Understanding the Link Between Socioeconomic Status and Children’s Developmental Outcomes Across Diverse Sociocultural Contexts

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Socioeconomic status (SES) has important and long lasting effects on a broad variety of children’s developmental outcomes. However, less is known about the processes and factors that might explain the link between SES indicators and early child development across diverse sociocultural contexts. In this symposium - comprised of doctoral students and early career scholars - we present three studies conducted in three different countries with different sociocultural contexts to understand how home- and school-based demographics, risk and protective factors might partially explain the association between SES and a broad variety of developmental outcomes in children aged 1 to 8 years.

The first study examined differential patterns in the association between various SES indicators and early child cognitive outcomes as a function of race, ethnicity, and immigration status in children from the United States. The second study investigated parental investments and stress as potential mediating pathways between SES and children’s early cognitive, language, motor, and behavior development among Colombian infants. The third study examined whether individual- and school-level SES moderated the effect of a school-based universal preventive intervention targeting externalizing and internalizing problems among Dutch children followed from kindergarten to second grade. The symposium will conclude with a general commentary on the three papers and will expound current challenges and future recommendations introduced by a renowned discussant.

Collectively, these studies and the subsequent commentary shed light on the potential risk and protective factors across different sociocultural contexts that might partially explain the link between SES and children’s developmental outcomes.

Sub Unit

• Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Chair

• Nil Horoz, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Discussant

• Tanja A J Houweling, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam

Individual Presentations

• Socioeconomic Factors and Early Cognitive Skills: Understanding Differential Patterns by Race, Ethnicity and Immigration Status - Presenting Author: Claudia Kruzik, Boston College; Non-Presenting Author: Rebekah Levine Coley, Boston College; Non-Presenting Author: Daphne A. Henry, University of Pittsburgh; Non-Presenting Author: Bryn Spielvogel, University of Utah; Non-Presenting Author: Laura Betancur, Iowa State University; Non-Presenting Author: Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, University of Pittsburgh

• Parental Investments and Stress as Mediating Pathways between Socioeconomic Status and Early Development in Colombia - Presenting Author: Catalina Rey-Guerra, Boston College; Non-Presenting Author: Dana Charles McCoy, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: Jorge Cuartas, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: Rebekah Levine Coley, Boston College

• The Moderation of Individual- and School-level SES on the Effect of the Good Behavior Game - Presenting Author: Nil Horoz, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Marieke J.M. Buil, Rotterdam Universitty of Applied Sciences; Non-Presenting Author: Susanne Koot, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Hans M Koot, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Pol Van Lier, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam