The Longitudinal Associations of Household Economic Pressure and Home Chaos with Children’s Executive Functioning, Word Reading, and School Readiness

Fung, Wing Kai and Chung, Kevin Kien Hoa and Lam, Chun Bun (2023) The Longitudinal Associations of Household Economic Pressure and Home Chaos with Children’s Executive Functioning, Word Reading, and School Readiness. Child & Youth Care Forum, 52. pp. 1299-1321. ISSN 1053-1890

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Evidence shows that children’s household contexts of economic pressure and home chaos may better represent children’s daily home experiences than family socioeconomic status. Still, limited research has examined the impacts of household contexts on child developmental outcomes and their underlying mechanisms. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the longitudinal associations of economic pressure and home chaos with children’s prospective word reading and school readiness and executive functioning (EF) skills of attention shifting, inhibitory control, and working memory. METHODS: Longitudinal data were collected from a socioeconomically representative sample of 523 Chinese children (mean age 5.38 years; 52.9% male) and their parents and teachers in Hong Kong. Fathers and mothers at Time 1 (start of the school year) reported their perceived economic pressure and home chaos through questionnaires. At Time 2 (end of the school year), children’s EF and Chinese word reading were directly assessed with behavioral tasks, whereas teachers rated children’s school readiness using a questionnaire. RESULTS: Controlling for child age and gender, economic pressure was associated with later working memory and attention shifting. Time 1 economic pressure was indirectly associated with time 2 word reading and school readiness via time 2 working memory. A negative direct relationship was found between home chaos and school readiness. No significant associations were observed between home chaos and later EF skills. CONCLUSIONS: Economic pressure predicts later working memory as well as word reading and school readiness. The study suggests a potential role of working memory in the links between home environment and school readiness.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	This is the author accepted manuscript of an article accepted for publication in Child & Youth Care Forum. The final, published version is available from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10566-023-09733-0
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Education
Depositing User:	Wing Kai Fung
Date Deposited:	11 Jan 2023 14:46
Last Modified:	08 Nov 2024 13:26
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3736

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