Home Environments As Mediators of the Relationships Between Family and Neighborhood Disadvantages and School Readiness

Introduction: Preschool-aged children’s cognitive and socio-emotional skills have critical implications for success in the transition to formal schooling. Grounded in the ecological systems theory, extant literature suggests that socioeconomic disadvantages within family and neighborhood contexts reduce the likelihood that children show appropriate school readiness (Mistry et al., 2010). To prevent the negative effects of family and neighborhood risks, increased attention has been placed on finding mediators of the associations between family/neighborhood disadvantages and child development. The current study hypothesized that family/neighborhood risks impede children’s school readiness through decreasing parents’ emotional health and cognitive stimulation at home.

Method: This study included data from 444 preschool-aged children residing in 312 census tract level neighborhoods. Children’s school readiness was represented via directly observed cognitive skills and parent-reported socio-emotional functioning.  Family disadvantage was measured by three indicators: single parent status, income, and educational attainment. We assessed neighborhood disadvantage through the percentage below poverty line, unemployment ratio, female-headed households, people receiving public assistance, and minority concentration.  Parents’ cognitive stimulation was measured by the quality of home literacy environment and parental emotional health was measured by depressive symptoms.

Results: Structural Equation Modeling was conducted to examine the hypothesized model. The model fit indices indicated an adequate fit (χ²(79, N = 444) = 169.68,  p < .01, CFI = .95, RMSEA = .05). Family and neighborhood disadvantages were directly and indirectly linked to children’s cognitive skills through parents’ cognitive stimulation (direct effect for family risk [FR] = -.27,  p< .01; for neighborhood risk [NR] = -.19, p< .01; indirect effect for FR = -.25, p< .01; for NR = -.08, p< .09). Family and neighborhood risks only indirectly predicted children’s socio-emotional functioning via parents’ cognitive stimulation and depression (indirect effect for FR = .60, p< .01; for NR = .12, p<.09).

Discussion: Results of this study suggest that family and neighborhood socioeconomic risks indirectly predict children’s school readiness through parents’ cognitive stimulation and depression. Recognizing the prevalence of children living in disadvantaged families and neighborhoods, we anticipate that intervention or prevention programs that support parents’ emotional health might mitigate the negative effects of socioeconomic risks on children’s development. In addition, parenting programs and policies are needed to take into account the mediating effects of physical learning environments at home.