Caregivers’ interaction skills in center-based childcare: Associations with ratios, education, and interaction contexts

High-quality interactions between childcare professionals and children are essential for supporting child development. In this study, we examined how caregiver interaction skills vary in relation to child-to-caregiver ratios and caregiver education, and across different daily interaction contexts (e.g., meals and diaper changes) in early center-based childcare. Additionally, we compared different operationalizations of child-to-caregiver ratios and their associations with caregiver interaction skills. Participants were 136 childcare professionals working in center-based childcare for children under 3 years within the capital region of Denmark. Caregiver interaction skills were coded from video recordings of four typical daily interaction contexts: diaper change, mealtime, transition, and play. Three ratio measures were assessed: a self-reported ratio, a care-group ratio based on hourly counts of caregivers and children in the care group, and a situation-specific ratio based on second-by-second counts of caregivers and children involved in the assessed interaction. Generalized Estimating Equations showed that the situation-specific ratio was associated with sensitive responsiveness, while the care-group ratio was consistently associated with caregivers’ educational interaction skills. Further, caregivers with formal childcare education (a bachelor’s degree or vocational training) demonstrated better educational interaction skills than those without. Finally, caregiver interaction skills were lower during routine situations than during play. The findings underscore the need for future research to carefully define and differentiate among operationalizations of child-to-caregiver ratios and varying levels of ECEC qualifications and to examine ways to strengthen interaction quality in everyday routines.