BACKGROUND: Little is known about preschool parents' cognitions, barriers, supports and modeling of key obesogenic behaviors, including breakfast, fruit and vegetable consumption, sugary beverage intake, feeding practices, portion sizes, active playtime, reduced screen-time, sleep and selection of child-care centers with characteristics that promote healthy behaviors. METHODS: Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine these factors via survey and focus groups among 139 parents of 2- to 5-year-old children. Standard content analysis procedures were used to identify trends and themes in the focus group data, and Analysis of Variance was used to test for differences between groups in the survey data. RESULTS: Results showed 80% of parents ate breakfast daily, consumed sugary beverages 2.7 ± 2.5SD days per week, and had at least two different vegetables and fruits an average of 5.2 ± 1.8SD and 4.6 ± 2.0SD days per week. Older parents and those with greater education drank significantly fewer sugary drinks. Parents played actively a mean 4.2 ± 2.2 hours/week with their preschoolers, who watched television a mean 2.4 ± 1.7 hours/day. Many parents reported having a bedtime routine for their preschooler and choosing childcare centers that replaced screen-time with active play and nutrition education. Common barriers to choosing healthful behaviors included lack of time; neighborhood safety; limited knowledge of portion size, cooking methods, and ways to prepare healthy foods or play active indoor games; the perceived cost of healthy options, and family members who were picky eaters. Supports for performing healthful behaviors included planning ahead, introducing new foods and behaviors often and in tandem with existing preferred foods and behaviors, and learning strategies from other parents. CONCLUSIONS: Future education programs with preschool parents should emphasize supports and encourage parents to share helpful strategies with each other.

A contemporary view of early childhood motor development considers environmental influences as critical factors in optimal growth and behavior, with the home being the primary agent. However, minimal research exists examining the relationship between motor development and the home. The present dissertation addresses this gap with the goal of creating an innovative parental self-report instrument for assessing the quality and quantity of factors (affordances and events) in the home that are conducive to enhancing motor development in children ages 18-to-42 months. In Study 1, following initial face validity determination, expert opinion feedback and selective pilot-testing, construct validity was examined using 381 Portuguese families. Factor analysis techniques were used to (1) compare competing factorial models according to previous theoretical assumptions, and to (2) analyze the fit of the preferred model. Of the five plausible models tested, the 5-factor solution provided the best fit to the data. Reliability was established through the scale reliability coefficient with a value of .85. Study 2 tests for the content validity of the instrument, examining the relationship between the inventory and level of motor development. Fifty-one (51) participants from the original sample were assessed for motor development using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales II (PDMS2). Comparisons were made between the PDMS2 classifications of the AHEMD-SR quartile groups. Results supported the primary hypothesis, that is, less favorable motor development was associated with less availability of home affordances. Furthermore, the interaction of (factors) Inside Space and Variety of Stimulation was significantly related to both Gross and Total Motor Development scores. The findings of these two studies suggest that the AHEMD-SR is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing how well home environments afford movement and potentially promote motor development.

This thesis attempts to problematize and rethink the inter-related construction of the categories of "environment" and "fitness". It argues that environments are materially and discursively constructed through the mutually constitutive mobilization of networks of human and non-human actors by particularly powerful centers of translation, and that these processes increasingly involve the construction of environments configured to the requirements of an ideal of fitness - a fitness defined in terms of risk, flexibility, response-ability, responsibility, mobility, and consumption. In developing this argument particular attention is given to the relations between bodies and technologies as actors constitutive of the networks from which environments are constructed. As a specific illustrative example of this, the efforts of the fitness equipment manufacturer NordicTrack to mobilize and translate diverse networks of actors in the space of the home and then represent these hybrid networks as ontologically purified, meaningful and marketable environments are examined. The ontological and spatial ambiguity of the types of environments constructed by corporations such as NordicTrack is then discussed, this ambiguity being registered in the difficulty of positioning the boundaries between categories such as subject and object, nature and culture, human and machine, real and virtual. Finally, having illustrated that these ambiguous environments are perhaps constituted by communities of human and non-human actors, this thesis then suggests that such a recognition might open up space for critical geographical imaginations that are responsive to the possibility that political, ethical, and moral community and agency are co-constructions of humans and non-humans. / Master of Science

