The Relation of Infants' Home Environments to Mental Test Performance from 6 to 36 Months: A Longitudinal Analysis.

This study attempted to determine whether the mental test performance of 77 children tested at 6, 12, and 36 months of age could be predicted from scores on an Inventory of Home Stimulation used to assess the children's home environment during their infancy. The Inventory of Home Stimulation had six subscales: (1) emotional and verbal responsivity of the mother, (2) avoidance of restriction and punishment, (3) organization of the physical and temporal environment, (4) provision of appropriate play materials, (5) maternal involvement with the child, and (6) opportunities for variety in daily stimulation. This inventory was used to assess home environments when children were 6, 12 and 24 months of age. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development were used to measure mental performance when children were 6 and 12 months old; the Stanford-Binet scale was used when they were 36 months old. Correlations of the home inventory scores with Stanford-Binet scores were generally higher than those reported in an earlier study by McCall et al, which related infant tests and parental educational level to childhood IQ. It was concluded that the Inventory has the potential for use in the differential diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses in an infant's environment. (Author)