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 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, M-age = 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.