Does early non-familial child care impact the development of mental health problems, risk behaviors, and educational outcomes until young adulthood?—Findings from an 18-year longitudinal study

Wolfgang Schulz, Ann-Katrin Job, Kurt Hahlweg, Max Supke · 2026

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Description

Wolfgang Schulz and co-authors track German families for eighteen years. They ask if early child care outside the family shapes later mental health, risk habits, and school results. Their 2026 study tracked two hundred twenty-five families over that span.

Set next to care by parents, early care outside the home was linked to higher risk habits in young adulthood. Those habits took in risky sexual behaviour, abuse of alcohol, and use of tobacco. Quality of close relationships was lower. Yet the chance of a high-level qualification for a job was higher. A young age at first entry was linked, in a weak way, with more mental health problems. Background in migration shaped some effects, in analysis that was meant to probe. The team says parents should weigh age at entry, how good the care is, and the social and economic place of the family when they choose.

Catalog record

CREATORWolfgang Schulz, Ann-Katrin Job, Kurt Hahlweg, Max Supke
YEAR2026
COLLECTIONPAPERS
FORMATTXT
FILE SIZE68 KB
VERSION1.0
LICENSECC BY 4.0
RIGHTSCC BY
SOURCEEurope PMC

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13141441

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