USING THE HOME INVENTORY WITH INFANTS IN COSTA-RICA

This study determined the psychometric properties of the HOME (Home Ob servation for Measurement of the Environment) Inventory in a Latin Ame rican sample. HOME data for 183 healthy Costa Rican infants were compa red to the original HOME standardisation sample from Little Rock. The Costa Rican total HOME average of 29.8 +/- 6.7 was similar to the scor es of families in Little Rock (mean = 31.2 +/- 7.3). Measures or inter nal consistency and factor structure were similar in US and Costa Rica n samples. In contrast to these similarities, Costa Rican HOME scores showed no significant correlation with developmental test scores in in fancy (Bayley MDI), and the correlation with Full Scale IQ (WPPSI) at five years was modest, albeit statistically significant (r = 0.28, P < 0.05). These relationships were similar to those of Mexican-American children in a recent collaborative study by Bradley et al., 1989 and n ot as strong as for US white and black populations. However, when the concept of outcome was broadened beyond IQ scores to include child hea lth and development in general, the HOME seemed sensitive to important environmental differences in this Costa Rican group. Lower HOME score s related to a shorter duration of breastfeeding and differentiated ch ildren with iron deficiency anaemia in infancy, a condition associated with long-lasting developmental disadvantage. Thus, the HOME was help ful in identifying children at risk for delayed development in this La tin American sample.