The Relation of Infants' Home Environments to Mental Test Performance at Fifty-four Months: A Follow-up Study

Abstract

BRADLEY, ROBERT H., and CALDWELL, BETTYE M. The Relation of Infants' Home Environments to Mental Test Performance at Fifty-four Months: A Follow-up Study. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1976, 47, 1172-1174. In an earlier study Elardo, Bradley, and Caldwell used the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) to examine relations between the quality of stimulation available in infants' home environments and the infants' mental test scores. HOME scores taken during the first 2 years of life showed a moderate relation to performance on the Bayley Mental Development Index and a strong relationship to 3-year Stanford-Binet IQ. Results from the present follow-up study indicate that home environment scores during the first 2 years of life were strongly related to 54-month IQ scores. Of the 6 aspects of home environment measured by HOME, Emotional and Verbal Responsivity of Mother, Maternal Involvement with Child, and Provision of Appropriate Play Materials revealed the most substantial association with mental test performance at 54 months. Results show that the pattern of relationships between HOME scores and mental test performance changes somewhat across the early childhood years.