How the home matches the person: The relevance of the home environment questionnaire

Abstract

In a questionnaire study with N = 1730 participants aged from 11 to 72 years (M = 20.4, Me = 19, SD = 6.96), 60% female, we developed the Relevance of the Home Environment Questionnaire (RHEQ) aimed at measuring parameters of the home environment as the inhabitants’ eco-social resource. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that the seven-factor structure of the questionnaire was uniquely formulated. The scales were titled as follows: Privacy, Potential, Self-presentation, Ergonomics, Home detachment, Plasticity, and Historicity. Consistency coefficients (Cronbach’s alpha) of scales ranged from .91 to .94. Age trends in four out of seven scales were found. Potential scores were higher in women, while Home detachment — in men. Content validity was investigated by comparison of home relevance scores in students living in their own homes or dormitories. Convergent validity was explored by measuring correlations of the scales with the Functionality of the Home Environment Questionnaire and the Home Attachment Scale. All psychometric properties are satisfactory. Data was discussed with regard to possible applications in research, expertise, and psychotherapy.