Adult Educational Attainment Research Articles

The Impact of Childhood and Adult Educational Attainment and Economic Status on Later Depressive Symptoms and Its Intergenerational Effect.

This study aimed to investigate a process accounting for the socioeconomic inequality in depressive symptoms from generation to generation. To examine the process, this study utilized data from three generations of grandparents, mothers, and daughters. This study employed data from the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families, collected from a large-scale national representative sample in South Korea. Conducting pathway analysis, the study tested direct and indirect pathways between mother’s socioeconomic status (SES) experienced in childhood and their offspring’s depressive symptoms through maternal SES and depressive symptoms in adulthood. This study found that early economic hardship increased the risk of depressive symptoms in daughters through maternal low education and depressive symptoms (β = 0.03, p < 0.05), which was consistent with the theoretical framework, which relied on a life-course model highlighting that early life experiences affect later adult health and can potentially have effects across generations. This finding suggests that interventions that work with maternal education and depression may benefit from efforts to break the likelihood of continuity of depressive symptoms into the next generation, especially for their own daughters.

Socioeconomic inequalities in blood pressure: co-ordinated analysis of 147,775 participants from repeated birth cohort and cross-sectional datasets, 1989 to 2016

BackgroundHigh blood pressure (BP) is a key modifiable determinant of cardiovascular disease and a likely determinant of other adverse health outcomes. While socioeconomic inequalities in BP are well documented, it remains unclear (1) how these inequalities have changed across time, given improvements over time in the detection and treatment of high BP (hypertension); (2) whether BP inequalities are present below and above hypertension treatment thresholds; and (3) whether socioeconomic position (SEP) across life has cumulative effects on BP. We sought to address these gaps using evidence from two complementary sources: birth cohort and repeated cross-sectional datasets.MethodsWe used three British birth cohort studies—born in 1946, 1958, and 1970—with BP measured at 43–46 years (in 1989, 2003, and 2016), and 21 repeated cross-sectional datasets—the Health Survey for England (HSE), with BP measured among adults aged ≥ 25 years (1994–2016). Adult education attainment was used as an indicator of SEP in both datasets; childhood father’s social class was used as an alternative indicator of (early life) SEP in cohorts. Adjusting for the expected average effects of antihypertensive medication use, we used linear regression to quantify SEP differences in mean systolic BP (SBP), and quantile regression to investigate whether inequalities differed across SBP distributions—below and above hypertension treatment thresholds.ResultsIn both datasets, lower educational attainment was associated with higher SBP, with similar absolute magnitudes of inequality across the studied period. Differences in SBP by education (Slope Index of Inequality) based on HSE data were 3.0 mmHg (95% CI 1.8, 4.2) in 1994 and 4.3 mmHg (2.3, 6.3) in 2016. Findings were similar for diastolic BP (DBP) and survey-defined hypertension. Inequalities were found across the SBP distribution in both datasets—below and above the hypertension threshold—yet were larger at the upper tail; in HSE, median SBP differences were 2.8 mmHg (1.7, 3.9) yet 5.6 mmHg (4.9, 6.4) at the 90th quantile. Adjustment for antihypertensive medication use had little impact on the magnitude of inequalities; in contrast, associations were largely attenuated after adjustment for body mass index. Finally, cohort data suggested that disadvantage in early and adult life had cumulative independent associations with BP: cohort-pooled differences in SBP were 5.0 mmHg (3.8, 6.1) in a score combining early life social class and own education, yet were 3.4 mmHg (2.4, 4.4) for education alone.ConclusionSocioeconomic inequalities in BP have persisted from 1989 to 2016 in Britain/England, despite improved detection and treatment of high BP. To achieve future reductions in BP inequalities, policies addressing the wider structural determinants of high BP levels are likely required, particularly those curtailing the obesogenic environment—targeting detection and treatment alone is unlikely to be sufficient.

Cascades of infant happiness: Infant positive affect predicts childhood IQ and adult educational attainment.

