Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Prevention Program to Promote the Psychosocial and Emotional Health and Development of Children Under Three Years of Age in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings
Cooperative project between the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg, the Free University of Berlin, and Papilio e.V.
Project leads (Erlangen):
Dr. Ina Bovenschen
Prof. Dr. Gottfried Spangler
Research associate:
Jennifer Gerlach, MSc Psych.
Research assistant:
Martin Grabowski
Background of the Research Project
Since August 2013, children in Germany have had a legal right to a place in early childhood education and care from the age of one year. As part of the expansion of childcare facilities, many new nursery places have been created; however, it is often criticised that staffing levels have not kept pace with this development and that the quality of care may therefore suffer in the future. Given the high learning capacity of children in the first years of life, but also their particular vulnerability, high-quality care is essential to ensure optimal development—especially for children growing up under challenging life circumstances and exposed to risk factors.
Papilio e.V. aims to sustainably promote the social and emotional development of children and adolescents and to protect them from adverse developmental outcomes such as addiction and violence. Its guiding principle is early and sustainable prevention. Papilio works through early childhood educators and has developed Papilio-3bis6, a prevention programme for children aged 3 to 6 years, with the goal of fostering children’s development in a holistic and fundamental way. Papilio-3bis6 operates on three levels: educators, children, and parents. Educators are supported in showing developmentally supportive educational behaviour; children’s emotional competencies are promoted; and the educational partnership between educators and parents is strengthened. The effectiveness of Papilio has been demonstrated in a longitudinal study involving nearly 700 kindergarten children, their parents, and educators (Scheithauer, Bondü, Niebank & Mayer, 2007). Papilio thus protects against later risks that can lead to addiction and violence.
Current Project “Papilio-U3”
In order to promote protective factors and children’s resilience early in development and to reach children of all age groups and their parents within the daycare setting, Papilio’s preventive measures are to be extended to children under the age of three. This project aims to develop, implement, and conduct an accompanying evaluation of the Papilio-U3 programme, which is specifically tailored to the care of children aged 0 to 3 years.
For children under three, the primary focus of care in early childhood education settings is on the development of attachment. A warm and supportive approach to children, along with a positive educational partnership with parents, are considered key prerequisites for child development. One of the most important resources for strengthening social and emotional competencies in the early years of life is the quality of interaction between the child and their caregivers. Early learning takes place through social interaction and emotional relationships with caregivers, giving the quality of attachment and relationship experiences a central role. A secure attachment between a young child and a caregiver forms the foundation for the ability—and associated skills—to establish stable and intimate social relationships in adulthood. Secure attachment experiences are the basis for emotional and social developmental processes, for coping with various life tasks, and for successful educational trajectories.
The central goal of Papilio-U3 is to improve the psychosocial development, early childhood education, and quality of care for children under three years of age in early childhood education and care settings. The focus lies on promoting developmentally supportive educational and interaction behaviour among educators and on strengthening the social and emotional competencies of children aged 0 to 3 years.
Evaluation
The prevention programme Papilio-U3, to be developed within this project, will be examined with regard to feasibility and effectiveness under real-life conditions by means of an accompanying evaluation study.
Cooperation
The cooperation partners of the Erlangen research site are the Free University of Berlin, led by Prof. Dr. Herbert Scheithauer, and Papilio e.V., led by Heidi Scheer.
Prevention partner of Papilio-U3: Barmer