Research Findings: We examined whether Head Start teachers' depressive symptoms are associated with their engagement in high-quality conversations with children, and we considered the extent to which this association is consistent across classroom contexts and activities. Observations of Head Start teachers' conversations with children were…

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development and a model-building approach, the authors examined direct and indirect associations between first-grade (G1) classroom-level adversity (CLA), G1 teaching practices, and student (N = 1,073; M = 6.64 years; 49% girls; 82%…

Concerns regarding the social-behavioral maladjustment of U.S. youth have spurred efforts among educators and policymakers to identify and remedy educational contexts that exacerbate children's anxiety, depression, aggression, and misconduct. However, investigations of the influence of collective classroom student characteristics on individuals'…

This study examined home environment conditions (housing quality, material resources, formal and informal learning materials) and their relations with the Human Development Index (HDI) in 28 developing countries. Home environment conditions in these countries varied widely. The quality of housing and availability of material resources at home were…

This study aimed to develop a brief caregiver-report instrument for measuring the home environment of children aged three and under, as part of the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study (TBCS). Instrument development was conducted by translating and adapting the Home Observation for the Measurement of Environment Inventory-Short Form (HOME-SF) which comprises…

The current study was designed to investigate how the quality of stimulation and support available to children in the home interacts with participation in Early Head Start to determine children's development. Data were obtained as part of the national evaluation of Early Head Start (EHSRE), a randomized trial involving 3,001 children and families…

This study examined the moderating effects of family conflict and gender on the relationship between community violence and psychosocial development at age 18. The study sample consisted of 728 children and families who were part of the Infant Health and Development Program study of low-birth-weight, pre-term infants. In this sample, adolescent…

Residential crowding in both U.S. and U.K. samples of 36-month-old children is related concurrently to the Bracken scale, a standard index of early cognitive development skills including letter and color identification, shape recognition, and elementary numeric comprehension. In the U.S. sample, these effects also replicate prospectively.…

This article reviews the findings from our assessments of children and their families in two Head Start programs using the Family Map. Specifically, we used the Family Map assessment tool to identify risks to children associated with alcohol and drug use in families with young children. Practical suggestions are offered to administrators about the…

This study examines the usefulness of a screening process implemented in the context of a Head Start home visit and compares families who screened positive for substance abuse with those who did not on an array of child and family indicators important for healthy child development. The sample included 1,105 low-income families with preschool-age…

The authors examined the relation of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory (B. M. Caldwell & R. H. Bradley, 1984) for 0- to 6-year-old Sundanese Indonesian children with the quality of the mother-child attachment relationship (n = 44) and attachment-related behaviors during play interactions (n = 37) and with…

As part of a larger, on-going study conducted through the Center for Child Development and Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, this paper explores the influence of the home environment on children's psychological functioning in school and on their academic achievement. Data were obtained on home experience, classroom social…

Evaluated versions of the HOME Inventory for use in assessing family child care homes. Found that psychometric properties of child care versions of HOME were similar to those of the original HOME for the family environment. Child care HOME scores were strongly related to observational measures of caregiver behavior and to measures of physical and…

Failure-to-thrive infants were more often found in homes that were disorganized and where mothers were less responsive and less accepting of their child's behavior than were normally developing infants. Results suggest that infants need a socially and physically responsive environment which they can control to some extent. (RH)

Focuses on theoretical and practical difficulties in constructing and evaluating a measure of the home environment of a diversity of families. Describes limitations of theory to guide developmental indicator selection and ways to deal with these limitations. Discusses rationale for selecting criteria for judging test validity and use of cause…