Examining the Relationship of Home and Child Care Chaos to Children’s Executive Functions

Environmental chaos refers to microsystems with high levels of noise, disorganization, crowding, and a lack of routines that make children feel safe. Available studies point out that home chaos-related commotion, unpredictability, and sources of distraction are negatively associated with the develop...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Figen Eroğlu Ada, Feyza Çorapçı, Elif Aysimi Duman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Istanbul University Press 2023-04-01
Series:Psikoloji Çalışmaları
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/3063ABC8E6E24424AC9AFFAF60481CA1
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850149187949166592
author Figen Eroğlu Ada
Feyza Çorapçı
Elif Aysimi Duman
author_facet Figen Eroğlu Ada
Feyza Çorapçı
Elif Aysimi Duman
author_sort Figen Eroğlu Ada
collection DOAJ
description Environmental chaos refers to microsystems with high levels of noise, disorganization, crowding, and a lack of routines that make children feel safe. Available studies point out that home chaos-related commotion, unpredictability, and sources of distraction are negatively associated with the development of executive functions, which consist of the components of cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control. Meanwhile, no study has yet examined the relationship between executive functions and child care chaos or the interaction between home and child care chaos. The present study aims to investigate the relationship of home and child care chaos with children’s executive functions. The participants involve 244 preschoolers (121 girls and 123 boys, Mage = 60.89 ± 8.39 months), as well as their mothers and teachers. Home and child care chaos were measured respectively by having mothers fill out the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS; Matheny et al., 1995) and the teachers fill out the Life in Early Childhood Programs Scale (LECP; Kontos & Wachs, 2000). Children’s executive functions were assessed using the direct observation method with a battery of four tasks. The correlation-based findings reveal statistically significant and negative associations for home and child care chaos with children’s executive functions. The study conducted a moderation analysis to test the main and interactive relations of home and child care chaos, with the result showing a significant interaction between the chaos levels in both environments. These findings point to the protective role of a calm, structured, and predictable environment in child care for children with high levels of home chaos. On the other hand, high levels of environmental chaos both at home and child care pose the greatest risk for children by creating a double jeopardy. The study discusses these findings in terms of practical applications for intervention programs that aim to support the executive functions of children who are exposed to high levels of environmental chaos.
format Article
id doaj-art-1b5a37ec3fe74bb39869cb1417d6e633
institution OA Journals
issn 2602-2982
language English
publishDate 2023-04-01
publisher Istanbul University Press
record_format Article
series Psikoloji Çalışmaları
spelling doaj-art-1b5a37ec3fe74bb39869cb1417d6e6332025-08-20T02:27:00ZengIstanbul University PressPsikoloji Çalışmaları2602-29822023-04-0143114117010.26650/SP2022-1152303123456Examining the Relationship of Home and Child Care Chaos to Children’s Executive FunctionsFigen Eroğlu Ada0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4331-1656Feyza Çorapçı1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4174-4893Elif Aysimi Duman2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0973-6869İstanbul Üniversitesi, İstanbul, TürkiyeBoğaziçi Üniversitesi, İstanbul, TürkiyeBoğaziçi Üniversitesi, İstanbul, TürkiyeEnvironmental chaos refers to microsystems with high levels of noise, disorganization, crowding, and a lack of routines that make children feel safe. Available studies point out that home chaos-related commotion, unpredictability, and sources of distraction are negatively associated with the development of executive functions, which consist of the components of cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control. Meanwhile, no study has yet examined the relationship between executive functions and child care chaos or the interaction between home and child care chaos. The present study aims to investigate the relationship of home and child care chaos with children’s executive functions. The participants involve 244 preschoolers (121 girls and 123 boys, Mage = 60.89 ± 8.39 months), as well as their mothers and teachers. Home and child care chaos were measured respectively by having mothers fill out the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS; Matheny et al., 1995) and the teachers fill out the Life in Early Childhood Programs Scale (LECP; Kontos & Wachs, 2000). Children’s executive functions were assessed using the direct observation method with a battery of four tasks. The correlation-based findings reveal statistically significant and negative associations for home and child care chaos with children’s executive functions. The study conducted a moderation analysis to test the main and interactive relations of home and child care chaos, with the result showing a significant interaction between the chaos levels in both environments. These findings point to the protective role of a calm, structured, and predictable environment in child care for children with high levels of home chaos. On the other hand, high levels of environmental chaos both at home and child care pose the greatest risk for children by creating a double jeopardy. The study discusses these findings in terms of practical applications for intervention programs that aim to support the executive functions of children who are exposed to high levels of environmental chaos.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/3063ABC8E6E24424AC9AFFAF60481CA1home chaoschild care chaosexecutive functionspreschool period
spellingShingle Figen Eroğlu Ada
Feyza Çorapçı
Elif Aysimi Duman
Examining the Relationship of Home and Child Care Chaos to Children’s Executive Functions
Psikoloji Çalışmaları
home chaos
child care chaos
executive functions
preschool period
title Examining the Relationship of Home and Child Care Chaos to Children’s Executive Functions
title_full Examining the Relationship of Home and Child Care Chaos to Children’s Executive Functions
title_fullStr Examining the Relationship of Home and Child Care Chaos to Children’s Executive Functions
title_full_unstemmed Examining the Relationship of Home and Child Care Chaos to Children’s Executive Functions
title_short Examining the Relationship of Home and Child Care Chaos to Children’s Executive Functions
title_sort examining the relationship of home and child care chaos to children s executive functions
topic home chaos
child care chaos
executive functions
preschool period
url https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/3063ABC8E6E24424AC9AFFAF60481CA1
work_keys_str_mv AT figenerogluada examiningtherelationshipofhomeandchildcarechaostochildrensexecutivefunctions
AT feyzacorapcı examiningtherelationshipofhomeandchildcarechaostochildrensexecutivefunctions
AT elifaysimiduman examiningtherelationshipofhomeandchildcarechaostochildrensexecutivefunctions