EXPLORING YOUNG ADULT READING HABITS AND RETROSPECTIVE HOME LITERACY PRACTICES

Reading self-efficacy is shaped over time by both internal and external feedback with the first form of external feedback coming from an individual’s caregivers. How often caregivers read, take their children to the library, and read to their children all influence the effects of the home literacy environment on a child’s academic performance, reading frequency, and reading self-efficacy. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore retrospective informal home literacy practices alongside current young adult reading habits. Students attending various undergraduate and graduate classes in the College of Education, Heath, and Human Sciences of a major university in the South East United States were surveyed to measure their retrospective memories of early childhood informal family literacy practices alongside of their current (a) print exposure, (b) reading frequency, and (c) reading attitudes. A large majority of participants were single white female undergraduate students. Results indicate a statistically significant correlation between how often participants retrospectively reported how often they read for pleasure in their early childhood and participant's current reading attitudes, reading frequency, and print exposure scores. Limitations to the study and recommendations for future research are explained.