Parents want their children to be happy, educated, and successful, but are these goals related? People assume that success leads to happiness, but research on adults supports a reverse conceptualization: Happy people are more successful. Is happiness during childhood also linked to later success? Across the lifespan positive affect is linked with expanded cognitive abilities, learning, and resource building that can be adaptive and useful such that it leads to more success. Conversely, ongoing negative affect can reduce opportunities for growth and learning. Thus, happiness at any age may predict future success. Yet, no research has examined if positive and negative affect during infancy predicts childhood cognitive abilities and adult academics success. In a community sample, I hypothesized that higher infant positive affect (but not negative affect) would predict higher childhood cognitive abilities (i.e., IQ) and adult academic success (i.e., education attainment) in a 29-year study (n = 130). Positive affect, but not negative affect, during infancy (age 1.5), directly predicted higher childhood IQ (ages 6-8) and higher educational attainment (age 29), even after controlling for family socioeconomic status and infant intelligence. Childhood IQ partially explained the link between positive affect during infancy and adult educational attainment. This study advances understanding of how happiness during infancy (before formal education has begun) is linked to gold standard indicators of cognitive abilities and adult academic success. Parents, educators, and policymakers may want to place a higher value on early affective experiences when considering educational success. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Mothers' Income and Young Adult Children's Education and Fast Food Intake.

Objectives: In this study, we examine young adult children's educational attainment as a mediator in the pathway from their mother's income to their fast food consumption. Methods: The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 for Children and Young Adults (NLSY79 CY) were used to select mother and children dyads. A total of 5140 dyads were selected as the final sample. We used a mediation model to test mediators in the relationship between mother's income and young adult children's fast food consumption. Results: Mother's income was significantly related to their young adult children's educational attainment. Mother's income was negatively related to fast food consumption. This study revealed partial mediation of the relationship between mother's income and their young adult children's fast food consumption via their young adult children's educational attainment. Conclusions: A new perspective considering mother's economic resources is needed to understand children's education. Mother's income is important to cultivate their young adult children's health behaviors. The intergenerational transmission of mother's economic resources to their young adult children's educational attainment should be considered to understand young adults' fast food consumption.

The intergenerational transmission of income mobility between mothers and their young adult daughters: The mediating role of their daughters' educational attainment

AbstractThis study examines whether the daughters' educational attainment mediates the intergenerational transmission of economic mobility between mothers and their young adult daughters. To create mother–daughter dyads, two data sets were combined: The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 for Children and Young Adults (NLSY79 CY). A total of 2,456 dyads were included for analysis. We used a mediation model to explore the relationship between mothers' income and their young adult daughters' income. Mothers' income was associated with their young adult daughters' educational attainment and income. The mediation model indicated partial mediation of the relationship between mothers' income and their young adult daughters' income via their young adult daughters' educational attainment. Addressing issues of income inequality among mothers may serve as a buffer against the low upward mobility across generations for their young adult daughters raised by low‐income mothers. It is imperative to provide programs and financial assistance for mothers to bolster their income and thereby their daughters' educational attainment and income in young adulthood and therefore improve economic mobility from mothers to daughters.

Adolescent Family Experiences Predict Young Adult Educational Attainment: A Data-Based Cross-Study Synthesis With Machine Learning

Grounded in theory and research on the role of adolescent family experiences in young adult educational attainment, this study took the novel step of synthesizing results from prior studies and using a machine learning (ML) approach to address three questions: (1) By incorporating adolescent family experience factors examined across prior studies in a single analysis, how accurately can we predict young adult educational attainment? (2) Which family experience factors are the best predictors of young adult educational attainment? (3) What complex patterns among family experience predictors merit further examination? Based on a review of 101 publications that used National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data to investigate links between adolescent family experiences and young adult attainment, we identified 53 family experience independent variables. We used an ML-based approach to train and test models with these 53 Wave I family variables (adolescent in Grade 7–12) as predictors of both college enrollment (N = 4598) and graduation (N = 4180) at Wave IV (young adult mean age = 28.88, SD = 1.76). Our models (1) obtained prediction accuracies of 73.43% and 72.33% for college enrollment, and 79.10% and 79.07% for college graduation, (2) identified the best predictors of college enrollment and graduation, including family socioeconomic characteristics and parent educational expectations, and (3) highlight nonlinear patterns for further examination. This study advanced understanding of how adolescent family experiences may influence educational attainment and provided a paradigm for developmental research to synthesize existing findings into novel discoveries with large-scale datasets.

