Poster #8 - Examining the Effects of Household Chaos on Child Executive Function: A Meta-analysis

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Attention, Learning, Memory

Integrative Statement

Background: Household chaos (e.g. crowding, chronic noise, unpredictable routines) is a significant adverse environmental predictor of child outcomes. To date, most studies examining the link between household chaos and child outcomes have focused on socioemotional and cognitive development. Although some research has examined the association between household chaos and executive function (Vernon-Feagans et al., 2016), no study, to date, has formally integrated these findings and examined its differential impact on constructs of executive function (e.g. hot (emotional) versus cool (cognitive)) or evaluated the influence of relevant factors (e.g. child gender, race/ethnicity, age). This is important given the role of executive function in child self-regulation and school readiness (Blair & Raver, 2015) and the growing number of children affected by chaos.
Objectives: This meta-analysis aimed to: 1) aggregate extant findings to identify potential true effects between household chaos and child executive function; 2) examine potential moderators influencing this association; and 3) address gaps within the household chaos and executive function literature with recommendations for future research and clinical practice.
Methods: A search was conducted in the following databases: EMBASE, PsycINFO, Medline, PubMed, ERIC, and ProQuest Theses and Dissertations. Relevant search terms were categorized in: “household* chaos” AND “executive function*” AND “child or adolescen*”. The initial search yielded a total of 7473 non-duplicate results from which independent reviews were conducted using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Overall, 24 datasets were included.
Analysis: Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software was used to compute overall effect sizes using reported or computed correlations and variances. Publication bias was also assessed. Proposed moderators included: proportion of female children, child age, proportion of minorities, household income, parental education, relationship status, proportion of hot executive function tasks and measurement approach of executive function (direct assessment vs. parent-completed questionnaires).
Results: A significant effect size was found between household chaos and child executive function (r=0.24, p<0.001). Significant moderated effects were found for measurement approach of executive function (parent-completed questionnaires: r=0.29 v. direct assessment: r=0.18; p<0.05); however, no other moderators were found to be significant.
Conclusions: This is the first comprehensive examination of the association between household chaos and child executive function using meta-analytic techniques and provides clear evidence of a relationship. Our findings have the capacity to inform targeted interventions for affected families. Future research should broaden its inclusion of executive tasks and increase its focus on testing cool executive functions. Furthermore, longitudinal studies should aim to take a multimodal approach incorporating both performance-based tasks and questionnaires in assessing child executive function.

Authors

• Krysta Andrews, McMaster University
  Presenting Author

• Madeleine Harris, McMaster University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Leslie Atkinson, Department of Psychology, Ryerson University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Andrea Gonzalez, McMaster University
  Non-Presenting Author