Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences
Publication Date
2011
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to describe the adaptations made to the Infant-Toddler version of the Home Observation Measure of the Environment for use in a low income Kenyan population. A total of 425 (214 girls) children aged 6-35 months were involved in this cross-sectional study. Focus groups and in-depth individual interviews were used to generate culturally appropriate modifications. Translations and back translations of the HOME were carried out using a Panel Approach. A significant number of items from the original HOME (N = 26) showed limited variability and were excluded from the final schedule. Two more items were excluded because of negative item total correlations and ambiguity in scoring. The remaining 17 items had a modest internal consistency (α = .63). We failed to replicate the factor structure of the published measure. The measure did, however, demonstrate a theoretically meaningful relationship with antecedent (maternal education) and child outcome variables (psychomotor development) providing partial evidence for convergent validity. These findings support the idea of a universality of core features of environmental stimulation. However, they also illustrate the need for more in-depth studies of the home environment to identify culture-specific sources of variability between households.
ScholarWorks Citation
Holding, P., Abubakar, A., Obiero, E., & Van Baar, A. (2011). Validation of the Infant-Toddler HOME Inventory among households in low income communities at the Kenyan coast. In F. Deutsch, M. Boehnke, U. Kühnen, & K. Boehnke (Eds.), Rendering borders obsolete: Cross-cultural and cultural psychology as an interdisciplinary, multi-method endeavor: Proceedings from the 19th International Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. https://doi.org/10.4087/NGNW9101
