Gottfried, Michael A., Early Childhood Research Quarterly, April 2015. This study was the first to position itself in the intersection on research on center-based care and on chronic absenteeism. Given the growth in the utilization of center-based care and given the recent vocalized policy concerns of the detrimental effects of chronic absenteeism in early school years, this study inquired as to whether attending center-based care predicted differential odds of early absence patterns. Using a national large-scale study of children (the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Class of 2010-11), the findings indicated that children who attended center-based care in prekindergarten had lower odds of being chronically absent in kindergarten.