Predictors of the Quality of Provider-Child Relationships
The objective of this study was to understand better the variables that are associated with the quality of the provider-child relationship in in-home childcare. Providers (N = 66) reported on children aged 3-5 years in their care (N = 260). Providers filled out demographic information for themselves and the children, the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS), and the adverse childhood experiences scale. Multilevel modeling was used to conduct all analyses. The results of this study found that only gender was a significant predictor of closeness and conflict in the provider-child relationship in in-home childcare. Consistent with previous research, this suggests that being a boy has implications for a lower-quality relationship with a provider. Given that this sample was not racially diverse and the sample size was small, we recommend this study be done with a larger, representative population to better assess the predictors contributing to the quality of the provider-child relationship.