Housing Quality and Child Behavioral Development: Examining the Mediating Role of Maternal Harsh Parenting

Background and Purpose: A safe and adequate housing environment plays an important role in the child development. Young children, in particular, spend more time in their home where they interact with their caregivers, promoting positive behavioral development. However, prior studies largely focus on the link between poor housing conditions and adverse outcomes in middle childhood or adolescence. Little is known about poor housing quality in early childhood period and its impact on early behavioral development. Additionally, relatively few studies have examined the mechanisms through which poor housing conditions affect early childhood development. This study aims to examine the direct effects of poor housing quality in early childhood on child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems as well as the indirect effects through maternal harsh parenting.

Methods: Drawing data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a secondary data analysis was conducted using a sample of 1,614 mothers of children living in 20 urban cities in the United States. Housing quality was measured at age 3, using a total of 11 items regarding the physical home conditions (e.g., broken windows or cracked window panes). Child behavioral development at age 5 was measured with two subscales from the Child Behavior Checklist/4-18 (CBCL/ 4-18): internalizing (16 items) and externalizing (25 items) behaviors. Maternal harsh parenting at age 5 was assessed, using a 10-item scale from the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales (CTSPC). Child gender, mother’s race, mother’s education, marital status, and household poverty were included as covariates. A path analysis was conducted using Mplus v.8.6. to answer the research questions.

Results: The path model had overall a good fit: CFI= .95, RMSEA= .05 (90% CI= .036 -.064), and SRMR = .03. Housing quality was directly associated with internalizing behavior problems (β = .065, p < .01), but not externalizing behavior problems (β = .035, p = .13). As hypothesized, maternal harsh parenting mediated the associations between housing quality and internalizing behaviors (β = .008, p < .05), and externalizing behaviors (β = .021, p < .05), respectively. Poor housing quality was associated with higher maternal harsh parenting, which in turn was associated with higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems.

Conclusions and Implications: This study provides evidence of the direct effect of poor housing quality in early childhood on internalizing behavior problems, and the indirect effect on both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems through maternal harsh parenting. These findings underline the need for policy intervention to alleviate poor housing quality, which may not only promote adequate parenting but also may reduce behavior problems in young children. Moreover, this study highlights the importance of preventive intervention to minimize maternal harsh parenting early in development.