This study examined how the number of hours of early childhood education (ECE) is associated with young children's behavior problems and early academic achievement in Singapore, a non-WEIRD (“Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic”) country with families using long ECE hours. We drew data from the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study. Participants were 3- to 6-year-old children ( = 2,452). General linear models and spline regressions were utilized to analyze how ECE hours were associated with children's behavior problems and early academic achievement while controlling for child and family characteristics. On average, Singaporean children stayed 41.07 hours per week in ECE centers, with 38 % of the sampled children spending more than 50 hours per week in ECE centers. Notably, we found an inverted-U-shaped relation between ECE hours and child outcomes with a turning point of approximately 35–40 hours per week. Before the turning point, a greater number of hours in ECE was associated with more externalizing problems and higher academic achievement. However, after this point, a greater number of hours was associated with fewer behavior problems, both externalizing and internalizing, as well as poorer academic achievement. These findings demonstrate a complex nonlinear association between ECE hours and child outcomes in a context of children spending prolonged hours in centers.

中文翻译：

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中心托儿时间与 3 至 6 岁儿童发展之间的联系：来自新加坡的证据

这项研究探讨了新加坡的幼儿教育 (ECE) 时数与幼儿的行为问题和早期学业成就之间的关系。新加坡是一个非 WEIRD（“西方、受过教育、工业化、富裕、民主”）的国家，家庭使用幼儿教育时间长。我们从新加坡纵向早期发展研究中获取数据。参与者为 3 至 6 岁儿童 (= 2,452)。在控制儿童和家庭特征的同时，利用一般线性模型和样条回归来分析幼儿教育时间与儿童行为问题和早期学业成绩的关系。平均而言，新加坡儿童每周在幼儿教育中心停留的时间为 41.07 小时，其中 38% 的样本儿童每周在幼儿教育中心停留的时间超过 50 小时。值得注意的是，我们发现 ECE 时间和儿童结局之间存在倒 U 形关系，转折点约为每周 35-40 小时。在转折点之前，幼儿教育时间越长，问题越多，学业成绩也越高。然而，在此之后，更多的时间与更少的外化和内化行为问题以及较差的学业成绩相关。这些发现表明，在儿童长时间呆在中心的情况下，儿童早教时间与儿童结局之间存在复杂的非线性关联。