The purpose of the current study was to examine the mediating role of language in explaining the relation between home environment and prefrontal functioning. Participants were 30 children from two preschool centers (Virginia Tech Lab School and Radford Head Start Center) representing a wide range of socio-economic status. Children's working memory was assessed through performing two verbal tasks, namely the Day/Night task and the Yes/No task and a non-verbal task, the Tapping task. Language, in turn, was assessed through the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III). The criteria proposed by Baron and Kenny (1986) were followed to test for the mediational hypothesis, as well as an alternative hypothesis stating that working memory might mediate the relation between home environment and language. Results indicated that language did mediate the relation between home environment and prefrontal functioning, particularly working memory. The alternative hypothesis did not prove to be successful. Theoretical and educational implications of these findings are discussed. / Master of Science

Thesis advisor: Penny Hauser-Cram / This dissertation utilized data from the Early Intervention Collaborative Study (EICS), a longitudinal study of children with developmental disabilities (DD) and their families (Hauser-Cram, Warfield, Shonkoff, & Krauss, 2001). The sample for this dissertation consisted of 170 children with DD, their parents, and their teachers. During home visits at ages 2 and 3, mothers and fathers reported on indicators of the home and family environment, and interactions between children and their mothers were observed. At ages 3, 5, 8, 10, and 15, teachers reported on children's levels of classroom-based adaptive functioning. Multilevel modeling was used to examine children's trajectories of classroom-based adaptive functioning. Indicators of the early childhood home and family environment were explored as predictors of these trajectories. The following research questions were addressed: (1) What are the trajectories of classroom-based adaptive functioning among children with DD from ages 3 to 15? (2) Are levels of adaptive functioning in the classroom stable over time, between the ages of 3 and 15? (3) Is there variability in rates of change in adaptive functioning over time, with some children developing more rapidly than others? (4) Do characteristics of the early childhood home and family longitudinally predict children's adaptive functioning in the classroom at age 3 and from ages 3 to15? (5) Which domains of classroom adaptive functioning are predicted by characteristics of the home and family? Results indicated that children's classroom-based adaptive functioning raw scores increase over time. In each domain of adaptive functioning (socialization, communication, and daily living skills) there was significant variability in initial status and rate of change. As hypothesized, quality of early childhood mother-child interaction was predictive of adaptive functioning, with higher quality mother-child interaction associated with more positive functioning. Contrary to hypotheses, the number of negative life events experienced by the family during early childhood was also positively related to classroom adaptive functioning, with more events related to higher levels of functioning. Overall, the findings indicated the influence of the early childhood home and family environment on classroom-based adaptive functioning over time. Policy implications and areas for future research are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

This study attempts to answer the question of why some children fail while others succeed in the first year of school when they appear to have at least average abilities and to come from family environments which seem, on the surface at least, to provide similar developmental opportunities. The researcher observed in ten, four-year-old children's homes over a period of four days for each child and followed these intensive home observations with three-monthly, informal interviews with adult family members. Each child was observed in school intensively, on entry to school and every three months following entry until six years of age. Informal interviews were conducted with the class teachers every three months. During the 'intensive' home and school observations continuous hand-written narrative recordings of natural communication incidents were made of all the oral language and activities of the focal child, and of the language and activities of other children and adults when what they said and did was in the vicinity of the focal child. Notes were made of the location, atmosphere, body language, people present, and focal objects throughout the time of the observations. Field notes were made each night after every home, school or pre-school visit. Each child was tested with a battery of tests on entry into school at five years, at five-and-a-half years and at six years. The gathering of these different data meant a wide variety of information about the child's total ecological environment was gathered. A variety of ways for examining the data for a relationship between the behaviours and social experience of the child which occurred at home and measures of achievement in school were explored. These included a variety of language variables (e. g. exposure to question types, statement types, amount of talk) and measures of variables related to socia-economic status and home environmental factors (e.g. the HOME Scale, Caldwell & Bradley, 1979). Al though some of these variables were significantly correlated with school achievement, it was not clear that the problem of why some children succeeded in school while others failed had been satisfactorily solved. A more detailed analysis of the data was carried out which differed from most other psychological or educational studies in that it focused on the underlying structures of the natural socio-linguistic patterns of interaction in both home and school first year classrooms. The task was to describe observable social interaction in terms of the underlying structures which characterised the home subcultural experience of the children and the sub-cultural learning (acculturation) required of the children in order to successfully adapt to the school environment. The theory generated to explain this complex problem was adapted from a theory sometimes termed script theory, or schema theory. It was developed into a framework which could deal with both children's present school experience and the children's past experience of the structure of meaningful social interactions. The results showed that the underlying structure of patterns of interaction (schema) which the children brought with them from home to school did indeed cause failure for some children at school. The children's experience of patterns of interaction in the homes which were like school patterns of interaction correlated 0.91 with achievement in school. The greater the variety of school-like patterns of interaction occurring in the homes the greater a child's achievement rate was likely to be. This study has implications for classroom organisation, for the structure of classroom patterns of interaction and for young people who come from home ecological environments which are significantly different from the present classroom environment. It is argued that children are our nation's most important resource and we need to examine with great care what we are doing to promote alternative classroom environments.

