Based on the observation that social experiences in ECEC centers can evoke differentiation in children’s externalizing behavior (McCartney et al. 2010), previous research (e.g., in the USA and the Netherlands) has investigated whether being enrolled in ECEC services moderates the contribution of genetic influences on problem behaviors. These studies indicated a greater contribution of genetic influences among children who attended ECEC centers than among those who did not. For children who did not attend ECEC services, EPs were predominantly due to other environmental influences, such as the family environment (Middeldorp et al. 2014; Tucker-Drob and Harden 2013). How ECEC centers influence problem behaviors is, however, not simply dependent on whether a child is enrolled but also on ECEC quality (Broekhuizen et al. 2018). ECEC quality can differ significantly across ECEC centers and generate unequal social experiences and unequal chances in child development (Tietze et al. 2013; Stahl et al. 2018). They may indeed compensate for vulnerabilities to developing EPs, but it is also possible that social experiences trigger EPs, for example through processes of peer rejection (McCartney (...truncated)