What is the Added Value of Preschool for Poor Children? Long-Term and Intergenerational Impacts and Interactions with an Infant Health Intervention

We study the impact of preschool targeted at children from low-income families over the life cycle and across generations, and examine its interaction with an infant health intervention. Using Danish administrative data with variation in the timing of program implementation over the period 1933–1960, we find lasting benefits of access to preschool on adult educational attainment, earnings, and survival beyond age 65. We also show that children of women exposed to pre-school obtain more education by age 25. However, exposure to a nurse home visiting program in infancy reduces the added value of preschool, implying that the programs serve as partial substitutes. (JEL I12, I18, I21, I26, J13, J24, J31)

The social context of nearest neighbors shapes educational attainment regardless of class origin

We study the association between sociospatial neighborhood conditions throughout childhood and educational attainment in adulthood. Using unique longitudinal microdata for a medium-sized Swedish town, we geocode its population at the address level, 1939 to 1967, and link individuals to national registers, 1968 to 2015. Thus, we adopt a long-term perspective on the importance of nearby neighbors during a period when higher education expanded. Applying a method for estimating individual neighborhoods at the address level, we analyze the association between the geographically weighted social class of the nearest 6 to 100 childhood neighbors (ages 2 to 17), and the likelihood of obtaining a university degree by age 40, controlling for both family social class and school districts. We show that even when growing up in a town with relatively low economic inequality, the social class of the nearest same-age neighbors in childhood was associated with educational attainment, and that the associations were similar regardless of class origin. Growing up in low-class neighborhoods lowered educational attainment; growing up in high-class neighborhoods increased attainment. Social class and neighborhoods reinforced each other, implying that high-class children clustered with each other had much higher odds of obtaining a university degree than low-class children from low-class neighborhoods. Thus, even if all groups benefited from the great expansion of free higher education in Sweden (1960s to 1970s), the large inequalities between the classes and neighborhoods remained unchanged throughout the period. These findings show the importance of an advantageous background, both regarding the immediate family and the networks of nearby people of the same age.

Believing and Achieving: Gendered Pathways Toward Upward Educational Mobility in the United States.

Little research has investigated the impact of adolescent motivational resources, other than educational plans, on adult educational attainment, or whether their effects differ by gender and social class. Data from the St. Paul Youth Development Study (n = 874, 55% female, 30% children of college graduates) are used to estimate a second-order latent motivation factor encompassing adolescent (age 15-16) educational plans, academic self-concept, economic self-efficacy, and mastery. Then, using logistic regression, the effect of this second-order factor on odds of college graduation in adulthood (ages 26-27 to 37-38) is estimated. Heterogenous effects of motivation by gender and parental education are investigated. The results show that the second-order motivation factor had strong positive effects on educational attainment after adjusting for family background variables. The effect of motivation did not differ by gender in the whole sample nor among children of college graduates. However, among children of less-educated parents, women were found to benefit more than men from these psychological assets for achieving upward educational mobility. These findings suggest that adolescent motivation, especially among U.S. women whose parents do not have college degrees, may be a resource for higher educational attainment.

Incarceration and the Life Course: Age-Graded Effects of the First Parental Incarceration Experience

Research shows that parental incarceration can produce adverse effects across the life course. One question that remains largely unaddressed, however, is whether these effects are age-graded. Drawing on developmental and life-course scholarship, we argue that parental incarceration will exert different effects depending upon the developmental stage that it is first experienced. This study employs regression techniques using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 11,670). Specifically, we examine whether the effects of parental incarceration are greater if it is experienced during the early childhood (i.e., before age 6). The outcomes examined include adult offending, marijuana use, depression, educational attainment, and earnings. The results revealed an apparent age-graded effect of parental incarceration during adulthood. However, post hoc tests indicated that the apparent differences are only statistically significant for criminal offending, lending only limited support for an age-graded effect of parental incarceration. Although experiencing parental incarceration during childhood may not exert an age-graded effect on adult outcomes, the results lend support to theoretical arguments that parental incarceration may serve as an event that is especially salient—or a “turning point”—in the lives of children.

