ABSTRACT


The Effect of Support Services of Community Childcare Center on School Adjustment among the Children and Adolescents



Pak, Teresa


Department of Social Welfare
Graduate School of Gyoengsang National University


The purpose of this study is to satisfy the children and adolescents availing Community Childcare Center being used mainly by Low-Income Brackets to offer them a healthy & pleasant school life by providing the insufficient need they didn't have in their primary home through the service support of Community Childcare Center acting as a protection element. To this end, targeting the children and adolescents availing Community Childcare Center, an analysis was made as to what impact is given to school adjustment from education, caregiving, emotional support of the support service of Community Childcare Center as well as friend support, and teacher support of the Community Childcare Center.
Being a survey area, a total of 37 Community Childcare Centers were selected by Convenience Sampling upon selecting by 10 administrative districts; Jinju, Sashon, Changwon, Gosung, Haman, Tongyoung, Changnyung, Hapchon, Hamyang, Hadong. The subjects were selected from students in the 4th grade of elementary school to the 3rd grade of middle school. The survey was carried out between October and November of 2013. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed out of which 373 were collected indicating a 74.6% collection ratio. Among collected questionnaires, 359 questionnaires was used in the analysis excluding 14 questionnaires with incomplete or missing data. The Gender distribution of those surveyed was 185 male(51.5%) and 174 female(48.5%) students. Among them, 242 were elementary school students(67.4%) and 117 were middle school students(32.6%).The analysis of this study was carried out using Frequency Analysis, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, t-test, GLM regression analysis, hierarchical regression analysis.
The results shown in this study are summarized as follows;
First, according to the result of the descriptive statistics analysis as to the major variables, the Overall average score of school adaption was 3.53, adjustment to school teacher the sub-element of school adjustment was 3.74, adjustment to school friend 3.70, adjustment to school life was 3.28. The indicated overall average score of support service was 3.85, average value of education 3.76, caregiving 4.14, average value of friend support of Community Childcare Center 3.53, average value of teacher support of Community Childcare Center 3.99. All variables of verification are on a 5-point scale and all are indicated to be higher than the median.
Second, upon carried out univariate regression analysis, the results are as follows focused on hypothesis. Education indicated to have a significant impact to school adjustment. Caregiving indicated a significant impact to school adjustment. The friend support of Community Childcare Center is verified as an element having a significant impact to school adjustment. The teacher support of Community Childcare Center is verified as an element with a significant impact to school adjustment.
Third, the result of the comprehensive model upon carrying out a Hierarchical Multiple regression to find out the relative impact as to school adjustment of the Community Childcare Center, the gender, economic activity indicated a significance in Comprehensive Model I. However, A necessity of more in-depth study was raised as to the reason why there was indication of a difference between male and female students in school adjustment. Next, as to economic activity, dual income families more highly affects school adjustment than other families. In the comprehensive model II, there indicated better school adjustment by elementary school students with higher friend support of Community Childcare Center, causing with higher teacher support of Community Childcare Center, causing higher education level. As noticed by the comprehensive model II, the friend support of Community Childcare Center was the most influential variable as to school adjustment. This shows the importance of peer relationship capable to mingle together upon using Community Childcare Center. It can be induced that school adjustment was enhanced due to improved peer relationship related to the joint participation of piers in the operational program of Community Childcare Center. And based on the results, an impact to school adjustment as the more education service is received, it can be deemed that the education service provided by the Community Childcare Center has been a help to the children availing this program. Based on the result that more impact is given to elementary student than middle school student, it is deemed to be more suitable to the education service through Community Childcare Center for elementary school students than middle school students. Therefore, it appears to be necessary to compose as a beneficial program for all children utilizing Community Childcare Center. Besides, the reason of the disappearance of the impact of caregiving in the Comprehensive Model II can deem the reduced impact of caregiving in contrast with enhanced impact of emotional support. Through which, it can be regarded as the importance of emotional support is being emerged to the children and adolescents availing Community Childcare Center.
The implications of this study are as follows;
First, through the result of the impact as to school adjustment for the children and adolescents availing Community Childcare Center with the higher friend support & the higher teacher support of Community Childcare Center, there indicates the importance of emotional support. The friend support among emotional support area indicated the highest impact. Through which it implicates the importance of peer relationship for low income bracket children youth. Also, the emotional support for the children and adolescents availing Community Childcare Center as being composed of mainly by duel income families, single parent families, grandparents-grandchildren households, multi-culture families complement the emotional support that lacks at home which proves to be an important variable in assisting school adjustment.
Second, it was estimated the result of the impact to school adjustment to children-youth the education support service being carried out by Community Childcare Center. In other words, it was revealed as a variable element affecting school adjustment to children-youth availing education that lack of education at home through support service of the Community Childcare Center that composed of mostly low income brackets. Through such findings, it is proved that the education support service for the children and adolescents availing Community Childcare Center is a variable element that can enhance school adjustment by the children youths availing Community Childcare Center.
Third, according to the univariate regression analysis result, the caregiving service being carried out by Community Childcare Center indicated an impact to school adjustment by the children and adolescents availing Community Childcare Center. Through which it being proved that Community Childcare Center assumes a caregiving role as a secondary home that lacks at home. However, according to the result of Hierarchical regression analysis of the comprehensive model II, the caregiving service was indicated as non- significant due to the impact of other variables. Such results implicate the children and adolescents availing Community Childcare Center needs emotional support and education support rather than material support.
Fourth, the result in regression model of Comprehensive model, through the outcome that elementary school students were affected more than middle school students, which indicated that the support service of Community Childcare Center is more suitable to elementary school student. This implicates through this result, the necessity to review whether the support service of Community Childcare Center is suitable to middle school students.
Fifth, there was insufficient in-depth study as to education & caregiving supported by Community Childcare Center, however, this study has its differentiation with its previous study in that it contributed to expand the scope of research in this regard.
Also it contributed to the expansion of the study target from elementary school students to middle school students. This implicates the possibilities the support service of Community Childcare Center can be combined with various after school program that is being carried out by the government.