Do early life cognitive ability and self-regulation skills explain socio-economic inequalities in academic achievement? An effect decomposition analysis in UK and Australian cohorts

Anna Pearce,Alyssa C.P Sawyer,Catherine R Chittleborough,Murthy N Mittinty,Catherine Law,John W Lynch

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.016

Anna Pearce, Alyssa C.P Sawyer + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.016

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Abstract

Socio-economic inequalities in academic achievement emerge early in life and are observed across the globe. Cognitive ability and “non-cognitive” attributes (such as self-regulation) are the focus of many early years’ interventions. Despite this, little research has compared the contributions of early cognitive and self-regulation abilities as separate pathways to inequalities in academic achievement. We examined this in two nationally representative cohorts in the UK (Millennium Cohort Study, n = 11,168; 61% original cohort) and Australia (LSAC, n = 3028; 59% original cohort).An effect decomposition method was used to examine the pathways from socio-economic disadvantage (in infancy) to two academic outcomes: ‘low’ maths and literacy scores (based on bottom quintile) at age 7–9 years. Risk ratios (RRs, and bootstrap 95% confidence intervals) were estimated with binary regression for each pathway of interest: the ‘direct effect’ of socio-economic disadvantage on academic achievement (not acting through self-regulation and cognitive ability in early childhood), and the ‘indirect effects’ of socio-economic disadvantage acting via self-regulation and cognitive ability (separately). Analyses were adjusted for baseline and intermediate confounding.Children from less advantaged families were up to twice as likely to be in the lowest quintile of maths and literacy scores. Around two-thirds of this elevated risk was ‘direct’ and the majority of the remainder was mediated by early cognitive ability and not self-regulation. For example in LSAC: the RR for the direct pathway from socio-economic disadvantage to poor maths scores was 1.46 (95% CI: 1.17–1.79). The indirect effect of socio-economic disadvantage through cognitive ability (RR = 1.13 [1.06–1.22]) was larger than the indirect effect through self-regulation (1.05 [1.01–1.11]). Similar patterns were observed for both outcomes and in both cohorts.Policies to alleviate social inequality (e.g. child poverty reduction) remain important for closing the academic achievement gap. Early interventions to improve cognitive ability (rather than self-regulation) also hold potential for reducing inequalities in children's academic outcomes.

Highlights

Educational qualifications and trajectories of employment, income and health across the life course are all importantly influenced by academic achievement in childhood
As a sensitivity analysis to measurement error in the self-regulation measures, which were based on maternal report in Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), we examined these associations in a third cohort - the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ALSPAC(Boyd et al, 2012; Fraser et al, 2013), which collected an objective measure of executive function, a measure of self-regulation in young people
Children from less advantaged backgrounds were more likely to have low self-regulation and cognitive ability, differences were greater for cognitive ability

Summary

Introduction

Educational qualifications and trajectories of employment, income and health across the life course are all importantly influenced by academic achievement in childhood While cognitive ability is a widely recognised determinant of academic achievement, there is increasing interest in the role of “non-cognitive” characteristics (F Cunha and Heckman, 2007; Heckman et al, 2006; Kautz et al, 2014). Though the term “noncognitive” has not been consistently defined or measured, the idea of non-cognitive skills encapsulates personality characteristics and social behaviours that can maximise life opportunities (Borghans et al, 2008). Some research has suggested that early “noncognitive” skills like self-regulation may be as important (if not more important) than cognitive ability for future outcomes like labour market success, both directly and by supporting later cognitive ability (Flavio Cunha and Heckman, 2008)

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