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Why Are Home Literacy Environment and Children's Reading Skills Associated? What Parental Skills Reveal
Author(s) -
Bergen Elsje,
Zuijen Titia,
Bishop Dorothy,
Jong Peter F.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
reading research quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.162
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1936-2722
pISSN - 0034-0553
DOI - 10.1002/rrq.160
Subject(s) - fluency , developmental psychology , psychology , reading (process) , literacy , heritability , association (psychology) , family literacy , genetics , mathematics education , biology , pedagogy , political science , law , psychotherapist
Associations between home literacy environment and children's reading ability are often assumed to reflect a direct influence. However, heritability could account for the association between parent and child literacy‐related measures. We used data from 101 mother/father/child triads to consider the extent to which associations between home literacy and children's reading fluency could be accounted for by parental reading fluency. Although home literacy correlated significantly with children's reading, no variable predicted significant variance after allowing for parental reading, except the number of books in the home. By incorporating measures of heritable parental traits into studies investigating home environment effects, we can start to identify which variables are correlates of parental traits and which might play a causal role in fostering children's development.