The Role of Economic Status and Environmental Factors in Early Childhood Cognitive Development: Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric

Relations between cognitive development in infancy and early childhood, and parental education were examined. Previous research has found little association between measures of the parenting environment, including parental education and socio-economic status (SES), and cognitive development in infants and children under 2 years of age. However, the earlier studies may not have reliably measured individual differences in cognitive abilities, thus, there is uncertainty as to what age elements in the parental environment affect cognitive development. Seventy-six infants were tested on a range of cognitive tasks at 3-month intervals between the ages of 9 and 18 months. Information on parental education (a component of SES) was collected. Seventy-one of the children returned at 27 months and completed the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Mental Scale, which was used as an outcome measure for the earlier tasks. The findings present a clear indication that cognitive development in early childhood is affected by the parenting environment, at least from as early as 12 months. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Early mother-infant interaction is believed to have a significant impact on the social, cognitive, and emotional development of children. These interactions are not only influenced by child and contextual factors but also by the mother's personality traits and strain. In this study, we investigated the relation between maternal factors such as personality, depressive symptoms, or experiencing of emotions, and (i) children's early cognitive development and (ii) interaction patterns in a sample of 116 mother-child dyads (mean child age = 18.63 months ± 6.42). Maternal factors were assessed using standardized questionnaires and toddlers' cognitive development was measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. Interaction patterns were evaluated using the CARE-Index. The study found that children of mothers who scored higher in agreeableness, a personality trait reflecting compassion and cooperation, performed better in cognitive assessments. Additionally, mothers who placed significant importance on their bodily signals to assess their overall well-being had higher scores in the quality of interaction with their child. Statistical trends suggested that mothers with higher levels of conscientiousness, indicative of being organized and responsible, tended to be more responsive in the interaction with their infants, while those with higher levels of neuroticism, characterized by a tendency towards negative emotions, were more likely to have toddlers who inhibit their true negative affect. Finally, there was a trend indicating that maternal depression was associated with increased maternal controlling behavior towards toddlers. Overall, these findings show the intricate relation between maternal behavior and state with dyadic interaction quality. This should underline that optimal infant development is only possible if mothers are well supported especially if in need due to various burdens such as depressive symptoms.

Introduction. Child development is a complex process influenced by genetic and environmental factors. An enriching linguistic environment is fundamental for cognitive development and language learning in the first years of life. Objective. To describe caregivers' knowledge of cognitive and language development of children under 5 years of age. Population and methods. Cross-sectional, analytical study. Caregivers of children under the age of 5 years who attended the offices of a pediatric hospital during January-March. A self-administered survey, the Survey of Parent/Provider Expectations and Knowledge (SPEAK), probes caregivers' knowledge of cognitive and language development. Demographic characteristics were explored. A univariate descriptiveanalysis was performed for each variable, and a bivariate analysis was conducted using demographic data as predictor variables and the total survey score as the outcome variable. Results. The median global score obtained in the SPEAK survey was 31 (interquartile range 26-34), out of a maximum possible 54 points. The analysis revealed a significant association between the caregiver's educational level and their knowledge of child development (r = 0.211; p = 0.012). Conclusion. The population studied presented an intermediate level of knowledge about language and cognitive development in early childhood. An association was found between a higher level of education and greater knowledge of development.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of device use and maternal bonding on early childhood cognitive and motor development in Situbondo Regency. In this research, the sample used was 311 respondents using quantitative methods. The multiple linear regression analysis technique was carried out using SPSS version 22 software. The data collection technique used in this research was observation, interviews, filling out Google forms and also direct questionnaires. The results of this research show a partial contribution, namely between the use of gadgets on cognitive development in early childhood, there is a partial contribution, namely between maternal attachment to cognitive development in early childhood, then there is a partial contribution between the use of gadgets and motor development in early childhood. , while there is no partial contribution of maternal attachment to motor development in early childhood. The use of devices in early childhood requires care and supervision, and also the mother’s role in the operation, as overuse of the device by the child can lead to addiction to playing with the device. This negatively affects the child’s growth and development process, especially the development of cognitive and motor skills. Dependence on the use of gadgets hinders the child’s growth and development process. Keywords: Gadget Use, Maternal Attachment, Cognitive Development, Motor Development

Ethnic group differences in early head start parents’ parenting beliefs and practices and links to children's early cognitive development

Maternal sensitivity moderates the association between maternal history of childhood maltreatment and child executive function

