The influence of poverty on school readiness of 5-year-old children: Mediating roles of home environment and parenting

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Psikoloji Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2015

Öğrenci: ŞÜKRAN OKUR

Danışman: SİBEL KAZAK BERUMENT

Özet:

The current study investigated the mediating roles of home environment characteristics such as chaos and stimulation, in addition to the mediating roles of maternal factors such as maternal depression and parenting quality in the relationship between poverty variables (income, parental education, material hardships including availability of materials and opportunities and food insecurity) and school readiness outcomes including vocabulary, mathematic skills and phonological awareness. Participants were 5 year-old children and their mothers living in socioeconomically disadvantaged regions of Ankara and Mersin. A path analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to test the hypotheses of the study. The results indicated that among the poverty variables, family income level positively but food insecurity of the household negatively predicted children’s school readiness outcomes through household chaos, stimulation in the home environment and maternal hostility. Stimulation in the home environment was positively associated with children’s vocabulary and mathematic skills, whereas maternal hostility was negatively associated with vocabulary, mathematic skills and phonological awareness of children. The findings of the study are consistent with the literature, suggesting that the influence of poverty on children’s school readiness is mediated by the characteristics of the home environment and parenting quality. The findings of the study were discussed for further research and social policies.