Development of the Home Executive Function Environment (HEFE) Scale: Assessing its relation to preschoolers' executive function

In this study, we developed the Home EF Environment (HEFE) scale and analyzed it using factor analysis with a sample of 120 preschool children and one of their parents in the Unites States. Mean age for children ranged from 38 to 69 months (M = 56.65, SD = 6.54), and 52% were male. Additionally, we analyzed the associations between the parent-reported HEFE scale and children’s EF skills. Factor analysis indicated that EF-specific activities form a distinguishable part of the home environment. Further, a set of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the HEFE scale is related to a global measure of children’s EF over and above the home learning environment and general parenting practices, but not cognitive flexibility or inhibitory control. The potential importance of EF-specific activities in the home environment as well as study implications is addressed in the discussion.
Source: Early Childhood Research Quarterly - Category: Child Development Source Type: research