Environmental opportunities facilitating cognitive development in preschoolers: development of a multicriteria index

Abstract

Access to environmental opportunities can favor children’s learning and cognitive development. The objectives is to construct an index that synthesizes environmental learning opportunities for preschoolers considering the home environment and verify whether the index can predict preschoolers’ cognitive development. A quantitative, cross-sectional, exploratory study was conducted with 51 preschoolers using a multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT). The criteria used for drawing up the index were supported by the literature and subdivided in Group A “Resources from the house” extracted from HOME Inventory including: (1) to have three or more puzzles; (2) have at least ten children’s books; (3) be encouraged to learn the alphabet; (4) take the family out at least every 2 weeks. Group B “Screens” (5) caution with using television; (6) total screen time in day/minutes. Group C “Parental Schooling” (7) maternal and paternal education. Pearson correlation analyses and univariate linear regression were performed to verify the relationship between the established index with cognitive test results. The index correlated with the total score of the mini-mental state exam (MMC) and verbal fluency test (VF) in the category of total word production and word production without errors. Multicriteria index explained 18% of the VF (total word production), 19% of the VF (total production of words without errors) and 17% of the MMC. The present multicriteria index has potential application as it synthesizes the preschooler’s environmental learning opportunities and predicts domains of child cognitive development.

Long-Lasting Effects of Changes in Daily Routine during the Pandemic-Related Lockdown on Preschoolers’ Language and Emotional–Behavioral Development: A Moderation Analysis

“…Accordingly, several findings suggest that the quality of a child’s home environment impacts their cognitive and socio-emotional development in middle childhood [ 9 ]. Similarly, early care and education have considerable short- and long-term effects on children’s cognitive skills (e.g., attention, memory, problem solving, and language) and social-emotional development [ 10 , 11 ]. Both the amount of exposure and the quality of the instructional and social transactions that form toddlers’ early care and education experiences affect the trajectories they will follow when they encounter formal schooling and progress into their middle-childhood years [ 12 ].…”