Family and Neighborhood Disadvantage,

Home Environment, and Childrens School

Readiness
Published on Aug. 25, 2014
Journal of Family Psychology 2014, Vol. 28, No. 5, pages 718-727
By Lieny Jeon, Cynthia K. Buettner, and Eunhye Hur
Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University

Intro to Teaching:
Article Review by Delany Callahan

Family and Neighborhood Disadvantage, Home Environment, and

School Readiness
A Critique by Delany Callahan
Abstract: This article reports the findings of a study on school
readiness in children. It examines which socio-economic and
parental factors affect the cognitive skills and social/emotional
competence of children the most. The measurement of childrens
vocabulary, literacy, language, and mathematical development as
well as childrens sociable behavior and emotional regulation
determine school readiness. Figure 1 below represents the
findings of this study.

Those who conducted this study used well-respected tests to

measure cognitive skills in children as well as social and
emotional maturity. Their findings show that family risks,
neighborhood risks, parental well-being, and at home stimulation
have great impacts on childhood development. Consequently,
these factors influence a childs preparedness for the school
environment, the demands of learning new information, and,
ultimately, their quality of life. Children who are more ready to
enter school attain greater academic achievement and increased
social-emotional adaptation, which coincide with positive
behavioral outcomes (Welsh, Nix, Blai, Bierman, & Nelson, 2010).
Fewer crimes and higher rates of employment in later life are also

associated (Schweinhart et al.,2005). On the other hand, less

preparedness often leads to lower grades, peer rejection,
negative feedback from teachers, and lower levels of selfregulation (Welsh et al., 2010). Therefore, the factors that
contribute to school readiness are very important to examine.
Their research concludes that children with a lesser socioeconomic status (SES) are the most disadvantaged when entering
school. They explain that household income, parental educational
attainment, and family structure are key elements of SES, with
household income likely being the most impactful as families
need financial resources to support the health and welfare of each
individual. The Ohio State team concludes that parents deliver the
greatest impact on their children when it comes to investment in
children and family stress. In Figure 1, it shows that cognitive
stimulation in the home is the only factor that directly affects both
cognitive skills and social/emotional competence. It also shows
that parent depression, or parent wellbeing, is the only factor that
directly affects social and emotional competence other than
cognitive stimulation. Parents are responsible for the home
environment and ensuring that their child receives adequate
stimulation to promote brain growth. If a parent neglects this
responsibility, the child suffers. The reasons why a parent might
neglect these responsibilities are numerous. The researchers
compassionately hypothesize that parents in low socio-economic
positions may be suffering from a lack of energy, time, and
financial resources to invest in a positive learning environment at
home (p. 718) due to economic stress. In addition, economic
burdens may also cause parents to experience depression or
emotional strain. Such emotional strain can dull a womans
caring, motherly instincts and may promote negative family
interactions (Goodman et al.,2011).
However, the potential failure of low-income parents to
prepare their child for a lifetime of educational and personal
success goes beyond the tangible or emotional effects of financial
constraints. Generally, when people are low-income it is a result
of being uneducated. This lack of education can breed poor
language skills, ignorant attitudes or ideas, uninformed parenting,
and a non-nurturing environment for children. In addition,
depression is not necessarily a result of economic woes, but could

be a cause. Adult life is full of challenges. Varying levels of

depression or emotional fluctuation are common to most people.
Emotional struggles affect ones motivation and ability to make
positive decisions. It turns many into addicts or keeps them stuck
in dead-end jobs. It causes people to be emotionally reactive, selffocused, and non-achieving. Sometimes these pitfalls are only for
a season, but other times people struggle for years. Many people
are now having babies unexpectedly without having a marital
partner as well. The result is often single, unprepared parents
with neglected children.
Thankfully, educators are passionate about stepping in the
gap for children and parents to provide resources and help. One
struggle is that so much of a childs cognitive potential is
determined in the first four years of life when they are virtually
unreachable by educators. Unless a child attends a childcare
facility, or a parent enrolls her in pre-school, a child may not get
the interaction and exposure needed. Preschool and daycare
vouchers for low-income parents can be incredibly useful in
solving this problem and giving these children the best possible
future.