The longitudinal effects of after-school program experiences, quantity, and regulatable features on children's social-emotional development

Experiences of 298 children with their caregivers in after-school programs (ASPs) were examined as predictors of social-emotional functioning across the first through fifth grade. Moderating effects of previous social-emotional problems, child gender, family income, quantity of care, and program regulatable features were also estimated. On average, ASP experiences negatively predicted externalizing problems and positively predicted social self-control and assertion. Interestingly, positive ASP experiences did not predict decreased externalizing behaviors, but instead children with negative experiences had higher levels of externalizing behavior problems. Changes in ASP experiences positively predicted changes in self-control scores, but only for boys. Finally, staff experience, staff wages, and changes in child-to-caregiver ratios predicted children's ASP experiences and levels of social-emotional development.