Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 151, Issue 3, September 2007, Pages 284-288.e1
The Journal of Pediatrics

Original article
Socioeconomic Position, Maternal IQ, Home Environment, and Cognitive Development

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2007.03.020Get rights and content

Objective

To assess whether socioeconomic position, maternal intelligence (IQ), and the home environment are inter-related to cognitive development in childhood.

Study design

Prospective cohort study (n = 723) with cognitive tests at ages 2, 4, 7, and 11 to 13 years.

Results

There were statistically significant positive associations of father’s occupational prestige, Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME) score, and maternal IQ with cognitive performance in childhood. After adjustment for confounding factors, there was an increase in cognitive development by 0.8 to 2.0, 2.9 to 4.8, and 4.2 to 9.0 points for a 10-unit increment in father’s occupational prestige, maternal IQ, and HOME score, respectively.

Conclusions

These results demonstrate that socioeconomic position, maternal IQ, and the home environment are independently and positively predictive of children’s cognitive development. These findings provide additional rationale for implementing social policies that reduce socioeconomic inequalities.

Section snippets

Methods

The primary objective of the Port Pirie Cohort Study was to examine the relation between exposure to environmental lead and child development. The children living in and around the lead-smelting town of Port Pirie, South Australia, were followed from birth to age 11 to 13 years. Details of the research design have been reported elsewhere.17, 18, 19, 20, 21

Overview of the Predictors of Cognitive Development

The mean value of cognitive scores at ages 2, 4, 7, and 11 to 13 years was 109.2, 107.1, 104.7, and 100.0, respectively. The father’s occupational prestige, HOME score, and maternal IQ were clearly associated with cognitive function at all ages examined (P ≤ .01), and there appeared to be a consistent dose-response relation (Figure 1).

Daniel Scale and Cognitive Development

Table I (available at www.jpeds.com) presents a statistically significant positive association between father’s occupational prestige and children’s cognitive

Discussion

In this cohort of children, socioeconomic position, maternal IQ, and the quality of home environment were consistently associated with cognitive development, even after adjustment for a wide range of confounders. Our results indicate that the three measures of socioeconomic characteristics have an independent impact on childhood cognitive development. In general, the higher the occupational prestige and maternal IQ and the better the home environment, the higher the children’s cognitive

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    Supported by a series of grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation; Dr Shilu Tong is supported by an NHMRC Research Fellowship.

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