The problem I am reporting in this study is concerning the inequalities that is going on between men and women at home and in the family. This study aims at making a literature study on how gender identities affect women and men in the family with a secondary analysis of previous research. My questions are, what barriers and opportunities regarding gender identity impacts on the sex can be identified at home, what does this look like concerning the division of work in home work, and what does it look like concerning family relationships in the private sector? The theoretical frame of reference consists mainly of the theory of socialization described by scientist like Connell, Ahrne and Roman, Agnvik, Berger and Luckmann, and others. The theory focuses on the connection of how to socialize into different roles during the adolescence. The theory also describes the different concepts that occur and are in connection with the study. It also brings up background about gender and work at home. The section on previous research brings up things concerning power in relationships and the woman's mental health. The method in this work is qualitative, and I have used a literature study as an examination method. The result shows that the main inequality between the sexes in the home is that women take greater responsibility for household chores and the care of the children than men do. In the discussion, I came across just as some scientists suggested that most of our surroundings are gender-marked, and those who are associated with women are less important. As well as to solve this problem, the standards for traditional female as well as masculinity it has to be removed. / Problemet som jag upplyser i denna studie är beträffande ojämlikheter som pågår mellan män och kvinnor i hemmet samt i familjen. Den här studien har som syfte att göra en litteraturstudie om hur könsidentiteter påverkar kvinnor och män i familjen med en sekundär analys av tidigare forskning. Mina frågeställningar är, vilka hinder och möjligheter gällande könsidentiteterspåverkan på könen kan identifieras i hemmet, hur ser detta ut beträffande arbetsfördelningen i hemarbetet, samt hur ser det ut gällande familjeförhållandena i det privata.Den teoretiska referensramen består främst av teorin socialisation som blir beskriven av teoretiker som Connell, Ahrne och Roman, Agnvik, Berger och Luckmann med flera. Teorin inriktar sig på sambandet av hur man under uppväxten socialiseras in till olika roller. Teoridelen beskriver även de olika begrepp som förekommer och är i anslutning till studien. Den tar även upp bakgrund om genus samt hemarbete. Avsnittet om tidigare forskning tar upp saker beträffande makt i förhållanden och kvinnans psykiska hälsa. Metoden i detta arbete är kvalitativ, och jag har använt mig av litteraturstudie som undersökningsmetod. I resultatet framkommer det att den främsta ojämlikheten mellan könen i hemmet är att kvinnor tar större ansvar för hushållssysslor samt omsorgen av barnen än vad männen gör. I diskussionen kom jag fram tillprecis som några teoretiker antydde att, det mesta i vår omgivning är könsmärkt, och dem som är associerad med kvinnor har mindre betydelse. Samt för att lösa detta problem, så måste normerna för traditionellt kvinnligt samt manligt bort.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Socorro G. Herrera / This qualitative, ethnographic study explored home literacy environments. The following question guided the research: In what ways do literacy activities manifest themselves in homes of low-income, urban, Mexican American kindergarten students? Sub questions helped the researcher further understand the home literacy environment: • As acts of literacy take place in the home, what types of parent-child interactions are occurring? • How does the role of siblings impact the literacy activities that occur in the home? • How does the level of education of the parent effect literacy activities of the home? The research employed qualitative methods of data collection: interviews, participant observation and field notes. Surveys were also used to help understand the home literacy activities. A total of eleven families participated in the research. After completing the survey, the families were contacted and home visits were held. During these home visits, the participant observer asked semi-structured interview questions and also observed a parent-child book reading session. The visits were completed for each family between September, 2006 and March, 2007. Translators were used as needed. The following themes emerged: 1) Reading with My Mom; 2) My Mom Reads and Writes Other Things, Too; 3) We Talk A Lot at My House; 4) We Go to the Library; 5) My Sisters and Brothers Read to Me; 6) I use English and Spanish with My Brothers and Sisters; 7) My Mama Studied to be a Pre-School Teacher. Regardless of education level mothers read to their children, used literacy in other ways, and made sure their children went to the library. Parents also took time to talk with their children and storytelling was evident in the homes. Siblings were important to the literacy development of their kindergarten brothers and sisters by reading to them and building English oral proficiency. The education level of the mother mattered only because of the subject studied after high school. The themes found in the research are described in detail. Discussion, conclusions, implications, and recommendations for further research were provided.

