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A reexamination of the association between HOME scores and income
R H Bradley1, D J Mundfrom, L Whiteside
1Center for Research on Teaching and Learning, University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Insights
Income shows a weak unique link to the home environment quality (HOME Inventory scores) in infants. However, a positive home environment is crucial for child development outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Developmental Psychology
- Socioeconomic Factors
Background:
- The HOME Inventory assesses the quality of a child's home environment.
- Previous research suggests a link between socioeconomic status and home environment.
- Low-birth-weight preterm infants may face unique environmental challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-examine the relationship between income and HOME Inventory scores.
- To investigate the influence of income on home environment quality after controlling for other factors.
- To explore the association between home environment quality and child development outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP).
- Employed two versions of the HOME Inventory: Infant/Toddler (IT-HOME) at 12 months and Early Childhood (EC-HOME) at 36 months.
- Analyzed predictor variables including income, maternal education, and infant characteristics.
Main Results:
- HOME Inventory scores were positively correlated with income.
- Income uniquely explained a small percentage of variance in HOME scores (5.1% for IT-HOME, 4.2% for EC-HOME) after controlling for covariates.
- HOME scores were related to child characteristics such as cognitive development, growth, behavior, and social competence at 36 months.
Conclusions:
- While income is associated with home environment quality, its unique contribution is limited.
- The quality of the home environment, irrespective of income's unique contribution, significantly relates to child development.
- These findings underscore the importance of the home environment for healthy child development in vulnerable populations.
Abstract:
This study, which represents another look at the relationship between the HOME Inventory and income, uses data from the Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP), a multisite, longitudinal study of low-birth-weight preterm infants. Two versions of the HOME Inventory were used: The Infant/Toddler (IT-HOME), at 12 months of age, and the Early Childhood (EC-HOME), at 36 months of age. Predictor variables were income, ethnicity, maternal education, parity, gestational age, marital status, maternal age, and site. HOME scores were positively correlated with income. However, after controlling for the other variables in the models, the portion of the variance in HOME scores uniquely explained by income was quite low (IT-HOME, 5.1%; EC-HOME, 4.2%). Finally, the relationship between HOME scores and four child characteristics (cognitive development, growth, maladaptive behavior, and social competence) measured when the child was 36 months old were investigated using correlation. The results indicated that the quality of the home environment, as measured by the HOME Inventory, is related to children's development.