Early home environment and changes in mental test performance in children from 6 to 36 months

Administered the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 6 mo and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale at 3 yrs to 77 normal children. When each S was 6 mo old, the family was observed and interviewed using the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME), a measure of the quality of stimulation in the early environment. A difference of 21 or more points between a S's 6-mo Bayley Mental Development Index score and 3-yr Stanford-Binet score was used to determine whether the S had increased, remained stable, or decreased in mental test performance. Multiple discriminant analyses were done using the 6 subscales of the HOME inventory to differentiate among increasers, nonchangers, and decreasers. Increases in test performance were related to 2 subscales, Maternal Involvement with Child and Provision of Appropriate Play Materials. Decreases were related to inadequate Organization of Physical and Temporal Environment. Results indicate that home environment may contribute to instability of performance on infant tests. Results are in agreement with the findings of R. B. McCall et al (see record 1975-04922-001) regarding gains for 21/2-17 yr olds, except that the parents' method of discipline may not be quite so important for infants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).