Relations among Socioeconomic Status, Perceived Stress, and the Home Language Environment

While socioeconomic disparities in the home language environment have been well established, the mechanisms explaining these disparities are poorly understood. One plausible mechanism is heightened stress. The current study investigated whether maternal perceived stress was 1) associated with measures of the home language environment, and 2) mediated the relation between socioeconomic disparities and the home language environment. Data from three independent studies were analyzed, which together comprised 322 mother-child dyads. Two studies included mothers and their six- to twelve-month-old infants (N = 227). The third included mothers and their five- to nine-year-old children (N = 95). Mothers reported their educational attainment, income, and stress. Language Environment Analysis (LENA) measured the home language environment. As has been previously reported, socioeconomic disparities were observed in adult words and conversational turns. Stress did not mediate these associations, nor was it associated with adult words or conversational turns. Alternate mechanisms for future exploration are discussed.