Impact of Household Chaos and Parenting on Child Executive Function: A Novel, Multi-Method Approach

• In Event: The effect of family and community stress on youth executive functioning and psychopathology

Abstract

Background: Executive functions are higher order cognitive processes (e.g. inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility) that are critical to planning and goal directed behaviour. Children with deficits in their executive functions are at risk for exhibiting problem behaviours in adolescence. Contextual risks such as chaotic households and parenting challenges can have adverse effects on child executive functioning1. Furthermore, household chaos can negatively influence parenting behaviours2. Few studies, however, have examined the potential impact of parenting behaviours on the association between household chaos and child executive functions.
Objective: The present study aimed to identify possible antecedents to problem behaviours in adolescence via examining underlying mechanisms in childhood that could disrupt executive function development. Specifically, the potential direct and indirect effects of household chaos on child executive functioning via parenting behaviours were examined.
Methods: Data was derived from a sample of 132 school-aged children (48% female) and their mothers in the Hamilton, ON region who participated in the final phase of a longitudinal study. Household chaos was measured in multiple, novel ways - via self-report, the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS), as well as a maternal guided tour of the home, scored for household chaos-related variables via Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software. Mother-child videotaped interactions were coded for parenting behaviours including cognitive sensitivity and maternal emotional availability. Children completed behavioural assessments measuring core executive functions including inhibition, working memory and cognitive flexibility.
Analysis: Structural equation modelling of direct and indirect effects of household chaos on child executive functioning was examined using version 8.3 of Mplus software. Covariates included income, child gender, and maternal depression and executive functions.
Results: Household chaos had both a direct effect on child executive functioning (β = -.31, 95% [-.591, -.038]) and indirect effect through parenting behaviours (β = -.05, 95% [-.131, -.009]). Of the covariates included, only income was significantly associated with child executive functioning (β = .32, 95% [.047, .591].
Conclusions: These findings reveal parenting as an important mechanism through which household chaos exerts its effects on executive functioning of school-aged children. This can potentially inform preventative strategies for children and their families aimed at improving parenting behaviours and providing greater stability within homes; thereby mitigating the possible development of behavioural problems in adolescence.
References: 1. Hughes, C., & Ensor, R. A. (2009). How do families help or hinder the emergence of early executive function? In C. Lewis & J. I. M. Carpendale (Eds.), Social interaction and the development of executive function (New Direct, pp. 35–50). https://doi.org/10.1002/cd. 2. Deater-Deckard, K., Mullineaux, P. Y., Beekman, C., Petrill, S. A., Schatschneider, C., & Thompson, L. A. (2009). Conduct problems, IQ, and household chaos: A longitudinal multi-informant study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 1301–1308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02108.x.

Group Authors

Krysta Andrews MSW RSW1,2,3, James Dunn PhD4, Leslie Atkinson PhD CPsyc5, Andrea Gonzalez PhD2,3

Authors

• Krysta Andrews, McMaster University
  Presenting Author

• Andrea Gonzalez, McMaster University
  Non-Presenting Author