Effects of Household Chaos and Preschool Childcare Quality on Child Social Competence for School Readiness

Realizing a number of children in early childhood are not sufficiently prepared to enter school, this study was designed to examine and improve contextual features of the home and preschool environment for school readiness. Little research has explored the association between household chaos and children’s development of social competence. Additionally, as several states in the US have launched state government-funded “Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)” to improve the quality of early childhood education, an evaluation of the system was needed. The current study examined the links among household chaos, QRIS quality, and children’s social competence, using a sample of 4844 parents with a preschool age child from 568 QRIS rated preschool programs in Ohio. Analysis revealed that a disorganized and chaotic home environment was a significantly unique risk factor of a child’s social competence after controlling for the child age, gender and family SES. There was little evidence of QRIS influences on child social competence, and no significant moderating effect of QRIS between the relationship of household chaos and child outcomes; however, this study guided future research on QRIS and home environment. Finally, this study emphasized the importance of early childhoodintervention and prevention programs for young children’s school readiness.