The aims were (1) to investigate differences by ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) in objective measures of sleep in children aged 7-9 years and (2) determine whether measures of sleep predict child achievement in reading or mathematics after controlling for ethnicity and SES. Four groups of parent-child dyads were recruited: Māori, low-SES schools (n = 18); Māori, high-SES schools (n = 17); New Zealand European, low-SES schools (n = 18); New Zealand European, high-SES schools (n = 17). Child sleep was measured by actigraphy. Parents and teachers reported child daytime sleepiness and behavior, and children completed a self-report of anxiety symptoms. Teachers also reported on child achievement in reading and mathematics. Children from low-SES schools went to bed later on school nights (F[1,68] = 12.150, P = .001) and woke later (F[1,68] = 15.978, P < .001) than children from high-SES schools but had similar sleep duration. There were no differences related to ethnicity. Children from low-SES schools were almost 3 times more likely to be below national standards for mathematics. Children not meeting academic standards in mathematics had a later sleep start time, lower sleep period efficiency, and a decreased total sleep time. However, when SES and sleep period efficiency were modeled together neither were found to significantly influence achievement in mathematics. In this study, SES influenced sleep timing but not the quality and quantity of sleep in 7- to 9-year-old children, and a significant independent effect of sleep efficiency on learning could not be demonstrated.

Early childhood development encompasses children’s cognitive development as well as their physical growth and well-being and socioemotional development. While endorsing the broad view of early childhood development highlighted in the introduction to this book, this chapter focuses on the cognitive domain, refl ecting recent advances in the measurement of cognitive development in low-income countries. The objective of this chapter is to review the evidence that cognitive delays in early childhood can quickly accumulate among the poorest children and that indicators of cognitive development in early childhood strongly correlate with socioeconomic status. The fi rst part of the chapter takes stock of existing evidence on cognitive development in early childhood. A large share of evidence originates from developed countries, with more recent evidence coming from lower-middleincome countries in Latin America (in particular Ecuador and Nicaragua) as well as Madagascar. The second part of the chapter presents new evidence on patterns in cognitive development in Cambodia and Mozambique, two low-income countries. The chapter documents that young children in Cambodia and Mozambique are exposed to large cognitive delays that increase with age. It shows that cognitive development is associated with socioeconomic status as proxied by wealth and caregiver education, and Cognitive Development among Young Children in Low-Income Countries

This study examines how different types of social network structures are associated with early cognitive development in children. To assess how social relationships and structures are associated with early cognitive development and to elucidate whether variations in the mother's social networks alter a child's early cognitive development patterns. This cohort study used data from 1082 mother-child pairs in the University of Tennessee Health Science Center-Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning and Early Childhood project to examine the association between networks of different levels of complexity (triad, family, and neighborhood) and child cognitive performance after adjustment for the mother's IQ, birth weight, and age, and the father's educational level. The final model was adjusted for the household poverty level. Data were collected from December 2006 through January 2014 and analyzed from October through November 2018. The child-mother relationship, child-mother-father triad, family setting, child's dwelling network, mother's social support network, and neighborhood networks. Measure of cognitive development of the child using Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) at 2 years of age. Of 1082 participants, 544 (50.3%) were males and 703 (65.1%) were African American; the mean (SD) age was 2.08 (0.12) years. Large family size had a negative association with early cognitive development, with a mean 2.21-point decrease in BSID coefficient score (95% CI, 0.40 to 4.02; P = .01). Mother's social support network size was positively associated early cognitive development, with a mean 0.40-point increase in BSID coefficient score (95% CI, 0.001 to 0.80; P = .05). Knowing many neighbors was not statistically significantly associated with early cognitive development, with a mean 1.39-point increase in BSID coefficient score (95% CI, -0.04 to 2.83; P = .06). The findings suggest that maternal social relationships are associated with cognitive development in children and that social relationships beyond the mother-child-father triad are significantly associated with children's cognitive development. This study investigates the environmental influences on child health outcomes and, specifically, how early cognitive development is associated with social networks for the primary caregiver.

This study investigates the association between home computer experience and cognitive development among preschool children in inner-city Head Start programs. Approximately 200 children enrolled in four Head Start centers in Detroit, Michigan were recruited to participate in this study. Data was collected from parents regarding the children's experience with computers in the home environment, including their access to a computer, the amount of time spent on the computer, and types of programs used on the computer. Each child was assessed using the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) and the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts, Third Edition Preschool (Boehm-3). Results suggest that using a computer is positively correlated with some aspects of cognitive development. After controlling for parent's education and household income, children who had access to a computer in their home had significantly higher scores of the Verbal, Perceptual-Performance, and General Cognitive scales of the MSCA. Furthermore, frequency of children's computer use was related to scores on the Boehm-3. These results suggest that early computer use at home may be a positive influence in young children's cognitive development.

Mother's age at arrival in the United States and early cognitive development

Interest in studies on balanced nutrition and early childhood cognitive development has increased significantly over the past decade. This study aims to analyze research trends, identify dominant terms, and evaluate the inclusion of social and educational aspects in the related literature. Data were obtained from the Scopus database and analyzed using a bibliometric approach and VOSviewer for visualization. The results reveal a dominance of biomedical terms such as brain development and cognitive development, while issues like caregiving, stimulation, and education remain underrepresented. Balanced nutrition is often understood separately from the child’s social context, even though the effectiveness of nutritional interventions is strongly influenced by the quality of caregiving and the learning environment. This review concludes that sectoral research approaches are insufficient to address the complexity of early childhood development. The implication is that research models and nutrition interventions must be developed not only from a health perspective but also by integrating educational and social perspectives to support the creation of more holistic, needs-based policies for children.

