Since the early 2000’s there has been growing interest in the phenomenon of household chaos and how it impacts on the well-being and development of children. Yet despite this interest, no review has been conducted that comprehensively brings the existing literature together. A系统的范围审查we have published inBMC Public Health旨在解决这一差距。

What we found

With remarkable consistency, increased chaos in a child’s home, defined as high levels of background noise (e.g. from TV), constant rushing, and environmental commotion and confusion, negatively impacted on almost every child outcome investigated, from cognitive and academic performance, to stress physiology, and socio-emotional well-being.

Chaos and parenting

So how could household chaos have such far-ranging implications for the well-being of children? An important clue lies in the relationship between chaos and parenting behaviors. We found that, yet again with remarkable consistency, greater chaos was associated with increased parent-child conflict, reduced closeness in the parent-child relationship, less supportive parenting practices, and less responsive parenting. And as research has confirmed, the quality of the parent-child relationship is intricately linked to the well-being of the child.

Slowing down childhood

Improving child well-being by slowing down the lives of children is not a new concept. Outside academia a number of groups and social movements advocate for the realignment of family time with the ‘pace of childhood’ – a pace that is much slower than the pace of the hurried, modern world children find themselves in. These approaches encourage simplification of a child’s life, through the paring back of unnecessary activities, toys, and digital media, in addition to the promotion of daily rhythms and routines known to support well-being. In short, the focus shifts away from activities that disrupt the flow of family life, and instead focuses on activities that promote parent-child communication and free play (but not computer games!), and support development of warm relationships.

研究差距

Yet despite a push from outside academia to simplify the lives of children, and evidence from longitudinal and cross-sectional studies linking chaos with poor child outcomes, we still don’t know whether reducing household chaos will have a positive impact. We also don’t know how to reduce chaos, as no studies have attempted to do this. And importantly, it still remains to be seen whether we can go too far in the other direction, resulting in a home environment that is overly structured and controlled, to the point that it lacks warmth and the opportunity for supportive and caring parent-child relationships to develop.

在Covid-19时代的家庭混乱

At the time of undertaking the review, we could not have predicted the situation we currently find我们自己。世界各地的孩子们在家里花费了空前的时间。虽然我们不知道生活在低矮的家庭中的孩子是否会进展更好，但我们可能希望他们会。这些孩子可能会有更大的机会在较少分散注意力的环境中完成他们的家庭学校任务。他们还可能有更多的时间致力于自由，非屏幕的游戏 - 这种游戏支持他们的情感幸福和发展。也许最重要的是，他们有机会更有可能接受支持和积极的育儿实践。因此，在Covid-19时期，家庭混乱较低，可能会提供更有利于促进韧性和儿童幸福感的环境。因此，一个独特的机会不仅是为了调查混乱程度如何保护儿童免受逆境的影响，而且还要调查我们是否可以有效地降低家庭混乱水平，从而为我们的孩子全面促进更好的结果。