Internal Structure of the Children Helping Out: Responsibilities, Expectations, and Supports (CHORES) Measure

Young Children's Housework Participation in Taiwan: Serial Multiple Mediations

The purpose of this study was to investigate not only the participating in housework but also the parents' attitude and child's preference, in relation to children's health and housework participation in Taiwan. We collected data from the Young Children's Housework Participation Questionnaire on "Google forms". A total of 755 parents with preschool children living in Keelung City, Taipei City, and New Taipei City participated through the snowball method. The results showed that children's health not only directly affected their housework performance but also indirectly influenced their housework participation through the serial multiple mediation of parents' attitude and the child's housework preference. Therefore, this study confirms that, when analyzing the factors of children's housework participation, it is necessary to have a clearer understanding of the relationship between variables to further construct a more complete model framework that affects children's housework participation. Additionally, it is very important for parenting education to improve parents' attitude towards the importance of children's housework and encourage children's preference for housework.

Executive functions and household chores: Does engagement in chores predict children's cognition?

INTRODUCTION

The benefits of completing household chores appear to transfer beyond managing day-to-day living. It is possible that chore engagement may improve executive functions, as engagement in chores require individuals to plan, self-regulate, switch between tasks, and remember instructions. To date, little research has been conducted on household chores and executive functions in children, for whom these skills are still developing.

METHODS

Parents and guardians (N = 207) of children aged 5-13 years (M = 9.38, SD = 2.15) were asked to complete parent-report questionnaires on their child's engagement in household chores and their child's executive functioning.

RESULTS

Results of the regression model indicated that engagement in self-care chores (e.g., making self a meal) and family-care chores (e.g., making someone else a meal) significantly predicted working memory and inhibition, after controlling for the influence of age, gender, and presence or absence of a disability. For families with a pet, there was no significant relationship between engagement in pet-care chores and executive function skills.

CONCLUSION

We strongly recommend that further research explore the relationship between chores and executive functions. It is possible that parents may be able to facilitate their child's executive function development through encouraging participation in chores, whereas chore-based interventions (e.g., cooking programmes) may also be used to target deficits in ability.

State of the journal, 2014

The outgoing editor-in-chief outlines the advances made during her 6-yr tenure and provides recommendations for AJOT’s future