Socioeconomic Factors, Stress, and Error Monitoring in Children

• In Event: The Role of SES, Stress, and Language Input on Cognitive Development in at-risk Children

Abstract

Introduction: Socioeconomic disadvantage, which is prevalent, has been consistently associated with reduced executive function in children (Lawson et al., 2018). However, the proximal factors and neural mechanisms underlying these associations are not well understood. At the neural level, error monitoring, an important executive process, is associated with the error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential (ERP) that follows the commission of an error (Downes et al., 2017). Chronic stress is a strong candidate as a proximal factor through which socioeconomic factors may influence the neural correlates of error monitoring. Socioeconomic disadvantage has been consistently associated with elevated exposure to chronic stress (Evans, 2004), which may impact ERN amplitudes in children. As such, the goal of this study is to examine the associations among socioeconomic factors, stressful experiences, and ERN amplitudes in children.

Methods: In this ongoing study, participants include typically-developing 5- to 13-year-old children from socioeconomically diverse families (N = 45; 61% male). Parents complete questionnaires, including the Life Experiences Survey (Sarason et al., 1978), which measures stressful life events. Electroencephalography (EEG) activity is recorded while children complete a speeded flanker task with arrow stimuli. Participants complete 240 trials and after completing another EEG task of short duration, they complete another 240 trials of the flanker task. For each participant, from a response-locked averaged ERP of all incorrect trials, the ERN amplitude is measured (Davies et al., 2004; Lin et al., 2020).

Results: Lower parental education was significantly associated with greater stressful life events (β = -.28, p = .04; see Figure 1), which were in turn significantly associated with smaller (less negative) ERN amplitudes at the frontocentral electrode, FCz, in children (β = .27, p = .04; see Figure 2), controlling for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Stressful life events were not significantly associated with the number of errors made on the task. Family income was not significantly associated with stressful life events (p = .08).

Discussion: These results suggest that increased SES-related stress exposure may lead to reduced ERN amplitudes in children. These findings are consistent with prior work linking early adversity with altered ERN amplitudes in children (Conejero et al., 2018; Loman et al., 2013; Troller-Renfree et al., 2016). Reduced ERN amplitudes have been associated with lower executive function as well as attention and externalizing problems (Pasion & Barbosa, 2019). These associations may suggest one pathway through which socioeconomic context leads to variability in executive function in children. Evaluating and targeting error processing in intervention and prevention programs may reduce the negative effects of family stress on children’s executive function.

Authors

• Jordan Strack, Colorado State University
  Presenting Author

• Melissa Hansen, Colorado State University

• Kylee Weis

• William Gavin

• Patricia Davies

• Emily Merz, Colorado State University