The relationship between socioeconomic resources and children's cognitive development strengthens from infancy to a peak around age 4–4½, then weakens slightly by kindergarten entry.¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Growth curve analyses of ECLS-B data show the SES–cognitive (reading and math) relationship increased sharply from infancy to around age 4–4½, then decreased slightly through kindergarten start. → Mollborn 2014

Evidence¶

Mollborn 2014¶

Mollborn, S., Lawrence, E., James-Hawkins, L., & Fomby, P. (2014). When Do Socioeconomic Resources Matter Most in Early Childhood? Advances in Life Course Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2014.03.001

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Growth curve (multilevel) analyses of the nationally representative ECLS-B cohort (N ≈ 8,450 children; ~27,450 person-time observations) modeled time-varying SES–outcome interactions. The authors report that the association "strengthened rapidly from infancy through the beginning of prekindergarten, then weakened slightly but remained strong through the start of kindergarten."

"the association between socioeconomic resources and early child development strengthened rapidly from infancy through the beginning of prekindergarten, then weakened slightly but remained strong through the start of kindergarten."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Hours in center-based child care become increasingly positively associated with cognitive scores and negatively associated with behavior scores starting around age 4–4½. — related
• The SES–positive behavior relationship follows the same curvilinear pattern but is weaker in magnitude than the SES–cognitive relationship at every wave. — related
• Socioeconomic resources changed meaningfully over early childhood, with household income rising from 290% to 351% of the poverty line, concentrated in the prekindergarten year. — related
• Household chaos predicts lower prekindergarten math and reading but faster growth in both
• Maternal education has the largest peak association with cognitive development: a high-school-to-college increase predicts about 0.4 SD higher reading and math scores at the peak. — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Higher SES is associated with higher parent-reported curiosity at kindergarten — related
• Executive function at 48 months moderates the preschool-to-kindergarten development of math ability on the ECLS-K Math battery but not the Applied Problems subtest — related
• Preschool executive function positively predicts kindergarten math on both measures, while teacher–child relationship quality shows only a trend-level main effect on ECLS-K Math and none on Applied Problems — related
• Educational domain, cultural orientation, age, gender, and socioeconomic status are candidate moderators of model effects — a broader claim this one bears on
• Average and superior children develop at different levels and grow increasingly dissimilar with age, with superior children showing adolescent mental acceleration about one year earlier — related