Genetic Associations Between Childhood Psychopathology and Adult Depression and Associated Traits in 42 998 Individuals

Adult mood disorders are often preceded by behavioral and emotional problems in childhood. It is yet unclear what explains the associations between childhood psychopathology and adult traits. To investigate whether genetic risk for adult mood disorders and associated traits is associated with childhood disorders. This meta-analysis examined data from 7 ongoing longitudinal birth and childhood cohorts from the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Starting points of data collection ranged from July 1985 to April 2002. Participants were repeatedly assessed for childhood psychopathology from ages 6 to 17 years. Data analysis occurred from September 2017 to May 2019. Individual polygenic scores (PGS) were constructed in children based on genome-wide association studies of adult major depression, bipolar disorder, subjective well-being, neuroticism, insomnia, educational attainment, and body mass index (BMI). Regression meta-analyses were used to test associations between PGS and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and internalizing and social problems measured repeatedly across childhood and adolescence and whether these associations depended on childhood phenotype, age, and rater. The sample included 42 998 participants aged 6 to 17 years. Male participants varied from 43.0% (1040 of 2417 participants) to 53.1% (2434 of 4583 participants) by age and across all cohorts. The PGS of adult major depression, neuroticism, BMI, and insomnia were positively associated with childhood psychopathology (β estimate range, 0.023-0.042 [95% CI, 0.017-0.049]), while associations with PGS of subjective well-being and educational attainment were negative (β, -0.026 to -0.046 [95% CI, -0.020 to -0.057]). There was no moderation of age, type of childhood phenotype, or rater with the associations. The exceptions were stronger associations between educational attainment PGS and ADHD compared with internalizing problems (Δβ, 0.0561 [Δ95% CI, 0.0318-0.0804]; ΔSE, 0.0124) and social problems (Δβ, 0.0528 [Δ95% CI, 0.0282-0.0775]; ΔSE, 0.0126), and between BMI PGS and ADHD and social problems (Δβ, -0.0001 [Δ95% CI, -0.0102 to 0.0100]; ΔSE, 0.0052), compared with internalizing problems (Δβ, -0.0310 [Δ95% CI, -0.0456 to -0.0164]; ΔSE, 0.0074). Furthermore, the association between educational attainment PGS and ADHD increased with age (Δβ, -0.0032 [Δ 95% CI, -0.0048 to -0.0017]; ΔSE, 0.0008). Results from this study suggest the existence of a set of genetic factors influencing a range of traits across the life span with stable associations present throughout childhood. Knowledge of underlying mechanisms may affect treatment and long-term outcomes of individuals with psychopathology.

Cumulative Effects of Doubling Up in Childhood on Young Adult Outcomes

Living in a doubled-up, or shared, household is a common experience. Nearly one-half of children in the United States double up at some point during childhood, yet we know little about the cumulative effects of these households on children. This study estimates the effects on young adult health and educational attainment of childhood years spent in three doubled-up household types: (1) those formed with children's grandparent(s), (2) those formed with children's adult sibling(s), and (3) those formed with other extended family or non-kin adults. Using marginal structural models and inverse probability of treatment weighting-methods that account for the fact that household composition is both a cause and consequence of other family characteristics-I find that doubling up shapes children's life chances, but the effects vary depending on children's relationships with household members. Childhood years spent living with nongrandparent extended family or non-kin adults are associated with worse young adult outcomes, but coresidence with grandparents is not significantly associated with young adult outcomes after selection into these households is accounted for, and coresidence with adult siblings may be beneficial in some domains. By studying the effects of coresidence with adults beyond the nuclear family, this research contributes to a fuller understanding of the implications of family complexity for children.

Intergenerational Transmission of Education and ADHD: Effects of Parental Genotypes

It remains a challenge to determine whether children resemble their parents due to nature, nurture, or a mixture of both. Here we used a design that exploits the distinction between transmitted and non-transmitted alleles in genetic transmission from parent to offspring. Two separate polygenic scores (PGS) were calculated on the basis of the transmitted and non-transmitted alleles. The effect of the non-transmitted PGS is necessarily mediated by parental phenotypes, insofar as they contribute to the rearing environment of the offspring (genetic nurturing). We calculated transmitted and non-transmitted PGSs associated with adult educational attainment (EA) and PGSs associated with childhood ADHD in a general population sample of trios, i.e. child or adult offspring and their parents (N = 1120–2518). We tested if the EA and ADHD (non-)transmitted PGSs were associated with childhood academic achievement and ADHD in offspring. Based on the earlier findings for shared environment, we hypothesized to find genetic nurturing for academic achievement, but not for ADHD. In adults, both transmitted (R2 = 7.6%) and non-transmitted (R2 = 1.7%) EA PGSs were associated with offspring EA, evidencing genetic nurturing. In children around age 12, academic achievement was associated with the transmitted EA PGSs (R2 = 5.7%), but we found no support for genetic nurturing (R2 ~ 0.1%). The ADHD PGSs were not significantly associated with academic achievement (R2 ~ 0.6%). ADHD symptoms in children were only associated with transmitted EA PGSs and ADHD PGSs (R2 = 1–2%). Based on these results, we conclude that the associations between parent characteristics and offspring outcomes in childhood are mainly to be attributable to the effects of genes that are shared by parents and children.

