Environmental impact on young children's participation in home‐based activities

Abstract

AIM To test the effect of child, family, and environmental factors on young children’s participation in home-based activities. METHOD Caregivers of young children were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling. Participants were 395 caregivers of children aged from 1 month to 5 years and 11 months. Demographic items and the home section of the Young Children’s Participation and Environment Measure were administered online, followed by completion of the daily activities, mobility, and social/cognitive domains of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory Computer Adaptive Test by telephone interview. RESULTS A structural equation model fitted the data well (comparative fit index=0.91) and explained 31.2% of the variance in perceived environmental support and 42.5% of the variance in home involvement. Functional limitations and performance had an indirect effect on young children’s participation through their effect on perceived environmental support. Specifically, fewer functional limitations and higher task performance were associated with greater environmental support, which in turn predicted higher levels of home involvement. INTERPRETATION Results suggest the importance of a young child’s functional abilities and task performance on caregiver perceptions of environmental support at home, and the impact of environmental support on a child’s participation in home-based activities during the early childhood period. Results warrant replication with more diverse samples to evaluate model generalizability.

Determinants of change in home participation among critically ill children

“…This measure yields normative scores in four domains: daily activities, social/cognitive, mobility, and responsibility. 17,21 Hence, for this study, we computed a dichotomous PEDI-CAT score, using a 10th percentile cut-off point based on the scaled score for the daily activities domain. 20 Previous studies with a mixed sample of children with and without disabilities have established small to moderate associations between Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure home involvement scores and children's PEDI-CAT norm scores for daily activities, and a significant indirect effect of PEDI-CAT daily activities norm scores on home involvement.…”

“…On the basis of previous studies, 16,17 we also expected child functional abilities and environmental factors to significantly predict participation. Given the significant amount of time children and adolescents spend in their homes, particularly during recovery from critical illness, the primary objectives of this study were to explore change in home participation frequency and involvement of critically ill children over the first 6 months after discharge (aim 1) and to identify child, service, and environmental factors that predict participation frequency and involvement change in the home setting (aim 2).…”

Differences between Pre-School Children with and without Special Educational Needs Functioning, Participation, and Environmental Barriers at Home and in Community Settings: An International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health for Children and Youth Approach

“…However, as the ICF-CY biopsychosocial paradigm of health and functioning theorizes, the environment has shown to play a vital role in explaining children's participation levels (Anaby et al, 2014;Albrecht and Khetani, 2016;Guichard and Grande, 2017;Di Marino et al, 2018). Environmental factors interact with all components of functioning and provide an assessment of the physical, social, and attitudinal impact of barriers and supports to participation.…”

“…Studies have emphasized the role of environmental factors in the participation of pre-school-and school-aged children in everyday life situations (Anaby et al, 2014;Albrecht and Khetani, 2016;Guichard and Grande, 2017;Di Marino et al, 2018). Results showed that child characteristics (namely child functioning, the presence of disability, functional limitations, or complexity of the child's condition) had an indirect effect on participation in home, school, or community activities through perceived environmental barriers or supports by parents.…”

“…Results showed that child characteristics (namely child functioning, the presence of disability, functional limitations, or complexity of the child's condition) had an indirect effect on participation in home, school, or community activities through perceived environmental barriers or supports by parents. This evidence suggest that specific environmental factors are modified and are considered a major target of intervention to promote child participation and functioning (Anaby et al, 2014;Albrecht and Khetani, 2016;Guichard and Grande, 2017;Di Marino et al, 2018).…”