Home Chaos: Sociodemographic, Parenting, Interactional, and Child Correlates

Abstract

We conducted 2 studies to (a) establish the usefulness of the construct of home chaos, (b) investigate its correlates, and (c) determine the validity of the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS) used to measure the construct in each study. Study 1 relied on a sample of European American preschoolers and their mothers and Study 2 on a sample of African American school-age children and their caregivers. Home chaos was associated with less effective parental discipline; elevated behavior problems, limited attentional focusing, and reduced ability to understand and respond to social cues in children; and reduced accuracy and efficiency in a cooperative parent-child interactional task, after controlling for potential confounds. It is concluded that (a) home chaos is not a proxy for adverse social or psychological circumstances but a useful construct in its own right; (b) home chaos is associated with multiple detrimental correlates in parents and children; and (c) the CHAOS scale provides an adequate and economical measure of home confusion and disorganization that should prove useful in clinical research with diverse populations.

Advancing Our Knowledge of ADHD in Latino Children: Psychometric and Cultural Properties of Spanish-Versions of Parental/Family Functioning Measures

“…Specifically, parents who reported higher levels of chaos in the home were more likely to report clinically elevated levels of externalizing behaviors in their children. This is consistent with the original, English version of the CHAOS that has been shown to have good reliability and positive correlations with parenting stress and child externalizing behaviors (Dumas et al 2005).…”

“…Thus, the goal of the current study was to establish both the psychometric and cultural properties of several Spanish versions of measures commonly used in comprehensive ADHD assessments. Specifically, the present study examined the psychometric and cultural properties of the Spanish translations of the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC; as cited in Johnston and Mash 1989), Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ; Shelton et al 1996), and Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS; Dumas et al 2005). …”

Effectiveness of a multimedia outreach kit for families of wounded veterans

“…(12) found that children reared in inconsistent home environments lacking in routine and organization tended to display more conduct problems. Among caregivers, perceptions of disruption in the home are related to less effective discipline (13), fewer supportive responses by caregivers to children's negative emotions (14), higher stress, and lower warmth (15). The Sesame Street materials, tested during this research, are designed to improve vital caregiver and child interactions during times of stress.…”

Cross-Cultural Study Of Mother-Child Interactions And Child’s Intelligence

“…As an example, the interrelationship between the perceived home instability and low levels of child intelligence is reported (Dumas et al, 2005), as well as high level of behavioral disorders (Petrill et al, 2004). As reported in a longitudinal study of the direction of effects of family environment and child intelligence, the perceived family environment instability influences low intelligence in children (DeaterDeckard et al, 2009).…”

“…In the studies on the links between parenting and children's cognitive abilities, the family environment is traditionally analyzed through child's perceptions of family stability/chaos (Dumas et al, 2005). As an example, the interrelationship between the perceived home instability and low levels of child intelligence is reported (Dumas et al, 2005), as well as high level of behavioral disorders (Petrill et al, 2004).…”