Maternal education prospectively predicts child neurocognitive function: An environmental influences on child health outcomes study

Abstract

A large body of research has established a relation between maternal education and children's neurocognitive functions, such as executive function and language. However, most studies have focused on early childhood and relatively few studies have examined associations with changes in maternal education over time. Consequently, it remains unclear if early maternal education is longitudinally related to neurocognitive functions in children, adolescents, and young adults. In addition, the associations between changes in maternal education across development and more broadly defined neurocognitive outcomes remain relatively untested. The current study leveraged a large multicohort sample to examine the longitudinal relations between perinatal maternal education and changes in maternal education during development with children's, adolescents', and young adults' neurocognitive functions (N = 2,688; M_age = 10.32 years; SD_age = 4.26; range = 3-20 years). Moreover, we examined the differential effects of perinatal maternal education and changes in maternal education across development on executive function and language performance. Perinatal maternal education was positively associated with children's later overall neurocognitive function. This longitudinal relation was stronger for language than executive function. In addition, increases in maternal education were related to improved language performance but were not associated with executive functioning performance. Our findings support perinatal maternal education as an important predictor of neurocognitive outcomes later in development. Moreover, our results suggest that examining how maternal education changes across development can provide important insights that can help inform policies and interventions designed to foster neurocognitive development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Figure 1. A) Participant Enrollment by United States (U.S.) State; B) Study Timeline

Note. The map does not utilize exact addresses due to confidentiality concerns. Thus, this representation of the different states is only an approximation. The list of ECHO cohorts included in this manuscript can be found in the supplemental information. ECHO, Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes.

Figure 2. Latent Change Score Model for Overall Neurocognitive Function Using the Total Cognition Composite from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox

Note. The orange paths examine our hypotheses. Differences between younger children (green) and older children (blue) were found in the effect of changes in maternal education on neurocognitive scores. All other regression paths were constrained to be equal across groups (black). This model had adequate fit (comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.99, Tucker–Lewis index [TLI] = 0.93, root-mean-square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.05; standardized root mean-squared residual [SRMR] = 0.02). Coefficients represent unstandardized coefficients because variances were allowed to vary between groups.

Figure 3. Latent Change Score Model for Language and Executive Function Using the Crystallized and Fluid Cognition Composites from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox

Note. The orange paths examine our hypotheses. No differences in the regression paths of interest were found between younger and older children. Coefficients represent standardized coefficients.