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Maternal education and siblings: Agents of cognitive development in kindergarten

URI
https://hdl.handle.net/10497/24563
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Type
Article
Files
 DS-25-4-e13218.pdf (1022.35 KB)
Citation
Muñez, D., Bull, R., & Lee, K. (2022). Maternal education and siblings: Agents of cognitive development in kindergarten. Developmental Science, 25(4), Article e13218. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13218
Author
Munez, David 
•
Bull, Rebecca
•
Lee, Kerry
Abstract
In this study (n = 1000, Mage at K1entry = 53.4 months, SD = 3.4; 53% females), we investigated the contributions of the family socioeconomic status (SES; maternal education and an income-related measure) and number and age of siblings to the development of children's math, reading, and working memory (WM) updating skills over the kindergarten years. Results from a multivariate multilevel growth curve model showed that children from more disadvantaged SES backgrounds already had a multifaceted developmental lag at kindergarten entry. Maternal education was the aspect of SES that more clearly affected the child's cognitive development; the mother's education predicted children's math, reading, and WM-updating skills at kindergarten entry as well as the rate of development of reading skills over the kindergarten years. Independently of SES status, children with more siblings also showed poorer reading and math skills than those in one-child families at kindergarten entry. We also found that both older and younger siblings affected, negatively, children's reading skills before they attended kindergarten—which suggests that the development of reading skills is more responsive to environmental factors during the first years than other aspects of the child development. The findings underscore the independent role of siblings upon entry to kindergarten, and the enduring role of maternal education even after children are exposed to formal schooling.
Keywords
  • Socioeconomic status

  • Kindergarten

  • Academic achievement

  • Cognitive development...

  • Siblings

Date Issued
2022
Publisher
Wiley
Journal
Developmental Science
DOI
10.1111/desc.13218
Dataset
https://doi.org/10.25340/R4/FVL7G8
Funding Agency
Developmental Science
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