Emphasis has been placed nationally and internationally by parents, schools and communities on reading literacy skills as it is essential to be able to participate in today’s society. Reading and literacy skills underpin literacy in formal schooling. However in order for children to cope in formal schooling, children should fist acquire the necessary informal and formal literacy skills. These literacy skills can be developed through early literacy experiences gained within the home context. The home environment plays a vital role in the development and acquisition of children’s reading and literacy skills. It is the researcher’s intention to ascertain the role that the home environment and parental attributes play in influencing the reading literacy achievement of South African Grade 5 learners by conducting a secondary analysis utilising a standard multiple regression analysis (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007) of the Progress in International Reading Literacy (PIRLS) 2006 data. PIRLS collected data using contextualised questionnaires to gain valuable background information. This study utilised the Learning-to-Read survey (a questionnaire which was completed by the parents or caregivers) in order to study the home environment as well as parental attributes. The conceptual framework of the study comprises home environment and parental attributes which might have an influence on learner reading literacy achievement. The study adapted Myrberg & Rosén’s (2008) model of direct and indirect influences of parental factors on reading achievement as there is absence of a South African model which looks at both the home environment and parent attributes. The study hopes to provide insights through its findings, whether the home environment and parental attributes have an effect on learner reading performance. Particular focus has been placed on parental involvement since it is imperative to establish whether involvement is important for learner reading literacy. Reading literacy is an interactive process and it is clear that a learner will be able to perform at best when guidance is given in a cultural context. Parents, who actively take part in not only their children’s upbringing but their children’s literacy skills, can make an important contribution to their children’s reading literacy. There are cases in South Africa where parents are poorly educated but it did not stop them in inculcating a positive attitude towards reading literacy into their children. Parental involvement is therefore of great importance in children’s development of reading literacy skills. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / National Research Foundation (NRF) / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / Centre for Evaluation & Assessment (CEA) / MEd / Unrestricted

Obesity is one of the most pressing global population health issues, and importantly one that affects racial/ethnic minorities and those of low socioeconomic status disproportionately. Obesity tracks from childhood into adulthood and is related to serious medical and economic consequences throughout the life course. Childhood obesity is well recognized as a complex and multifaceted problem influenced by broader social, geographic and environmental factors. A social ecological framework that is transdisciplinary is needed to address individual-level influences and choices that lead to energy imbalance, but also to address the complex interactions among home and neighborhood environmental features that provide the context for health-related behavior change. The overall goal of this dissertation is to investigate multilevel factors that could influence outcomes of an intervention program aimed at addressing childhood obesity. Including studies that investigated the use of clear communication strategies to facilitate parents comprehension, home media environment related to change in children weight status and the neighborhood environmental context of families. This dissertation draws upon a social ecological model that acknowledges multiple levels of human interaction with the environment and represents a comprehensive approach to designing, implementing and evaluating interventions that which target multiple influences on health behaviors. The iChoose is a 3-month family-based childhood obesity treatment program developed under a community-based participatory research approach led by the Partnering for Obesity Planning and Sustainability (POPS) Community Advisory Board (CAB). The studies within this dissertation use clear communication evaluation and qualitative feedback from focus groups, intervention outcome data and home environmental surveys, as well as environmental audits of neighborhoods. To investigate multilevel factors could influence intervention outcomes, we used both multiple statistical analytical techniques and a Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial analysis to evaluate the iChoose program. / Ph. D.