Child care and severe externalizing behavior in kindergarten children

Data from a large representative sample of American kindergarten children were used to examine the relationship between prekindergarten child care arrangements and the frequency of severe externalizing behaviors among these children. Compared to parental care children, there was no increase in relative risk of severe externalizing behaviors for nonrelative and center care children. Head Start and relative care were associated with an increase in the relative risk of behavior problems; however, it appears that the increases in these care settings were the result of selection factors rather than experience in the settings. Public policy implications were discussed.