Effects of Housing Environment on Parenting

Abstract

In this paper, the impact of the housing environment on the quality of mothers' parenting through its effect on the mothers' health condition was examined. 653 mothers living in the Tokyo metropolitan area and a city in Saitama prefecture completed questionnaires regarding their housing environment, health condition, and quality of parenting. The correlation analysis showed significant relationships among the environmental (housing) condition, health, and quality of parenting. To clarify the hypothesized interactions among these variables, a SEM path model was established. The results of the analysis showed that the model that assumes mothers' health condition as the mediator of housing environment's effect on parenting quality showed the best fitness. This finding suggested the possibility of arguing the presence of an effect of the housing environment on quality of mothers' parenting, due to mothers' health condition.