Prospective Associations of Child Maltreatment Subtypes With Adult Educational Attainment: Tests of Mediating Mechanisms Through School-Related Outcomes

This study tests a developmental cascades model in which childhood maltreatment is hypothesized to influence adult educational attainment by increasing attention problems and reducing successful school experiences during adolescence. Two path models tested direct and indirect associations of childhood maltreatment with adult educational attainment. Model 1 used three parent-reported subtypes of childhood maltreatment (physical/emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect). Model 2 added an agency-reported measure of childhood maltreatment. Both models detected indirect effects of childhood maltreatment subtypes on adult educational attainment through attention and school discipline problems, poor school engagement, and low extracurricular involvement. Model 2 also detected a direct effect of agency-reported childhood maltreatment on the adult outcome. Regardless of the type of maltreatment or data source used, school factors mediated the associations of childhood maltreatment on adult educational attainment. Promoting school engagement and reducing disciplinary referrals for maltreated youth could improve their educational attainment over the long term.

Linked Lives and Childhood Experience of Family Death on Educational Attainment.

Sociological theory and research suggest that experiencing family members' deaths during childhood and adolescence is an important event subject to significant disparities. Previous research links immediate family members' deaths to poor life outcomes, but it considers a limited set of family members and has not tested the association of family member death with educational attainment. This study estimates the rates and educational impacts of experiencing the deaths of immediate (siblings, parents) and extended family members (aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents) during childhood and adolescence for Black and White Americans. We find that family death is associated with educational attainment, but the associations differ by family member type and gender, and child's race. Experiences of family death are unequally distributed by race and demonstrate complex associations with educational attainment. This research broadens life course and family systems theory by incorporating childhood family experiences of death on adult educational attainment and stratification.

The positive end of the polygenic score distribution for ADHD: a low risk or a protective factor?

Polygenic scores (PGS) are widely used to characterize genetic liability for heritable mental disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, little is known about the effects of a low burden of genetic liability for ADHD, including whether this functions as a low risk or protective factor for ADHD and related functional outcomes in later life. The current study examines the association of low ADHD PGS and functional outcomes in adulthood. Participants were from Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) (N = 7088; mean age = 29, s.d. = 1.74). ADHD PGS was computed from an existing genome-wide association study, and adult functional outcomes, including cognition, educational attainment, mental health, and physical health were assessed during in-home interviews. Individuals at the lowest end of the ADHD PGS distribution (i.e. lowest 20th percentile) had the lowest probabilities of ADHD, exhibiting a 17-19% reduction in risk for ADHD relative to the observed 8.3% prevalence rate of ADHD in Add Health. Furthermore, individuals with low ADHD PGS had higher cognitive performance, greater levels of educational attainment, and lower BMI relative to individuals representing the rest of the ADHD PGS distribution, including those who were in the medium and high-PGS groups. Findings indicate that psychiatric PGS likely capture far more than just the risk and the absence of risk for a psychiatric outcome; where one lies along the PGS distribution may predict diverging functional consequences, for better and for worse.

Self-esteem and self-efficacy in the status attainment process and the multigenerational transmission of advantage

Despite considerable evidence of the importance of self-esteem and self-efficacy for agentic, goal-oriented behavior, little attention has been directed to these psychological dimensions in the status attainment literature. The present research uses data from the longitudinal, three-generation Youth Development Study (N = 422 three-generation triads) to examine the extent to which adolescent self-esteem and economic self-efficacy affect adult educational and income attainment, and whether these psychological resources are transmitted from one generation to the next, accumulating advantage across generations. We present evidence indicating that both self-esteem and economic self-efficacy are implicated in the attainment process. Adolescent economic self-efficacy had a direct positive effect on adult educational attainment and an indirect effect through educational plans. The influence of self-esteem on adult educational attainment was entirely indirect, through school achievement. We also find evidence that economic self-efficacy was transmitted from parents to children. We conclude that future research should more broadly consider psychological resources in attainment processes from a longitudinal multigenerational perspective.

