Preschoolers’ home music environment relates to their home literacy environment and parental self-efficacy

by Talia Liu, Helen Gray-Bauer, Kelsey E. Davison, Jennifer Zuk

Positive relationships between the home literacy environment and children’s language and literacy development are well-established. However, existing literature has overlooked the potential contributions of the home music environment. Initial evidence indicates positive relationships between the home music environment and children’s emerging language and literacy skills, yet it remains unclear whether and how children’s home music and literacy environments may be related. Furthermore, parents’ sense of self-efficacy is known to impact the home environment provided for their children. Despite being linked with the home literacy environment, parental self-efficacy has not been directly investigated in relation to the home music environment. In the present study, 124 caregivers of preschoolers completed a one-time online survey about their children’s home music environment, home literacy environment, and parental self-efficacy. Partial correlations and hierarchical regressions reveal that children’s amount of music exposure is associated with qualitative (not quantitative) aspects of the home literacy environment, specifically parents’ use of interactive techniques during shared reading. Moreover, parental self-efficacy is associated with children’s amount of exposure to music. Overall, these findings support the need to further examine how the home music environment may meaningfully contribute to an enriching learning environment, especially to support language and literacy development.