Assessing squalor in hoarding: the Home Environment Index

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Environmental Psychology

Background:

• Hoarding disorder is often associated with severe home environmental degradation.
• Objective measures of home squalor are needed to complement self-report and clinical assessments.
• Previous research has lacked a standardized, validated instrument for assessing home squalor in hoarding contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a new measure of home squalor, the Home Environment Index (HEI).
• To assess the psychometric properties of the HEI, including internal consistency and construct validity.
• To examine the relationship between home squalor (as measured by the HEI) and hoarding severity and related psychopathology.

Main Methods:

• A large sample (N = 793) of individuals seeking information about hoarding participated in an internet-based study.
• Participants completed validated measures of hoarding severity, mood psychopathology, and the newly developed Home Environment Index (HEI).
• Statistical analyses were conducted to evaluate the HEI's internal consistency, construct validity, and correlations with other measures.

Main Results:

• The Home Environment Index (HEI) demonstrated good internal consistency and construct validity.
• Factor analysis indicated that the HEI measures a single factor of home squalor, comprising 15 items.
• The HEI scores correlated positively with measures of hoarding severity and mood psychopathology.

Conclusions:

• The Home Environment Index (HEI) is a reliable and valid measure for assessing home squalor in individuals with hoarding disorder.
• The HEI can be a valuable tool for researchers and clinicians to quantify environmental conditions associated with hoarding.
• Further research is recommended to explore modifications and applications of the HEI in diverse clinical and research settings.