Family Ecology as a Context for Children's Executive Function Development: the Home Literacy Environment, Play, and Screen Time

Individual differences in executive function (EF) are key to a child's development and school success. Few studies have investigated the family's influence on EF from a holistic perspective that extends beyond socioeconomic status, parenting style, mother-child talk, and maternal depression. To fill this gap, the present study aimed to investigate predictors of EF skills in a family context. In a cross-sectional predictive research design, a stratified sampling method was used to select 201 preschool children (103 boys and 98 girls) and their parents. All children were monolingual Turkish speakers and were enrolled in preschool institutions in Middle Anatolia, Turkey. The study revealed that, within the home literacy environment (HLE), receptive vocabulary, active screen time, and indoor and outdoor playtime were positively correlated with EF, while passive screen time was negatively correlated with EF. The hierarchal regression model predicted 64% of the variance in the children's EF. Thus, the dynamic structures of the HLE play a substantial role in EF development, and a holistic perspective of family context may better explain individual differences in children's EF skills.