February 2020

Child outcomes at age 5 and home environment factors

Report summary


Child outcomes

The analysis considered the following child outcomes:

  • Cognitive development:
    • language skills
    • non-verbal ability

 

  • Socio-emotional problems:
    • externalising behaviour (e.g. child loses temper, argues with other children)
    • internalising behaviour (e.g. child is easily upset, is anxious)

 

  • Socio-emotional strengths:
    • sociability (e.g. child has friends, plays with other children)
    • prosocial behaviour (e.g. child is co-operative, is helpful, shares things)
    • behavioural self-regulation (e.g. child follows instructions, waits their turn)
    • cognitive self-regulation (e.g. child choses their own tasks, persists with tasks)
    • emotional self-regulation (e.g. child is calm, keeps temper)

 

  • Progress at school
    • Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) total score (teacher assessment at the end of reception year)

 

Home environment factors

Nine home environment factors were included in the analyses:

  • Home Learning Environment (HLE) index (learning activities in home: e.g. parents read with child, child draws/paints at home)
  • Household Disorder (e.g. house is noisy, house is disorganised).
  • Parent’s Psychological Distress (e.g. symptoms of depression or anxiety).
  • Limit Setting (i.e. how often parents set limits on their child’s behaviour).
  • Warmth (closeness in the parent/child relationship: e.g. relationship is affectionate, parent and child do things together).
  • Invasiveness (conflict in the parent/child relationship: e.g. parent finds child annoying).
  • Authoritative parenting, characterized by high demands / high responsiveness.
  • Authoritarian parenting, characterized by high demands / low responsiveness.
  • Permissive parenting, characterized by low demands / low or high responsiveness.

 

For more information please refer to the full report.