Cognitive development during early childhood: insights from families living in areas of socio-economic disadvantage

ABSTRACT

The first year of a child's life has been considered important in shaping their cognitive development. The research literature has identified area-based socio-economic disadvantage as a possible risk factor for cognitive development but has suggested that various factors may facilitate children's resilience to socio-economic disadvantage. This study aimed to examine such factors that may predict cognitive development among a sample of 126 four-year-old children across socio-economically disadvantaged areas in Ireland, who were involved in a randomized controlled trial. The study considered the extent to which child's gender, attempt of breastfeeding, household income, maternal education and cognition, mother-child attachment, parent-child interactions and intervention intensity contributed to the prediction of cognitive development. The analysis revealed that gender, attempt of breastfeeding, income and intervention intensity were statistically significant predictors of cognitive development, explaining a considerable amount of the variance in children's cognitive scores. Based on the findings, policy and practice implications are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Socio-economic disadvantage
• cognitive development
• early childhood development
• randomized controlled trial

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Gráinne Kent is a Researcher and Lecturer in Developmental Psychology at the National College of Ireland. She graduated from the National University of Ireland Maynooth with a Doctorate in Psychological Science and holds a BSc Psychology from Queens University Belfast. Gráinne is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst and before moving into academia worked as an applied practitioner within the field of early intervention and prevention for a number of years. Her main research interests include early intervention and prevention, early childhood education, child development, language development, Autism Spectrum Disorder and behavioural psychology.

Vasiliki Pitsia is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Education, Dublin City University. She holds a BSc in Primary Education and an MSc in Quantitative Methods and Statistical Analysis in Education. Vasiliki has worked in teaching and research positions in Greece and Ireland. She is currently teaching research methodology, basic and advanced statistical techniques at an online MSc programme in Greece and in professional development of university staff in Ireland. She is also a member of the Greek research team for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Her broader research interests include research methods, educational assessment, statistical analysis and large-scale studies.

Gary Colton is a Research Analyst at Google. He graduated from the National College of Ireland with a Degree in Psychology and holds a qualification in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy having practiced in Australia. Gary also runs an online psychology website which explores an eclectic range of topics related to mental health and other psychological phenomena. His main research interests include criminal psychology and developmental psychology and he is currently verging into business and finance research.

Additional information

Funding

This work was f⁠unded by Atlantic Philanthropies through the Children’s Research Network Prevention and Early Intervention Research Initiative.