Relationship between home literacy environment and emotional regulation in children: the mediating effect of the parent-child relationship
ZHANG Jia-Lin1,2, YAO Meng-Meng1, WANG Jing-Yu1,3, WANG Xiu-Hong1,3, WANG Cai1,3, ZHANG Yue1,3, LI Yan-Wei4, CHI Xia1
1.Department of Child Healthcare, Women's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University/Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China 4.School of Early-Childhood Education, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 211171, China
Abstract：Objective To study the impact of the home literacy environment on children's emotional regulation skills and the mediating role of the parent-child relationship between them. Methods A stratified cluster sampling approach was employed to select 1 626 preschool children from five kindergartens in Nanjing. Questionnaires were used to collect detailed information on the home literacy environment, children's emotional regulation skills, and the parent-child relationship. A mediation model was established using the Process program in SPSS macro, and the significance of the mediation effect was tested using the Bootstrap method. Results The findings revealed a positive correlation between the home literacy environment and children's emotional regulation skills (r=0.217, P<0.001), as well as parent-child intimacy (r=0.065, P<0.01). Conversely, a negative correlation was found between the home literacy environment and parent-child conflict (r=-0.129, P<0.001). Additionally, parent-child conflict demonstrated a negative correlation with children's emotional regulation skills (r=-0.443, P<0.001), while parent-child intimacy exhibited a positive correlation (r=0.247, P<0.001). The home literacy environment exerted a significant direct effect on children's emotional regulation skills (β=0.162, P<0.001), and the mediating effect of the parent-child relationship accounted for 25.54% of the total effect. Conclusions The home literacy environment significantly influences children's emotional regulation skills, with the parent-child relationship partially mediating this relationship.
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