Examining the Effects of the Home Environment on Children's Emotional and Behavioral Regulation

Abstract

Social competence paves the way to a successful future. Factors such as parental involvement, gender, and chaos in the home have been found to have influence the development of children and their social competence. The current study is specifically focusing on the ability that children have to regulate their emotions and behaviors based on parental involvement and chaos in the home. We hypothesized that higher levels of chaos in the home and lower levels of parental involvement would be associated with lower emotional and behavioral regulation, and that these associations would be stronger for male children compared to female children. The researchers for this study used archival data to examine the relationships between these variables, using questionnaires given to caregivers based on their child's social competence. These questionnaires were used to measure behavior and emotional regulation, parental involvement, and home chaos. The questionnaires used in this study was The Social Competence Scale , The Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale, and The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire. The results showed that lower parental involvement and home chaos were associated with lower behavior and emotion regulation. These findings may mean that once parents become more aware of social competence and how crucial it is to development, they will become more involved in their child's life.