Familial Influence on the Intellectual Attainment of Children

Using a nationally representative sample of six to eleven-year-old children, we examine the relationship between socioeconomic status and ability in the light of the potential mediating effects of family structure and childhood experience. Comparisons are made across verbal and nonverbal dimensions...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American sociological review 1982-08, Vol.47 (4), p.532-542
Main Authors: Mercy, James A., Steelman, Lala Carr
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attain/Attainment/Attained
Birth order
Child growth
Child/Children/Childhood
Children
Familial
Family size
Family structure
Influence/Influences/Influencer/ Influencers
Intellectual/Intellectuals/ Intellectualism (see also Intelligentsia)
Intelligence
Intelligence quotient
Preschool education
Siblings
Socioeconomic (see also Socioeconomic status)
Socioeconomics
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Using a nationally representative sample of six to eleven-year-old children, we examine the relationship between socioeconomic status and ability in the light of the potential mediating effects of family structure and childhood experience. Comparisons are made across verbal and nonverbal dimensions of ability using LISREL techniques. The findings show that a substantial portion of the effects of socioeconomic indicators on ability can be interpreted in terms of conditions within the family environment. These effects seem more important for the enhancement of verbal abilities than nonverbal ones.
ISSN:0003-1224
DOI:10.2307/2095197