Home Environment and Early Development of Rural Children: Evidence from Guizhou Province in China

Abstract

Delays in early child development are among the aspects underlying the persistent developmental gaps between regions and social strata. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the home environment and early child development in less-developed rural areas by drawing on data from 445 children from villages in Guizhou province in southwest China. A demographic questionnaire, the Home Observation Measurement of the Environment (HOME), and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, version III (BSID-III), were used to measure the child’s demographic characteristics, home environment, and early development outcomes, respectively. Our data show that the sample children suffer a delay in various dimensions of child development and a deficit in the HOME scale. The results from a hierarchical regression model suggest that the availability of learning material at home, caregivers’ responsiveness and organization sub-scales are significantly positively correlated with the early development of sample children, after controlling for general socioeconomic status, health, and nutrition, and this correlation differs by gender. These results imply that the provision of learning material to households, promoting caregivers’ responsiveness and organization in less-developed rural areas could improve early child development among deprived children.

How household chaos affects social withdrawal of rural children: the indirect role of executive function and receptive language ability

“…Previous studies also suggested that young children who lack material environment stimulation in rural families will lead to inability to solve problems in social situations (Jeon et al, 2014), which is difficult for them to concentrate and completely remember the rules in getting along with others and restraining their negative emotions, resulting in a series of social communication problems and social withdrawal behavior (Valadi et al, 2020). The executive function problems caused by the lack of material environment stimulation in rural families may lead to children's inability to solve problems in social situations (Kuhn et al, 2021), which is difficult for them to concentrate and completely remember the rules in getting along with others and restraining their negative emotions, resulting in a series of social communication problems and social withdrawal behavior. This study further shows that in addition to EF, receptive language ability also partially mediates the impact of household chaos on social withdrawal behavior.…”

Parental Practices and Environmental Differences among Infants Living in Upper-Middle and High-Income Countries: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The environment at home is crucial, and essential for the first months of infancy, due to the presence of stimuli for learning, responsive care, and organization in the home environment. Positive correlations were observed between parental practices, an adequate environment, and child development; infants and children aged 4 to 26 months succeeded in the domains of language, and in gross motor and socio-emotional development [ 24 ].…”