Household chaos and children’s health outcomes: The mediating effects of sleep quality and rumination

Middle childhood is a critical period for health development. Within this period, evidence has suggested that the level of confusion and restlessness in the home environment—often referred to as household chaos—negatively affects various health outcomes. However, the underlying mechanisms through which household chaos impacts child health remain to be elucidated. This study investigated how household chaos correlates with child health outcomes, focusing on sleep quality and rumination as mediators. A one-year longitudinal survey was conducted from November 2020 (T1) to December 2021 (T2). We examined the associations among household chaos, sleep quality, rumination and health outcomes in a sample of 338 children aged 8–13. Results indicated that household chaos at T1 negatively predicted children’s mental health, physical symptoms and eating behaviors at T2 (rs > 0.13, ps < 0.05). After controlling for covariates (i.e., gender, age, family SES and relevant health outcomes at T1), the negative associations between household chaos and anxiety, physical symptoms and eating behaviors were serially mediated by poor sleep quality at T1 and heightened rumination at T2 (βs > 0.01, ps < 0.05). Our results provide important insights into the complex relationship between household chaos and children’s health and help to inform interventions designed to mitigate the negative effects of household chaos on children’s well-being.