Modeling the associations between socioeconomic risk factors, executive function components, and reading among children in rural Côte d’Ivoire

Executive Functions (inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and working memory) mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and reading. However, little is known of the roles of individual executive functioning components in mediating the socioeconomic-reading achievement gap, especiall...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cognitive development 2024-04, Vol.70, p.101436, Article 101436
Main Authors: Khan, Faryal, Wortsman, Brooke, Whitehead, Hannah L., Hannon, Joelle, Aurora, Medha, Sulik, Michael J., Tanoh, Fabrice, Akpe, Hermann, Ogan, Amy, Obradović, Jelena, Jasińska, Kaja K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Côte d’Ivoire
Executive functions
Literacy
Socioeconomic risk
Sub-Saharan Africa
Working memory
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Executive Functions (inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and working memory) mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and reading. However, little is known of the roles of individual executive functioning components in mediating the socioeconomic-reading achievement gap, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In Côte d’Ivoire, children experience many socioeconomic disadvantages (i.e., fewer household resources, maternal illiteracy), and kinship fostering (child in care of extended family while parents pursue economic opportunities elsewhere) is prevalent. This study examines the relation between executive functioning components, socioeconomic risks, and reading among 5th grade children in rural Côte d’Ivoire (N = 369). Poorer working memory mediated the relationship between higher cumulative socioeconomic risk (poverty, maternal illiteracy, fostering) and lower reading scores. Further, working memory fully mediated the negative effects of fostering risk on reading scores. Results suggest that executive functioning components are differentially impacted by environmental socioeconomic risks and play different roles in supporting reading development. •Socioeconomic risk influences cognitive pathways that support literacy development.•Developmental impact of kinship fostering (prevalent in Côte d’Ivoire) is understudied.•Poor WM mediated the relationship between socioeconomic risk and poorer reading.•Kinship fostering was associated with decreased EFs and literacy.•It is critical to examine which EFs influence the SE-literacy achievement gap.
ISSN:0885-2014
DOI:10.1016/j.cogdev.2024.101436