Introduction:

Home environment fosters parenting styles, learning, activities, experiences, and stimuli modulating children’s stimulation.

Objective:

To identify the degree of home-based early stimulation and its relationship with family variables and participation in the care of children aged 1 to 4 years attending a daycare center in Pereira, Colombia in 2019.

Materials and Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted by means of a census sampling including all children and caregivers who met the selection criteria (children with no history of neurological disorders and caregiver informed consent.) Sociodemographic and family variables were also measured. The Early Childhood HOME45 (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment) inventory was administered. Univariate and bivariate analyses were carried out. Ordinal logistic regression was performed for associating predictors and total early stimulation score (high/medium/low).

Results:

The average age of children was 36 months (RIQ=11, 12-48). 67% of mothers gave children daily care. High stimulation was observed for 50% of the dyads. Predictors that reduced the probability of high stimulation (p<0.05) were reading habit (No, PR=0.29 (0.09-0.87)), participation in children’s parties (No, PR=0.24 (0.07-0.79)), caregiver age (older than 36 years old, PR=0.95 (0.92-1.00)), child discipline strategy applied (verbal or physical abuse) (PR=0.16 (0.03-0.98)).

Conclusions:

Educating children through dialogue, encouraging reading and participating in children’s parties, as well as having a caregiver under 35 years of age, were variables that increased the probability of high stimulation in children.

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