Still, the actual findings of the study were not nearly as inflammatory as reported, according to Margaret Burchinal, a University of North Carolina researcher who oversaw the statistical side of the study. Burchinal said in a statement last week that the aggressive behaviors displayed by children in the study "were typical of what you'd expect for a normal 4-year-old. We're not seeing that child care produces super-aggressive kids."

And in a larger sense, the very nature of the study, plagued by such inevitable methodological problems as defining its subjective terms -- what is "aggression"? -- and the difficulty in assessing and factoring in intangible influences such as quality of family life and quality of child care, should caution researchers and the public alike against drawing sweeping conclusions.

In an e-mail to friends and colleagues sent after the findings were released, NICHD study coauthor Marsha Weinraub, a professor of psychology at Temple University, wrote, "We did not prepare a press release, because this report has not yet been peer reviewed and is not in press in any way. This was a series of reports to conference colleagues, something social scientists do all the time.

"Generally, however, scientists are pretty circumspect in reporting conference findings," she wrote, "but this week that was not the case. I'm sorry. That was something that was not in my control."

Weinraub's missive was not released to the press and Friedman's disclaimer, which has been reinforced by other participants in the study, has barely been audible in the din caused by Belsky's initial conclusions about the study. In fact, another finding from the study indicated positive links between child care and cognitive and language skills, as well as school preparedness. While it was mentioned sporadically in the press -- child care being said to produce "smarter and meaner" kids -- it was largely overwhelmed by the bad news.

Belsky, identified as "lead investigator," publicly announced that the NICHD study found that children who spend more than 30 hours a week in child care "scored higher on items like 'gets in lots of fights,' 'cruelty,' 'explosive behavior,' as well as 'talking too much,' 'argues a lot' and 'demands a lot of attention.'"

He went on to say, "If more time in all sorts of [child care] arrangements is predicting disconcerting outcomes, then if you want to reduce the probability of those outcomes, you reduce the time in care. Extend parental leave and part-time work."

Friedman attempted at the time to indicate that such a recommendation wasn't warranted, given that the study could not prove that child care caused aggressive behavior. "But Jay interrupted me and tried to put down what I was saying," says Friedman. "How come people just took his word? How come other voices weren't heard?"

In her e-mail Weinraub added, "Certainly, it is premature for anyone, least of all developmental researchers, to interpret the meaning of this finding for public policy in light of the information so far and the complicated issues it raises."

But prematurity hasn't ever stopped Belsky -- indeed, he would be the first to say so, although he characterizes it as prescience. Since he published a small newsletter article in 1986 suggesting that "a slow, steady trickle of evidence" had caused him to believe that child care might do psychological damage to children, in particular by compromising their bonds with their mothers, Belsky has been a lightning rod in the debate about child care. That article, titled "Infant Day Care: A Cause for Concern," brought a firestorm of criticism, much of it from his colleagues.

While Belsky characterized the reaction as predictable outrage from working mothers wrestling with feelings of guilt, the researchers who found fault with his conclusions say they were not bothered by what Belsky said was his "politically incorrect" position, they were bothered by his methodology.

"There were a lot of questions about his methodology," recalls Moncrieff Cochran, professor of human development at Cornell University, who was on Belsky's dissertation committee when Belsky was a graduate student there. "There were a number of other possible explanatory factors that he was unable to control for, most of which had to do with family characteristics. His was really the only study that came up with those conclusions about attachment and to some extent it was discounted in the course of this debate. It was a problem with limitations in the study, though, not a misuse of data."

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