Measurement of Living Environment and Its Associations with Household-Chore Rules for Children in Residential Care Institutions in Japan

Background: Although the small residential unit and the family-like care quality in residental care institutions have been promoted by the Japanese government in the last two decades, the quality of children’s environment has not yet been examined.

Purpose: This study examined the association between the living environment and the household-chore rules which have been traditionally implemented, such as washing own dishes and doing own laundry, in residential care institutions.

Methodology: Sixty-one participants, aged 10 to15 years, were recruited from residential care institutions in the Greater Tokyo area. Each participant and his/her care worker filled a questionnaire packet. Their living environment was assessed with Home Observation for Measurement of Environment Early Adolescents (HOME-EA) that was developed specifically for Japanese residential care institutions.

Results and Implications: The results of logistic regressions showed HOME Management had a marginally significant association with washing own dishes. While HOME Modeling had marginally significantly odds ratio, in protective direction, on doing own laundry, HOME Management had a significantly higher odds ratio on laundry. The results suggest that institutions with higher Management score are more likely to let their children do chores, whereas care workers in the institutions with higher Modeling score may take care of the chores for their children.