Sociocultural Influences Related to Language, Cognition, and Social Emotional Developmental Relationships Presenters: Kimberly Sharkins & Dr. James Ernest University of Alabama at Birmingham

Early Childhood Poverty  In early childhood, it is estimated that approximately one in four children in the U.S., and one in two children worldwide live in poverty.  Studies indicate that young children living in economically disadvantaged environments often begin school with fewer basic academic and social-emotional skills.  Economic, environmental, and family stressors can result in later achievement deficits that begin in early childhood and compound through the years. National Center for Children in Poverty, 2014; globalissues.org, 2013

 The purpose of this study was to examine the potential contributions of socio-economic factors, caregiver mental health, and social-emotional development on the inter-relationship of language and cognitive development in a purposefully selected group of young children from impoverished homes. Purpose

Data Collection  Demographic, developmental, and caregiver data was collected on 122 caregiver-child dyads. 98% of the families had an income below U.S. Federal poverty level.  Scaled scores and sub-scores from the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3), Ages and Stages Questionnaire– Social Emotional (ASQ-SE), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) were utilized to explore the research question Poverty Guidelines: $15,730 for a family of two; $23,850 for a family of four

Data Analysis  Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) Path Analysis was used to simultaneously consider caregiver and child elements pertaining to language and cognitive development.  Results indicated that language, social-emotional and fine motor scores significantly accounted for 60.3% of the total variance in cognitive scores.  Cognitive and social-emotional scores significantly accounted for 54.9% of the total variance language scores.  Behavioral self-regulation sub-scores, a component of overall social-emotional development, along with cognitive scores, accounted for 48% (of the 54.9% total) of language scores.

Results  Results indicate that children’s social-emotional development significantly and directly contributes to their language development and indirectly to their cognitive development.  Children with better social-emotional competence (as demonstrated by lower ASQ-SE scores) were found to have higher language and cognitive scores indicating better language and cognitive abilities.  In addition, study results indicate that behavioral self-regulation, a subset of overall social-emotional development, potentially accounts for 87% percent of the total social-emotional component.

Final Path Analysis Model with Beta Values Predicting Developmental Relationships Solid lines indicate statistically significant relationships. As children’s language scores increase, cognitive scores increase by.72 As children’s social-emotional skills decrease, language skills decrease by.22

Implications  The findings of this study have important implications for families, preschool classrooms, home visitation programs, childcare settings, etc. Parents, preschool teachers, home visitors, and other individuals that interact with very young children are poised to help children learn the skills necessary to manage their behavior and control their emotions.  These are valuable life skills in themselves, however this research demonstrates that the acquisition of social emotional skills extends to impact both language and cognitive development, resulting in developmental trajectories that have important preschool and school readiness associations.

Implications continued  As a significant component of young children’s early language and cognitive development, social-emotional wellbeing, has the potential to influence children’s early educational experiences.  It is postulated, therefore that a focus on helping young children gain social-emotional competence has the potential to yield significant results far beyond the preschool years, contributing to children’s school readiness and future academic achievements.

Contact Information  Kimberly Sharkins – University of Alabama at Birmingham   James Ernest – University of Alabama at Birmingham 