Linking Housing Quality Concerns and Toddler Inhibitory Control: The Mediating Role of Household Disorganization

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 1:45 pm
  In Poster Session: Research Exploring Contextual Influences across the Lifespan: Grounded in Theories of Human Development

Abstract

Toddler’s executive functioning, especially their inhibitory control (IC), is consistently identified as a strong predictor of kindergarten readiness. Differences in IC are evident at preschool entry. This study explores the role that housing quality concerns in a child’s home—which may include exposed electrical wires, broken plumbing, and pest infestations—play in helping to explain differences in toddler’s IC development. We conducted mediation analysis using a sample of 258 parent-child dyads at child ages 2 and 3. We detected significant mediation using parent-report IC data, whereby higher rates of housing quality concerns predicted higher household disorganization, which in turn was associated with diminished IC from ages 2 to 3.

Authors

• Nathaniel Philip Pettit, University of Pittsburgh

• Jazelle Pilato, University of Pittsburgh

• Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, University of Pittsburgh

• Melissa Libertus, University of Pittsburgh

• Heather J. Bachman, University of Pittsburgh