Research on the Adjustment of Latchkey Children: Role of Background/Demographic and Latchkey Situation Variables

Abstract

We studied the relationships among four "latchkey" situation variables (length of time in self-care, hours per week in self-care, presence of other children, and interaction with peers while in self-care), seven background/demographic variables (age, race, and sex of child; community size; family income; parents' marital status; and recent life stress), and three indices of adjustment in 97 elementary school-age latchkey children. Significant amounts of the variance in the latchkey children's anxiety, self-perceived social ability, and behavior problems were accounted for by several of the background/demographic and latchkey situation variables. No differences were found between the 97 latchkey children and the 19 non-latchkey control children in anxiety, self-perceived social ability, or behavior problems. The amount of variance in the 116 children's adjustment accounted for by whether or not the child was latchkey was minimal when compared to amounts accounted for by the demographic/background variables.