Caregiving and the regulation of child growth and development: Describing proximal aspects of caregiving systems

A two-tiered approach to classifying the acts and conditions of caregiving is presented. It is an approach based on a conception of caregiving as a regulator of human behavior and development. The approach classifies the elements of caregiving according to both the goals or functions of caregiving acts and the form such acts and conditions take. The base dimension of the first tier, which deals with the structural and functional aspects of caregiving inputs, involves classifying caregiving acts and conditions in terms of five primary caregiving tasks: sustenance, stimulation, support, structure and surveillance. These tasks derive from a conception of caregiving as a set of environmental actions performed by a caregiver or environmental conditions arranged by a caregiver that allow a child to adapt and to pursue goals. The two other dimensions of the first tier involve classification according to the source of the act and the primary modality through which caregiving input is received. The second tier, which deals with the dynamic aspects of caregiving inputs, entails classifying acts and conditions of caregiving according to their intensity, their reactivity, and their complexity.