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Note: This study is complete. The information on this page is provided for historical purposes only, and serves as a bridge to the SECCYD datasets. The page is not being updated.
SECCYD was a comprehensive longitudinal study NICHD initiated to answer questions about the relationships between child care experiences, child care characteristics, and children's developmental outcomes.
A team of researchers worked cooperatively to design and implement the study and, in 1991, enrolled a very diverse sample of children and their families at 10 locations across the United States.
SECCYD funding ended in 2009. Data collection on the characteristics of child care arrangements took place from 1991 to 1995, after which time the study participants were in kindergarten.
The major goal of the study was to examine how differences in child care experiences relate to children's social, emotional, intellectual, and language development, and to their physical growth and health.
The following are listings of the instruments used, locations, and time of assignment for the assessments during each study phase:
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instrument_phase1.pdf (100.81 KB) (PDF 100 KB) (birth through 3 years of age) -
instrument_phase2.pdf (85.32 KB) (PDF 85.3 KB) (54 months through 1st grade) -
instrument_phase3_rev.pdf (152.11 KB) (PDF 152 KB) (2nd through 6th grades) -
instrument_phase4_rev.pdf (100.31 KB) (PDF 100 KB) (7th through 9th grades)
The number of children involved in each phase of the study are as follows:
| Year | Children's Ages or Grade | Number of Children (and Their Families) |
|---|---|---|
| 1991-94 | Phase I, ages 0-3 | 1,364 children participated in the study |
| 1995-99 | Phase II, through 1st Grade | 1,226 children participated in the study |
| 2000-04 | Phase III, through 6th Grade | 1,061 children participated in the study |
| 2005-2007 | Phase IV, through 9th Grade | 1,009 children participated in the study |
Analyses for the study were conducted by a network of investigators, the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network.
Datasets, instruments, and documentation from phases I, II, III, and IV of the study are available at the SECCYD data archive at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/series/00233 .
A searchable database of published research that uses SECCYD data is also available through the archive at https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/series/233 .