Early Home Environment and Mental Test Performance: A Structural Analysis

Abstract

A theoretical model of early environment action was examined on a sample of 282 infants representing two racial groups (Caucasian, African-American). Children were obtained from three different sites in the United States. The model examined included the following variables: socioeconomic status (SES), early cognitive status (Bayley MDI at 12 months), stimulation within the home environment (subscales from the HOME Inventory at 12 and 24 months), parents use of negative control (subscales from the HOME Inventory at 12 and 24 months), and later cognitive status (36-month Stanford-Binet IQ). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the LISREL software was used to confirm the fit of the model for African-Americans and Caucasians and for males and females separately. The models for males and females had similar structures, but not equal coefficients for all paths in the model. The models showed significant paths from socioeconomic status and early cognitive status to stimulation with the home environment, a sig...