The Relationship of Home Environments to Children's Social Development : Analysis of a Causal Model
Young Ae Jang
Abstract
The study examined the characteristics of the relationship of home environment variables and children`s social development. Two studies were conducted ; Study I examined ① the correlation of home environment variables and children`s social ability and ② the predictability of home environment variables for children`s social ability by children`s age. Study II investigated the causal relationship among the variables which are supposed to affect children`s social ability. The subjects of this study were 240 children at age four, six and eight attending nursery schools, kindergartens and elementary schools and their mothers. Instruments included the Inventory of Home Stimulation (HOME), the Inventory of Sociodemographic Variables, social maturation scale, and the social-emotional developmental rating scale. The results obtained from this study were as follows : 1) Home environment variables had a positive correlation with children`s social development at age four and six, but at age eight, only HOME variables had a significant positive correlation with children`s social development. 2) The home environmental variables that significantly predicted children`s social development differed according to children`s age. That is, play materials, economic status of the home, and parent education were predictive of children`s social development at age four, while parent`s education, fostering maturity and independence, and play materials were predictive at age six. Fostering maturity and independence, aspects of physical environment, and economic status of the home were predictive at age eight. 3) The causal model of home environment effect on children`s social development was formulated by exogenous variables (parent education and economic status of the home) and endogenous variables (direct stimulation, indirect stimulation and the emotional climate of the home). 4) The results of the analysis of the causal model showed that the variables that have a direct effect on children`s social development differed according to children`s age. That is, direct stimulation had more effect on children`s social development at earlier ages, and indirect stimulation had more effect on children`s social development at later ages. Among socio-demographic variables, parent`s education was most closely related to children`s social development. The amount of variance that explained children`s social development decreased with increase in children`s age.
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