幼兒照顧安排與情緒能力之關聯：親子關係的中介角色

Abstract

本研究旨在調查臺灣目前育有3歲以下子女之家庭照顧安排現況，探討3歲以前之照顧安排與幼兒情緒發展之間的關聯，並分別檢驗父母回應及親子安全依附在此關聯中可能的中介作用。本研究使用臺灣幼兒發展資料庫（Kid in Taiwan, KIT）小月齡組中，完整參與從3月齡至48月齡進行的七波次調查問卷之3540位幼兒（男生1775位、女生1765位）作為研究對象，使用結構方程模式檢驗幼兒照顧安排（開始接受托育的月齡、托育類型、托育時長）如何影響4歲幼兒之情緒能力表現，以及親子關係（父母回應、安全依附）於兩者間的中介效果。本研究主要發現有：（1）有50%的育兒家庭選擇在子女 1 歲前交由他人托育，且以祖父母或親友照顧的非正式托育形式為最多；（2）在控制家庭背景與前一波次的情緒能力後，非父母親的照顧以及長時間托育（每週大於30小時）可以顯著負向預測四歲時情緒能力表現；（3）在控制家庭背景與前一波次的情緒能力後，父母回應在親友照顧、全日型托育與情緒能力之間，具有顯著的中介效果，說明交由親友照顧或者全日型的托育安排會透過較低的父母回應，影響幼兒情緒能力；（4）在控制家庭背景與前一波次的情緒能力後，安全依附在親友照顧、日間托育及全日托育與情緒能力之間，具有顯著中介效果，說明交由親友照顧、日間托育或全日的托育會透過較低的親子依附關係，影響幼兒情緒能力。本研究之結果顯示，父母將幼兒交由非他人進行托育，會與幼兒情緒能力的長期發展具有負面關聯。然而，其中關連可能來自於托育安排下阻礙了家庭內正向的親子關係發展。結果凸顯出托育需求盛行的現況之中，父母親與幼兒的親密連結對於幼兒發展仍然扮演重要角色。最後，依據研究結果之主要發現，本研究針對托育相關制度與政策，以及未來研究的可發展方向提出相關建議。This study aimed to understand the current childcare arrangements of families in Taiwan with children under 3 years old, and to investigate the association between childcare arrangements and the emotional development of children. Further, the potential mediating roles of parent-child relationship were examined. This study used the representative longitudinal database of child development, Kid in Taiwan (KIT). 3540 children (1775 males and 1765 females) who fully participated in seven waves of surveys from 3 to 48 months of age were included. The study used Structural Equation Model (SEM) to examine how three aspects of childcare arrangements (entry time, type, and intensity) affected children's emotional competence at 4 years old. The mediation effect of parental responsiveness and secure attachment were examined as well. The key results demonstrate that: (1) 50% of the children received non-parental care before the first year, predominantly of them received the informal care of grandparents or relatives; (2) after controlling for family background and auto-regression of emotional competence, non-parental care and extensive child care (over 30 hours per week) significantly predictedthe poorer emotional competence at age 4; (3) after controlling for family background and auto-regression of emotional competence, parental responsiveness had a significant mediating effect between informal care or full-day care and emotional capabilities, indicating that childcare arrangements involving informal care or full-day care could impact children's emotional abilities through reduced parental responsive-ness; (4) after controlling for family background and previous emotional competence, secure attachment played a significant mediating role between informal care, day care, full-day care, and emotional competence, suggesting that childcare by relatives or longer durations of care could affect children's emotional development through weaker parent-child secure attachment. The results indicate that non-parental childcare has a negative association with the long-term emotional development of children. However, this connection may stem from the obstruction of positive parent-child relationship development within the family context, highlighting the importance of the parent-child bond in child development along with increasing childcare needs. Finally, based on these findings, the researcher provided recommendations for childcare-related policies and future research directions.