Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Executive functions encompass an important set of skills that develop throughout childhood and adolescence vis-à-vis experiences and opportunities.Executive functions include skills involved in self-regulation and goal-directed behavior.Higher socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with stronger executive function skills, which are associated with future life success and positive health outcomes.Well-described socioeconomic differences in executive functions begin in childhood and are thought to contribute to health disparities and intergenerational transmission of poverty.How the environment may facilitate development of executive functions has yet to be elucidated.This exploratory analysis investigated associations between SES, executive functions, and the home environment.Participants included 60 parent-child dyads with children aged 7-12 years.Several indicators of SES were compared.The home environment was described using a latent class analysis (LCA) of items from the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment for Middle Childhood (HOME-MC).LCA revealed three classes of home environment: High Overall, Medium Scaffolding with Low Father Involvement, and Low Scaffolding with Medium Father Involvement.Higher SES was associated with greater odds of membership in the High Overall class compared to the other two classes.Children from families in the Low Scaffolding with Medium Father Involvement class had lower scores on executive function tasks compared to the High Overall class.These findings suggest that home environment, specifically the presence of parental scaffolding, may be protective against the adverse effects of low SES on executive functions.Future research should investigate whether interventions focused on scaffolding could enhance the development of executive functions, positively alter developmental trajectories, and improve future life outcomes, particularly for low SES children.
Author: Tamiko B Younge
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1166152476