Effects of Environmental Measures on Intelligence in Young Children: Growth Curve Modeling of Longitudinal Data

Abstract

Effects of different environmental measures on individual intellectual growth patterns were examined in 105 young children participating in a longitudinal study. Intelligence 4 th edition) was measured at ages 3 through 6 years, and child's environment (HOME and SES) was assessed at age 3 years. Growth curve analyses revealed that HOME scores exerted a constant influence on the expected composite, verbal, and nonverbal intellectual skills at each age. Only SES influenced the rate of growth, specifically nonverbal intellectual skills. The magnitudes of these effects were moderate, but consistent, regardless of whether age-standardized or subscale raw scores were analyzed. These findings confirm that HOME and SES scores are more than just different types of measures of the child's environment.Performance on cognitive tests in childhood typically is better predicted by measures of the home environment and by variables that influ- Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, January 2001, Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 42-73 This research is supported by grant R01 HD17860 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.We thank the participating children and their parents in the southern Illinois area. We also thank Tina Carpenter, Melissa Taylor, Theresa Senn, and Arlene Modglin for their help in test administration, data reduction, figure preparation, and project management. The helpful comments of three anonymous reviewers also are acknowledged.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Dr. Victoria J. Molfese, Nystrand/Ashland Chair, School of Education, Room 236, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208 or Dr. Kimberly Andrews Espy, Department of Psychiatry, Mailcode 6503, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL 62901-6503. Email: tori@louisville.edu. ence the intellectual level of the home environment than by biomedical risk factors or infant developmental indices. In studies of normal and "atrisk" children (including preterm, low birthweight, and low socioeconomic status [SES]), strong correlations between markers for home environment quality (SES, maternal intelligence, characteristics of the home, and parenting practices) and performance on intelligence tests in infancy and early childhood are reported (e.g., Bradley, 1993;Bradley et al., 1993;Gottfried, 1984;Molfese, DiLalla, & Bunce, 1997;Molfese, DiLalla, & Lovelace, 1995;Schiamberg & Lee, 1991). The consistency in findings is remarkable in part because of the variety of measures used across studies to index home environment, including both molecular and molar measures (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). Results from these studies make a strong case for the influence of home environment on development, thereby suggesting that the child's environment, even when considered in the larger context, influences the development of intelligence.Although the value of home environment in predictive models has been demonstrated with preschool and school-aged children, several issues have not been addressed. First, most studies of the...

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