Table 6 Mediation and moderation analysis of relationship between household chaos and outcome

Asbury, 2005 [84]

There was greater group heritability for verbal ability, but not non-verbal ability, in early childhood within the context of higher HC.

Berry, 2016 [25]

Relationship between increased household disorganisation and decreased cognitive and social outcomes was somewhat moderated by childcare hours (i.e. greater childcare hours attenuated the relationship)

Brown, 2008 [42]

Sleep problems partially mediated the relationship between HC and hopeless/helpless responses to academic challenge.

Corapci, 2002 [88]

Overall neither parental mood nor self-efficacy was found to mediate the relationship between HC and parenting.

Deater-Deckard, 2012 [12]

The relationship between HC and maternal EF was moderated by SES, meaning the adverse effects of HC on maternal EF may be particularly important within socioeconomically distressed contexts.

Fisher, 2018 [80]

The quality of classroom climate across 3 years of elementary school was not found to moderate the relationship between HC and adolescent outcomes.

Khatiwada, 2018 [118]

HC was positively associated with weight status at 12 months of age; however, this relationship was not mediated by breastfeeding, sleep, or screen time.

Kretschmer, 2009 [91]

The relationship between HC and sibling relationship quality was mediated by parenting, including maternal warmth and paternal harsh discipline.

The relationship between HC and sibling relationship quality was moderated by maternal harsh discipline.

Lemery-Chalfant, 2013 [61]

Lower HC was associated with higher effortful control in children, and this association was genetically mediated.

Martin, 2012 [6]

Lack of routines was associated with lower receptive vocab and delayed gratification. In homes with the TV usually on, children had greater aggression scores and attention problems. The association between routines and receptive vocab was partially mediated by provision of learning materials. The association between lack of routines and delayed gratification was not mediated by maternal warmth or provision of learning materials, suggesting routines in and of themselves were associated with development of early self-regulation.

Miller, 2017 [63]

HC was negatively associated with emotion regulation, but this relationship was not moderated by cortisol levels. The relationship between routines and emotion regulation was moderated by cortisol level, meaning that lack of routines was more strongly associated with poor emotion regulation in children with lower cortisol output.

Mills-Koonce, 2016 [64]

Maternal sensitivity and harsh parenting mediated the relationship between HC and child behaviours.

Supplee, 2007 [71]

Maternal report of HC was associated with children’s externalising behaviour at age 4 years, even after controlling for SES and ethnicity.

HC was positively associated with teacher report of externalising problems at school at age 5.5 years. Maternal monitoring was not found to moderate the effects of HC on externalising behaviour.

Tucker, 2015 [74]

HC predicted less positive adolescent beliefs about mastery, future obstacles, and having a successful career; mother’s hostility moderated the relationship between HC and future obstacles and stress about the transition to emerging adulthood.

Vernon-Feagans, 2012 [85]

Household disorganisation was associated with variance in receptive and expressive language; parenting partially mediated this relationship.

Vernon-Feagans, 2016 [76]

Disorganisation in the home was indirectly associated with behavioural regulation through intermediate impacts on parenting behaviours and children’s early executive function skills.

Zvara, 2014 [100]

Cumulative family disorganisation, but not cumulative family instability, was found to have a significant indirect on children’s representation of family dysfunction through parenting behaviours. As such, the proximal effects of daily disorganisation appeared to outweigh the effects of periodic instability overtime.