Bringing order out of chaos: Psychometric characteristics of the confusion, hubbub, and order scale

A growing body of research has documented the relevance for children's development of “environmental confusion” (high levels of noise, crowding, home traffic pattern). However, research in this area has been hampered by the high costs of obtaining adequate measures of environmental confusion. In this article we present evidence on the psychometric characteristics of a recently developed parent report measure of environmental confusion: the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS). Study 1, based on a sample of 123 families, presents evidence indicating satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest stability for CHAOS. Study 2, based on a separate sample of 52 families, presents evidence indicating that CHAOS scores are significantly related to directly observed measures of environmental confusion and parental behaviors. Although related to distal demographic factors, CHAOS scores appear to be measuring environmental processes that are distinct from sociodemographic measures. These results support the utility of CHAOS as an economical measure of environmental confusion in the home.