ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Assessing the association between socioeconomic gradient and cognitive development among children of a Spanish birth cohort aged 5-6 years from a gender perspective. METHOD: Cognitive development was assessed on 525 children aged 5-6 years in the INMA-Valencia cohort, with the Global Cognitive Score (GCS) from McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. Information on social class, education level and employment was collected for both parents in addition to other sociodemographic factors, parental, family and child characteristics. The relationship between maternal and paternal socioeconomic gradient and cognitive development was assessed by linear regressions and comparing the variance explained by each indicator measured in the mother and father. RESULTS: Maternal socioeconomic gradient indicators explained more variance on GCS than paternal. Maternal education and paternal social class had an important individual effect that stayed after adjusting by other parental, child and family determinants. In the multivariable analysis, maternal education, age and intelligence, paternal social class and the child's age and sex were significantly associated with cognitive development. CONCLUSIONS: Diverse socioeconomic gradient factors have an important influence on cognitive development, maternal education being the strongest determinant. Policies should be implemented to mitigate the negative effects of this gradient on child development
OBJETIVO: Evaluar la asociación del gradiente socioeconómico y el desarrollo cognitivo en niños y niñas de una cohorte española a los 5-6 años de edad desde una perspectiva de género. MÉTODO: Se evaluó el desarrollo cognitivo en 525 niños/as de 5-6 años de la cohorte INMA-Valencia, mediante la Puntuación Global Cognitiva (PGC) de las Escalas McCarthy para niños y niñas. Se recogió información de ambos progenitores sobre clase social, nivel de estudios y empleo, además de otros factores sociodemográficos, características parentales, de la familia y del niño o la niña. La relación entre el gradiente socioeconómico materno y paterno y el desarrollo cognitivo se evaluó mediante modelos de regresión lineal y comparando la varianza explicada por cada uno de los indicadores medidos en la madre y en el padre. RESULTADOS: Los indicadores de gradiente socioeconómico de la madre explicaron más varianza del índice de PGC que los del padre. La educación materna y la clase social paterna tuvieron un importante efecto individual, que se mantuvo tras ajustar por otros determinantes de los progenitores, del niño o de la niña, y del entorno familiar. En el análisis multivariante, la educación, la edad y la inteligencia maternas, la clase social paterna, y la edad y el sexo del infante se asociaron significativamente con el desarrollo cognitivo. CONCLUSIONES: Distintos factores del gradiente socioeconómico tienen influencia en el desarrollo cognitivo, siendo la educación materna el determinante más fuerte. Deberían implementarse políticas para paliar los efectos negativos de este gradiente en el desarrollo infantil
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Child, Preschool , Child , Parenting/psychology , Child Rearing/psychology , Cognition/classification , Child Development/classification , 57926/statistics & numerical data , Gender Perspective , Mother-Child Relations , Family CharacteristicsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Assessing the association between socioeconomic gradient and cognitive development among children of a Spanish birth cohort aged 5-6 years from a gender perspective. METHOD: Cognitive development was assessed on 525 children aged 5-6 years in the INMA-Valencia cohort, with the Global Cognitive Score (GCS) from McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. Information on social class, education level and employment was collected for both parents in addition to other sociodemographic factors, parental, family and child characteristics. The relationship between maternal and paternal socioeconomic gradient and cognitive development was assessed by linear regressions and comparing the variance explained by each indicator measured in the mother and father. RESULTS: Maternal socioeconomic gradient indicators explained more variance on GCS than paternal. Maternal education and paternal social class had an important individual effect that stayed after adjusting by other parental, child and family determinants. In the multivariable analysis, maternal education, age and intelligence, paternal social class and the child's age and sex were significantly associated with cognitive development. CONCLUSIONS: Diverse socioeconomic gradient factors have an important influence on cognitive development, maternal education being the strongest determinant. Policies should be implemented to mitigate the negative effects of this gradient on child development.
Subject(s)
Child Development , Cognition , Fathers/education , Mothers/education , Social Class , Unemployment/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Employment/statistics & numerical data , Female , Humans , Intelligence , Male , Maternal Age , Sex Factors , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: First-order relatives of persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit a cognitive pattern which is part of a broader autism phenotype. METHOD: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether some neuropsychological features related to the autism phenotype are present in parents of ASD children. To this end, the exploration included a dichotic listening task, handedness and the Empathy Quotient (EQ-60). RESULTS: The scores obtained by the total sample (fathers plus mothers) were similar to those of the general population, although there were differences in some parameters of the dichotic listening task depending on the gender. Contrary to expectations, only in fathers, the negative correlation between data from both ears was not statistically significant, which could be evidence of a lack of hemispheric interdependence. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the possible existence of a genetic susceptibility to an aberrant language asymmetry pattern. Moreover, possible unknown epigenetic factors could act on a vulnerable genotype in some ASD subjects. Nevertheless, due to the small sample size, the present research must be considered a pilot study
ANTECEDENTES: algunos familiares de primer orden de personas con trastornos del espectro autista (TEA) exhiben un patrón de funcionamiento cognitivo que forma parte del llamado fenotipo ampliado de autismo (FAA). MÉTODO: el objetivo de este estudio consiste en evaluar si algunos aspectos neuropsicológicos relacionados con un FAA están presentes en progenitores de niños y niñas con TEA. Para ello, se realizó una prueba de escucha dicótica libre, se detectó la preferencia manual y se obtuvo el Cociente de Empatía (CE-60). RESULTADOS: los resultados sitúan a la muestra total dentro de parámetros similares a los de la población general, aunque algunos datos de la escucha dicótica revelaron diferencias según el género. Contrariamente a lo esperado, en el subgrupo de padres los datos de ambos oídos no correlacionaron significativamente, lo que revelaría falta de interdependencia hemisférica. CONCLUSIONES: nuestros resultados apoyan la posible existencia de cierta vulnerabilidad genética a un patrón anómalo de lateralización hemisférica del lenguaje. Por tanto, factores epigenéticos por determinar podrían estar incidiendo sobre un genotipo vulnerable en las personas con TEA. No obstante, la presente investigación ha de considerarse un estudio piloto debido al tamaño de la muestra
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Middle Aged , Functional Laterality/physiology , Empathy/physiology , Parent-Child Relations , Autistic Disorder/psychology , Neuropsychology/methods , Neuropsychology/organization & administration , Neuropsychology/standards , Psychometrics/methods , Psychometrics/trends , Neuropsychology/statistics & numerical data , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/methods , Neuropsychology/trends , Analysis of VarianceABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: First-order relatives of persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit a cognitive pattern which is part of a broader autism phenotype. METHOD: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether some neuropsychological features related to the autism phenotype are present in parents of ASD children. To this end, the exploration included a dichotic listening task, handedness and the Empathy Quotient (EQ-60). RESULTS: The scores obtained by the total sample (fathers plus mothers) were similar to those of the general population, although there were differences in some parameters of the dichotic listening task depending on the gender. Contrary to expectations, only in fathers, the negative correlation between data from both ears was not statistically significant, which could be evidence of a lack of hemispheric interdependence. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the possible existence of a genetic susceptibility to an aberrant language asymmetry pattern. Moreover, possible unknown epigenetic factors could act on a vulnerable genotype in some ASD subjects. Nevertheless, due to the small sample size, the present research must be considered a pilot study.
