Investigating Maternal Self Efficacy and Home Learning Environment of Families Enrolled in Head Start
The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between mothers' self efficacy beliefs, their preschool children's home learning environments, and literacy skills. A sample of 112 mother child dyads was recruited from Head Start centers in rural and urban communities. The measures included maternal self efficacy and maternal perceptions of child's readiness to read as well as the Stipek Home Learning Activities (SHLA) scale, Home Learning Environment Profile (HLEP) and the Stony Brook Family Reading Survey (SBFRS) Modeling path analysis was performed. Model fit indices indicated that the resulting model was a good fit for the data. Concerning the direct effects of maternal self efficacy on home learning environment, positive significant effects for the SHLA measure as well as the HLEP were found. However, no direct effect was found with regard to maternal self efficacy on SBFRS indicating evidence for the domain specificity of efficacy beliefs. Implications of the study include findings that higher maternal self efficacy is related to creating a more positive home learning environment. Additionally, higher maternal perceptions of child readiness to read mediates the relationships between higher maternal self efficacy and a more positive home literacy environment. Moreover, these findings highlight the link between home learning environment and children's receptive vocabulary skills.