{"title":"Chaotic or crowded? The role of physical household environment in children's learning during the COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102474","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Household chaos and crowding are known to significantly influence children's development; however, their relative contributions remain less clear. Furthermore, previous research has primarily focused on children's socioemotional and cognitive development, with limited attention to the learning process. This study explores the relation of household chaos and crowding with children's learning behaviors and emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. A sample of 262 parents and their primary school-aged children were recruited in Hong Kong. Both parents and children completed separate online questionnaires. Structural equation modeling revealed that while household chaos was correlated with crowding, it was specifically chaos, rather than crowding, that negatively related to children's learning behaviors. Importantly, the direct relationship between household chaos and children's learning behaviors remained significant even after accounting for family socioeconomic status (SES) and parents' involvement. This study enhances our understanding of the relation of physical environment with children's learning, emphasizing the distinct role of household chaos, separate from crowding and family SES.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424002470","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Household chaos and crowding are known to significantly influence children's development; however, their relative contributions remain less clear. Furthermore, previous research has primarily focused on children's socioemotional and cognitive development, with limited attention to the learning process. This study explores the relation of household chaos and crowding with children's learning behaviors and emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. A sample of 262 parents and their primary school-aged children were recruited in Hong Kong. Both parents and children completed separate online questionnaires. Structural equation modeling revealed that while household chaos was correlated with crowding, it was specifically chaos, rather than crowding, that negatively related to children's learning behaviors. Importantly, the direct relationship between household chaos and children's learning behaviors remained significant even after accounting for family socioeconomic status (SES) and parents' involvement. This study enhances our understanding of the relation of physical environment with children's learning, emphasizing the distinct role of household chaos, separate from crowding and family SES.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Environmental Psychology is the premier journal in the field, serving individuals in a wide range of disciplines who have an interest in the scientific study of the transactions and interrelationships between people and their surroundings (including built, social, natural and virtual environments, the use and abuse of nature and natural resources, and sustainability-related behavior). The journal publishes internationally contributed empirical studies and reviews of research on these topics that advance new insights. As an important forum for the field, the journal publishes some of the most influential papers in the discipline that reflect the scientific development of environmental psychology. Contributions on theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of all human-environment interactions are welcome, along with innovative or interdisciplinary approaches that have a psychological emphasis. Research areas include: •Psychological and behavioral aspects of people and nature •Cognitive mapping, spatial cognition and wayfinding •Ecological consequences of human actions •Theories of place, place attachment, and place identity •Environmental risks and hazards: perception, behavior, and management •Perception and evaluation of buildings and natural landscapes •Effects of physical and natural settings on human cognition and health •Theories of proenvironmental behavior, norms, attitudes, and personality •Psychology of sustainability and climate change •Psychological aspects of resource management and crises •Social use of space: crowding, privacy, territoriality, personal space •Design of, and experiences related to, the physical aspects of workplaces, schools, residences, public buildings and public space