The Segregation of Opportunity: Social and Financial Resources in the Educational Contexts of Lower- and Higher-Income Children, 1990-2014.

This article provides a rich longitudinal portrait of the financial and social resources available in the school districts of high- and low-income students in the United States from 1990 to 2014. Combining multiple publicly available data sources for most school districts in the United States, we document levels and gaps in school district financial resources-total per-pupil expenditures-and social resources-local rates of adult educational attainment, family structure, and adult unemployment-available to the average public school student at a variety of income levels over time. In addition to using eligibility for the National School Lunch Program as a blunt measure of student income, we estimate resource inequalities between income deciles to analyze resource gaps between affluent and poor children. We then examine the relationship between income segregation and resource gaps between the school districts of high- and low-income children. In previous work, the social context of schooling has been a theoretical but unmeasured mechanism through which income segregation may operate to create unequal opportunities for children. Our results show large and, in some cases, growing social resource gaps in the districts of high- and low-income students nationally and provide evidence that these gaps are exacerbated by income segregation. Conversely, per-pupil funding became more compensatory between high- and low-income students' school districts over this period, especially in highly segregated states. However, there are early signs of reversal in this trend. The results provide evidence that school finance reforms have been somewhat effective in reducing the consequences of income segregation on funding inequities, while inequalities in the social context of schooling continue to grow.

Factors Associated with HPV Vaccination Uptake and HPV-Associated Cancers: A County-Level Analysis in the State of Alabama.

Despite availability of a safe, effective vaccination, uptake and completion rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination remain low in the United States. This is particularly true in the southeast, which also sees some of the highest rates of HPV-associated (HPVa) cancers. We aimed to identify areas in Alabama in need of intervention with respect to HPVa cancers and HPV vaccination, and factors potentially associated with these rates by performing county-level secondary data analysis using state and national data sources. Alabama ranks 15th nationally in HPVa cancer rates, with 66.7% and 80.8% of counties having higher HPVa cancer rates than the national incidences of males and females, respectively. Regarding HPV vaccination, 95.5% and 98.5% of Alabama's counties have uptake rates less than the national averages for males and females, respectively. The seven counties with the highest HPV vaccination uptake ranged in rates from 60.2 to 73.6%. Counties with the highest HPV vaccination rates for adolescents were majority African American with low adult educational attainment rates and high rates of poverty and publicly-insured children/adolescents. These counties were also located in Alabama's Black Belt region, traditionally known for low socioeconomics, reduced access to social services, and negative health outcomes. Some counties with the highest rates of HPVa cancers also had among the highest rates of HPV vaccination, indicating a potential association between perceived susceptibility and desire to get HPV vaccine in these communities, warranting further investigation. Future work is needed to translate these findings into actionable intervention practices to increase HPV vaccination.

Long run height and education implications of early life growth faltering: a synthetic panel analysis of 425 birth cohorts in 21 low- and middle-income countries

BackgroundWe estimated the associations between exposure to early life growth faltering at the population level and adult height and education outcomes in a sample of 21 low- and middle-income countries.MethodsWe conducted a synthetic panel analysis of 425 birth cohorts across 126 regions in 21 LMICs surveyed in the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) both as children and as adults. Data from historic (1987–1993) DHS survey rounds were used to compute average height-for-age z-scores at the province-birth-year level. Cohort measures of early life growth were then linked to adult height and educational attainment measures collected on individuals from the same cohorts in the 2006-2014 DHS survey rounds. The primary exposure of interest was population-level early life growth (region-birth year average HAZ) and growth faltering (region-birth year stunting prevalence). Multivariable linear regression models were used to estimate the associations between adult outcomes and population-level measures of early life linear growth.ResultsThe average cohort height-for-age z-score (HAZ) in childhood was − 1.53 [range: − 2.73, − 0.348]. In fully adjusted models, each unit increase in cohort childhood HAZ was associated with a 2.0 cm [95% CI: 1.09–2.9] increase in adult height, with larger associations for men than for women. Evidence for the association between early childhood height and adult educational attainment was found to be inconclusive (0.269, 95% CI: [− 0.68–1.22]).ConclusionsWhile early childhood linear growth at the cohort level appears to be highly predictive of adult height, the empirical association between early life growth and adult educational attainment seems weak and heterogeneous across countries.RegistrationThis study was registered on May 10, 2017 at the ISRCTN Registry (http://www.isrctn.com), registration number ISRCTN82438662.