Browsing by Author "Soto, Pamela"

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    Childcare Center Attendance During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Boosting Cognitive and Language Development
    (2025) Narea Biscupovich, Marigen Soledad; Soto, Pamela; Abufhele, Alejandra
    The Covid-19 pandemic underscored the significance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) for children's development. We investigated the impact of attendance at ECEC programs following a closure period due to the pandemic. We used linear regression with a lagged dependent variable to examine assessments of children's cognitive and receptive language based on a sample of Chilean children (N = 809; age = 41.3 months in 2021). Results show that children who attended center-based care for more than 20 h a week demonstrated higher cognitive and receptive language levels than those who did not attend (3.2 and 2.9 points higher, respectively). Furthermore, our results highlight the importance of the intensity of attendance at ECEC programs for children's development.
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    Childcare Center Attendance During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Boosting Cognitive and Language Development
    (Springer, 2025) Narea Biscupovich, Marigen Soledad; Soto, Pamela; Abufhele, Alejandra
    The Covid-19 pandemic underscored the significance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) for children's development. We investigated the impact of attendance at ECEC programs following a closure period due to the pandemic. We used linear regression with a lagged dependent variable to examine assessments of children's cognitive and receptive language based on a sample of Chilean children (N = 809; age = 41.3 months in 2021). Results show that children who attended center-based care for more than 20 h a week demonstrated higher cognitive and receptive language levels than those who did not attend (3.2 and 2.9 points higher, respectively). Furthermore, our results highlight the importance of the intensity of attendance at ECEC programs for children's development.
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    Early Childhood Education Quality for Toddlers: Understanding Structural and Process Quality in Chilean Classrooms
    (2025) Felipe Godoy; Narea Biscupovich, Marigen Soledad; Soto, Pamela; Ayala Pereira, Camila; María Jesús López
    Despite extensive research on early childhood education (ECE) quality at the preschool level, toddler settings remain comparatively understudied, particularly in Chile and Latin America. Research suggests that quality ECE strengthens child development, while low-quality services can be harmful. ECE quality comprises structural features like ratios and classroom resources, and process features related to interactions within classrooms. This study examines how process and structural quality indicators are related in nurseries serving disadvantaged backgrounds. Data were collected from 51 Chilean urban classrooms serving children aged 12–24 months. Classrooms were evaluated using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) for toddlers, questionnaires, and checklists. Latent Profile Analysis identified process quality patterns, while multinomial regression examined associations with structural quality indicators. The results revealed low-to-moderate process quality across classrooms (M = 4.78 for Emotional and Behavioral Support; M = 2.35 for Engaged Support for Learning), with three distinct quality clusters emerging. Marginally significant differences were found between high- and low-performing clusters regarding classroom space (p = 0.06), number of toys (p = 0.08), and staff educational credentials (p = 0.01–0.07). No significant differences emerged for group sizes or adult-to-child ratios, which are heavily regulated in Chile. These findings underscore the need to strengthen quality assurance mechanisms ensuring all children access quality ECE.
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    Evaluación metodológica de entrevistas a empresas en Chile : basado en resultados de test cognitivo desarrollado por el Ministerio de Economía, Fomento y Turismo en el diseño del cuestionario de la X versión de la Encuesta Nacional de Innovación
    (2021) Castillo Onetto, Daniela; Casas-Cordero Valencia, Carolina de los Ángeles; Soto, Pamela; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Instituto de Sociología
    Las experiencias de pretesteo de cuestionarios mediante entrevistas cognitivas en encuestas a empresas en Chile son acotadas y recientes. Como una manera de enfrentar una modificación al cuestionario de la Encuesta Nacional de Innovación para su X versión de 2019, a propósito de cambios en las recomendaciones del Manual de Oslo, el Ministerio de Economía, Fomento y Turismo realiza un estudio donde evalúa la versión preliminar del cuestionario utilizando entrevistas cognitivas. Como primera experiencia en Chile, se hace relevante estudiarla y extraer los aprendizajes que puedan ser aplicados en estudios futuros de las mismas características. Basándose en el proceso cognitivo de respuesta y el enfoque de calidad de las encuestas a empresas, se evalúan las decisiones metodológicas que se tomaron para la aplicación de las entrevistas cognitivas en el desarrollo del cuestionario de la ENI. Los resultados obtenidos, por un lado, establecen que el uso de rondas y de un equipo compuesto por expertos en la temática y expertos en el diseño de encuestas permiten llegar a resultados que mejoran la eficiencia y la efectividad de las entrevistas cognitivas. Por otro lado, las entrevistas cognitivas tienen la sensibilidad suficiente para detectar problemas en las preguntas que son más problemáticas en términos de Recuerdo y Estimación y Juicio. Además, cuando las entrevistas cognitivas se comparan con otros métodos de pretesteo, se encuentra que QAS sería más efectivo para encontrar problemas en el cuestionario, sin embargo, carece de sustento empírico para la propuesta de soluciones. Este estudio se plantea como el primer paso en el estudio metodológico de los métodos de pretesteo en encuestas a empresas en Chile, entregando resultados que son alentadores y que evalúan de manera positiva el uso de entrevistas cognitivas bajo la metodología de rondas y con equipos de campo mixtos. Sin embargo, es relevante estudiar aspectos relativos al diseño muestral de las entrevistas cognitivas y la comparación con otros métodos de pretesteo, con el objetivo de mejorar el rendimiento de esta técnica de evaluación de cuestionarios en términos de eficiencia y efectividad para la mejora metodológica de los estudios chilenos de encuestas a empresas.
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    Screen exposure in Chilean children during early childhood and socio-emotional problems: relationship and directionality
    (2025) Soto, Pamela; Godoy, Felipe; Narea Biscupovich, Marigen Soledad; Ayala Pereira, Camila
    Introduction: Research has found a correlation between screen exposure in early childhood and children’s socio-emotional development, particularly in Global North countries. However, the direction of the effect has not been extensively studied in early childhood, especially in Global South contexts. This study aims to describe the relationship and the bidirectional longitudinal associations between screen exposure and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems among children in Chile.Methods: Using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), 669 Chilean children were measured two times over a two-year period: in 2021 (T1; mean age = 3.5 years) and 2023 (T2; mean age = 5.4 years). Linear regression analyses were employed to examine the relationship between screen exposure and internalizing and externalizing problems at T1 and T2 separately. A cross-lagged panel model (CLMP) was used to analyze the bidirectional longitudinal association between time of screen exposure and internalizing and externalizing problems. Results: A higher screen time exposure was significantly associated with the presence of internalizing and externalizing problems in children at T1 (3 years) (β = 0.62, SE = 0.29, p = 0.031; β = 0.79, SE = 0.25, p = 0.002). However, the association at T2 (5 years) was significant only for externalizing problems (β = 0.46, SE = 0.24, p = 0.054). The cross-lagged analysis revealed that externalizing problems at T1 significantly predicted higher screen time exposure at T2 (β = 0.08, SE = 0.04, p = 0.043), whereas higher screen time exposure at T1 did not significantly predict externalizing problems at T2 (β = −0.01, SE = 0.03, p = 0.71). No significant association in the crosslagged analysis was identified for internalizing problems. Conclusion: The results suggest an association between increased screen time and the development of internalizing and externalizing problems in Chilean children. Specifically, the results suggest that children who exhibit high levels of externalizing problems at a young age are more likely to spend more time on screens at an older age. This could be a form of coping mechanism, a result of parental behavior management strategies.