Socioeconomic Status and Executive Function: Direct and Indirect Effects With Reading Achievement

• In Event: Current Topics in Early Childhood Literacy

Abstract

The study evaluated direct and indirect effects of kindergarten socioeconomic status (SES) on fourth grade reading between struggling and on target readers using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11. Tested mediators were three components of executive function: working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition. Results revealed that kindergarten SES had a significant total effect on fourth grade reading and the components of executive function partially mediated this relationship. For struggling readers, SES did not significantly predict cognitive flexibility, but did for other cognitive skills. Only working memory had a significant indirect effect between SES and reading for the struggling reader group, whereas all three executive function skills had significant indirect effects in the on target group.

Authors

• Zachary T Barnes, Austin Peay State University

• Peter Boedeker, Baylor College of Medicine

• Bingshi Zhang, Middle Tennessee State University