Maternal Prenatal External Locus of Control and Reduced Mathematical and Science Abilities in Their Offspring: A Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study.

Jean Golding,Stephen Nowicki,Genette Ellis,Yasmin Iles-Caven,Terezinha Nunes,Peter Bryant,Steven Gregory

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00194

Jean Golding, Stephen Nowicki + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00194

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Abstract

A personality scale that identifies individuals’ general attitude to what happens to them as largely a matter of luck or fate or of powerful others (externality) or whether they feel they can influence the consequences (internality) is known as locus of control (LOC). A continuous scale can distinguish those who are more external from those who are more internal. Lower scholastic achievement is associated with externality and higher achievement with internality, but little is known about the association of parental LOC on children’s academic performance. Data collected within the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) are analyzed to assess associations between mothers’ LOC orientation, measured during pregnancy, and their children’s abilities in mathematics and science reasoning. We found that maternal external LOC is associated with lower scores for her child assessed by tests measuring mental arithmetic as well as understanding of mathematical and scientific concepts. Additionally, we determined the extent to which three separate sets of factors previously found to positively influence the developing child’s ability mediate these findings: (a) perinatal and infant exposures, such as prenatal smoking, binge drinking, consumption of oily fish, and postnatal breast feeding; (b) parenting attitudes and strategies; and (c) the interface of the parents with their child’s school. The three factors identify at least 50% of the mechanism by which maternal externality is associated with poor academic outcomes in her child and may be candidates for further investigation as possible intervention targets.

Highlights

As Meadows et al (2008) have stated: ‘Improving numeracy learning has been a dominant educational theme throughout the development of statutory education over the last 100 years or so.’ At an individual level, numeracy has a profound effect on overall quality of life, self−identity and the capacity to function in an ever more complex world; and at a macro level, the success of Prenatal locus of control (LOC)/Offspring Math/Science Abilities society depends on a well−educated, numerate and adaptable workforce
This study takes advantage of the data collected as part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) a pre-birth cohort which was designed to determine the environmental and genetic factors that are associated with health and development of the study offspring (Golding and ALSPAC Study Team, 2004; Boyd et al, 2013; Fraser et al, 2013)
With the exception of the mental arithmetic score, which was only obtained by the study if the child was brought to the ALSPAC research clinic, the other tests of mathematics and science depended on the response rates of teachers rather than of the study families

Summary

Introduction

As Meadows et al (2008) have stated: ‘Improving numeracy learning has been a dominant educational theme throughout the development of statutory education over the last 100 years or so.’ At an individual level, numeracy has a profound effect on overall quality of life, self−identity and the capacity to function in an ever more complex world; and at a macro level, the success of Prenatal LOC/Offspring Math/Science Abilities society depends on a well−educated, numerate and adaptable workforce. Rotter (1966) first introduced the concept of LOC, which he defined as follows: ‘Internal versus external control refers to the degree to which persons expect that a reinforcement or an outcome of their behavior is contingent on their own behavior or personal characteristics versus the degree to which persons expect that the reinforcement or outcome is a function of chance, luck, fate, is under the control of powerful others, or is unpredictable. Such expectancies may generalize along a gradient based on the degree of semantic similarity of the situational cues.’

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