DEVELOPMENT OF A SUPPLEMENT TO THE HOME SCALE FOR CHILDREN LIVING IN IMPOVERISHED URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

A Supplement to the HOME (Home Observation for Measurement of the Envi ronment Scale) for Impoverished Families (SHIF) was developed for use with young children living in impoverished urban environments. After i nterviews with clinicians and pilot studies with families, we develope d 20 items and added them to the HOME. The supplement was field tested in a sample of 73 high-risk families to evaluate its psychometric pro perties and ease of use. During the home visit, the Nursing Child Asse ssment Feeding Scale and the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale w ere also administered to examine construct validity. Results indicated that the SHIF provided new clinical data, was easy to administer, and , when added to the HOME, had good psychometric properties, e.g., high inter-rater reliability, internal consistency, item-total reliability , and intact construct validity. The SHIF offers a reliable and valid addition to the HOME for use with young children living in impoverishe d urban environments.