Cognitive development is the mental ability to process information, think, learn and solve problems. The effect of gadgets on early childhood cognitive development is very important. This is because the rapid development of technology and the increasing use of gadgets among children trigger concerns about their impact on child development and The benefits of this study are to increase parents' and educators' awareness of the impact of gadgets on child development, provide scientific information about the effect of gadgets on children's cognition, and help develop effective educational strategies. This study can also help parents and educators in making decisions about the use of gadgets and improve the quality of education and child development. This study aims to determine the effect of gadget use on early childhood cognitive development at Sabulus Naimata PAUD. The research method applied was descriptive qualitative with a population of 45 children aged 4-6 years. Data collection techniques were interviews and documentation studies. The research participants were one teacher and three parents, as well as document analysis related to the use of gadgets in PAUD. The results of data analysis show that gadget use has a significant influence on early childhood cognitive development. The influence can be positive, such as improving problem-solving skills and creativity, but also negative, such as being easily distracted, less active in playing, and difficulty concentrating. This study concludes that the use of gadgets in early childhood at PAUD Sabulus Fani Naimata has both positive and negative impacts. It is expected that parents and teachers can assist and limit children to use gadgets and balance them with other activities that support children's cognitive development.

Delays in early childhood cognitive development may have profound long-term implications on health and life expectancy. Optimal nutrition supports early life development, including a child's cognitive development. This study aimed to determine the association between the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure and early childhood cognitive development among children aged 36-59 months in Indonesia. This cross-sectional study utilized data from the 2018 Indonesian Basic Health Research that involved 18,027 participants aged 36-59 months. This study outcome demonstrated that children who were stunted-underweight were potentially susceptible to delayed cognitive development compared to those with normal nutritional status (aOR = 1.30; 95% CI 1.12-1.51) after controlling for child’s age, sex, vitamin A supplementation, antenatal care visits, gestational age, access to drinking water and sanitation (combined risk), maternal education and mental health (combined risk), maternal occupation and number of household members (combined risk). In summary, malnourished children are vulnerable to impaired physical growth and potential delays inearly cognitive development.

Introduction: Socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood and beyond may influence the gut microbiome (GMB), with implications for disease risk. Studies evaluating the relationship between life-course SES and the gut microbiome (GMB) are sparse, particularly among Hispanic/Latino individuals, who have a high prevalence of low SES. Hypothesis: Low life-course SES indicators are associated with less diversity and overall composition of the gut microbiome in United States (U.S.) Hispanic/Latino adults. Methods: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) is a multi-site population-based cohort study conducted in the U.S. Childhood sanitation conditions (plumbing, sewer/septic tank), childhood SES (parental education and childhood hardship), adulthood neighborhood SES, and adulthood SES (education, income, and economic hardship) were used as life-course SES indicators. Shotgun sequencing was performed on stool samples (n=1057). Alpha-diversity was measured by the Shannon diversity index. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance was used to assess the association of SES indicators with overall microbiome composition, as measured using the Jensen-Shannon Divergence distance. Analysis of Compositions of Microbiomes was used to identify associations of life-course SES indicators with GMB species, adjusting for age, sex, BMI, U.S. or foreign-born, study center, Hispanic/Latino background, type of stool, diet quality, smoking, alcohol consumption, depressive and anxiety symptoms, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, and antibiotic use. Results: Low sanitation and low SES during childhood were reported by 32% (342 of 1053) and 37% (330 of 884) of participants, respectively. In adulthood, 56% (585 of 1053) lived in a low SES neighborhood and 45% (447 of 1002) had low SES. Life-course SES indicators were not associated with GMB diversity. However, overall microbiome composition differed significantly according to childhood SES (R2 =0.28%, P = 0.04). Low childhood sanitation was associated with higher abundance of Ruminococcus torques and Clostridium lactatifermentans , and depleted abundance of Prevotella species. Low childhood SES was associated with higher abundance of species from genus Streptococcus (S. salivarius, S. parasanguinis, and S. infantis), Veillonella parvula, Prevotella stercorea, and Roseburia intestinalis. Low adulthood SES was associated with depleted abundance of species from Bacteroides, and living in a low adulthood neighborhood SES was associated with depleted abundance of species from Rikenella . Conclusion: Low childhood SES was associated with an altered GMB composition in U.S. Hispanic/Latino adults. Early-life SES may have long-term effects on GMB composition, underscoring another biological mechanism linking early childhood factors to adulthood disease.