Why do Inequalities Emerge in Children's Early Cognitive Development?
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Psychology
Abstract
The problems of social inequality in the UK disproportionately affect young children. Social inequality is associated with a range of childhood outcomes including school readiness, academic attainment and language skills. School readiness, the ability to benefit from early learning experiences, is a vital factor in improving life opportunities and as such, it is becoming an increasing priority for many governments worldwide. Key to improving school readiness is promoting the attentional and self-regulation skills that underpin learning. However, emerging evidence suggests that social inequality has a specific effect on these attention and self-regulation skills, known as 'executive functions.'
My recent research has found that children from disadvantaged backgrounds have less well developed executive functions and this may explain why they have poorer school readiness. In order to develop interventions to support children, we urgently need to understand the pathways through which inequalities in executive functions arise. As this link has only been relatively recently documented, little research has been done to examine why these inequalities in early cognitive skills first emerge.
The project will focus on two mechanisms which we believe are most likely to explain inequalities in early executive function development: 1) parent-child interactions and 2) child language. Early caregiving behaviours are thought to be a primary influence on how children develop the ability to regulate their behaviour. Parent child interactions that involve parents helping children to solve problems often provide opportunities for enriched parental input. During these kinds of interactions, two important skills are fostered. First, children develop regulation strategies that then become internalised. Second, children develop language skills that help them to set and maintain goals. Both of these are key to supporting the development of executive functions. We will look at how these kinds of parent-child interaction relate to children's development, whilst also considering broader contextual family factors that may influence whether parents can engage in these interactions.
We will work with socially diverse families and use newly developed tasks to track the development of children's executive functions at several time points over the early preschool years when these skills are rapidly developing. The project will provide a much-needed evidence base for local government and third sector professionals working to limit the impact of social inequality and for developing evidence-based ways that can support children's development and narrow early inequalities.
My recent research has found that children from disadvantaged backgrounds have less well developed executive functions and this may explain why they have poorer school readiness. In order to develop interventions to support children, we urgently need to understand the pathways through which inequalities in executive functions arise. As this link has only been relatively recently documented, little research has been done to examine why these inequalities in early cognitive skills first emerge.
The project will focus on two mechanisms which we believe are most likely to explain inequalities in early executive function development: 1) parent-child interactions and 2) child language. Early caregiving behaviours are thought to be a primary influence on how children develop the ability to regulate their behaviour. Parent child interactions that involve parents helping children to solve problems often provide opportunities for enriched parental input. During these kinds of interactions, two important skills are fostered. First, children develop regulation strategies that then become internalised. Second, children develop language skills that help them to set and maintain goals. Both of these are key to supporting the development of executive functions. We will look at how these kinds of parent-child interaction relate to children's development, whilst also considering broader contextual family factors that may influence whether parents can engage in these interactions.
We will work with socially diverse families and use newly developed tasks to track the development of children's executive functions at several time points over the early preschool years when these skills are rapidly developing. The project will provide a much-needed evidence base for local government and third sector professionals working to limit the impact of social inequality and for developing evidence-based ways that can support children's development and narrow early inequalities.
Planned Impact
Understanding the correlates of social inequality on early cognitive development is key to designing interventions to support children and families. The results from this project will give us a comprehensive understanding of why inequalities emerge at an early stage in children's cognitive development. The results will provide stakeholders with the evidence they need to develop theoretically driven interventions for early cognitive development focusing on caregiver interactions and the home environment. It will also provide local and national charities working on early childhood and social inequality with evidence that will help guide their strategies.
The project will provide:
1. Comprehensive empirical evidence on: i) how core cognitive skills develop in early childhood and why individual differences emerge; ii) why inequalities in cognitive development may arise.
2. The blueprint for a theoretically informed intervention based on the results of the project, co-produced with stakeholders, with the aim to narrow inequalities in children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. We will seek funding to rigorously develop and evaluate the intervention as part of a future randomised control trial study.
3. A co-produced parent guide that gives an accessible summary of our findings and examples of ways in which parents interact with their children to support their language and cognitive development.
This will benefit:
1. Children and parents. We will hold a free workshop for our participants and local families to disseminate findings from the project focusing on what executive functions are, how they develop and why we might see individual differences. We will also engage in local public engagement events to reach a broader audience. To reach families who may not usually engage in these activities, we will disseminate the parent guide in local Family Centres in collaboration with Julie Harrison (early years team manager, Sheffield family services) who is on my advisory board. To reach a wider audience we will work with our stakeholder at Save the Children to disseminate this nationally, as well as through our lab website, lab social media and parent database. Over the long-term, we hope to have impact for children and parents through our co-produced intervention designed to narrow inequalities.
2. Third sector groups. Our results will provide an evidence base to support charities and organisations whose work focuses on reducing the impact of social inequality and that work to promote early cognitive development (such as Save the Children and BBC Learning). We will also work with our stakeholder group to write an accessible summary of the project results and the implications aimed at the Department for Education, Early Intervention Foundation and national charities. Finally, we will work with Sheffield City Council to ensure that the findings feed into their 'Great Start in Life Strategy' for early child development.
3. Practitioners in early years education (e.g. Early Years Foundation Stage, Children's Centres). We will run a workshop for local educators involved in early years education to disseminate evidence on how executive functions develop, why we might see inequalities emerge in early cognitive development and to get feedback on the initial design of our intervention. We will also produce a briefing summarising the results of the project for TACTYC - the association for professional development in the early years, in order to reach a wider audience.
The project will provide:
1. Comprehensive empirical evidence on: i) how core cognitive skills develop in early childhood and why individual differences emerge; ii) why inequalities in cognitive development may arise.
2. The blueprint for a theoretically informed intervention based on the results of the project, co-produced with stakeholders, with the aim to narrow inequalities in children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. We will seek funding to rigorously develop and evaluate the intervention as part of a future randomised control trial study.
3. A co-produced parent guide that gives an accessible summary of our findings and examples of ways in which parents interact with their children to support their language and cognitive development.
This will benefit:
1. Children and parents. We will hold a free workshop for our participants and local families to disseminate findings from the project focusing on what executive functions are, how they develop and why we might see individual differences. We will also engage in local public engagement events to reach a broader audience. To reach families who may not usually engage in these activities, we will disseminate the parent guide in local Family Centres in collaboration with Julie Harrison (early years team manager, Sheffield family services) who is on my advisory board. To reach a wider audience we will work with our stakeholder at Save the Children to disseminate this nationally, as well as through our lab website, lab social media and parent database. Over the long-term, we hope to have impact for children and parents through our co-produced intervention designed to narrow inequalities.
2. Third sector groups. Our results will provide an evidence base to support charities and organisations whose work focuses on reducing the impact of social inequality and that work to promote early cognitive development (such as Save the Children and BBC Learning). We will also work with our stakeholder group to write an accessible summary of the project results and the implications aimed at the Department for Education, Early Intervention Foundation and national charities. Finally, we will work with Sheffield City Council to ensure that the findings feed into their 'Great Start in Life Strategy' for early child development.
3. Practitioners in early years education (e.g. Early Years Foundation Stage, Children's Centres). We will run a workshop for local educators involved in early years education to disseminate evidence on how executive functions develop, why we might see inequalities emerge in early cognitive development and to get feedback on the initial design of our intervention. We will also produce a briefing summarising the results of the project for TACTYC - the association for professional development in the early years, in order to reach a wider audience.
