Positive Aspects of Home Visiting Influence on Child Behavior at 36 Months

Early childhood home visiting (HV) programs aim to improve child outcomes by supporting developmental parenting, behaviors empirically linked with children\u27s development (Roggman, Boyce, & Innocenti, 2008). Home visitors scaffold learning activities within parent-child interactions and discuss child development. When home visitors excel, outcomes are likely better for parents and children (Love, et al., 2001). This study explored HV quality in connection to children\u27s behavior at 36 months to determine the most influential aspects. The sample includes families with infants aged 36 months in Early Head Start Programs in Utah and Iowa. Seven aspects of HV quality were measured using the Home Visiting Rating Scales version 2.0 (HOVRS A+ v2.0; Roggman, et al., 2014). Home visits were recorded and coded using HOVRS A+ 2.0. The Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment (HOME; Caldwell & Bradley, 1984) assessed children\u27s environments. The Orientation/Engagement and Emotional Regulation subscales of the Bayley Behavioral Rating Scales (BRS; Bayley, 1993) measured children\u27s behavior. Combined HOVRS variables were computed (see Table 1) and divided into high/low groups. A correlation matrix identified interactions between the HOME, Orientation/Engagement, Emotional Regulation, and the combined HOVRS variables. Correlations compared the interactions between the combined HOVRS variables with the BRS subscales and the HOME. A mediation model was used to identify the HOME the link between collaborative facilitation and Orientation/Engagement. Results suggest a statistically significant association between overall family engagement and BRS subscales, the high quality of HV practices, family engagement, highly responsive relationship, and collaborative facilitation. A statistically significant association between parent-child interaction and Orientation/Engagement, particularly when focused on facilitation and quality of family engagement are low. The association between collaborative facilitation and Orientation/Engagement was mediated by home environment. The findings suggest that work home visitors do to scaffold parent-child interactions may help parents interact positively with infants when the home visitor is absent