Examining Associations between the Home Literacy Environment, Executive Function, and School Readiness

Abstract

Research Findings: The purpose of the current study was to investigate direct associations between the home literacy environment (HLE) and preschool children’s executive function (EF), academic readiness, and social-emotional competence and to explore the indirect association between the HLE and academic and social-emotional outcomes working through children’s EF. The participants were 102 preschool children from the Midwestern region of the United States. Path analysis showed that the HLE was not directly and significantly associated with social-emotional competence and academic readiness. However, the HLE was significantly related to EF. Further, EF was significantly associated with social-emotional competence and academic readiness. Additionally, a marginally significant indirect effect between the HLE and early language and social-emotional skills, and significant indirect effects between the HLE and early mathematics skills and general academic readiness through EF emerged and warrants further investigation. These findings provide new evidence for a significant association between the HLE and EF and contribute to a robust literature highlighting the importance of EF for academic readiness. Practice and Policy: Findings also inform policy and practice by highlighting that frequent and high-quality parent-child interactions structured around literacy activities promote children’s EF, which in turn, may support strong school readiness skills.

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