Nursery World - Long hours in nursery linked to aggression, study finds

Children who spend the longest amounts of time in group childcare are more likely to be hyperactive and aggressive, a new longitudinal study has found.

Australian researchers studying 3,200 children have found that centre-based childcare is directly associated with ‘small but noticeable increases’ in ‘externalising’ problem behaviours – i.e. those which are directed outwards.

But they also found that children who spend longer in this type of childcare (as opposed to other types of childcare) were less likely to be withdrawn, anxious or depressed.

PhD student Angela Gialamas, from the University of Adelaide, said the ‘externalising’ problem behaviours included ‘hyperactivity - being restless, easily distracted, constantly fidgeting - and disruptive and aggressive behaviours, such as losing their temper and fighting with other children.’

The same group of children was less likely to show 'internalising' problem behaviours such as being unhappy and clingy in new situations.

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