Meredith O'Connor1,2,3, Shiau Chong1, Delyse Hutchinson2,4,5,6, Ann Sanson2, Jennifer McIntosh4,5, Craig A Olsson4,5,7, Sharon Goldfeld8,2. 1. Centres for Community Child Health and. 2. Departments of Paediatrics and. 3. ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. 4. Adolescent Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. 5. Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia; and. 6. National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. 7. Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. 8. Centres for Community Child Health and sharon.goldfeld@rch.org.au.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: A comprehensive understanding of how timing of exposure to disadvantage affects long-term developmental risk is needed for greater precision in child health policy. We investigated whether socioeconomic disadvantage in infancy (age 0-1 years) directly affects academic and self-regulation problems in late childhood (age 10-12 years), independent of disadvantage at school entry (age 4-6 years). METHODS: Analyses were replicated in 2 population-based cohorts: the Australian Temperament Project (ATP; N = 2443) and the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; N = 5107). Generalized linear models were used to estimate the crude and adjusted effects. Marginal structural models were used to estimate the controlled direct effect of socioeconomic disadvantage in infancy on academic and self-regulation outcomes in late childhood, independent of disadvantage at school entry. RESULTS: In both cohorts, socioeconomic disadvantage in infancy and at school entry was associated with poorer academic and self-regulation outcomes. Socioeconomic disadvantage in infancy had a direct effect on academic outcomes not mediated by disadvantage at school entry (ATP: risk ratio [RR] = 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09-1.86; LSAC: RR = 1.87; 95% CI: 1.52-2.31). Little evidence was found for a direct effect of disadvantage in infancy on self-regulation (ATP: RR = 1.22; 95% CI: 0.89-1.65; LSAC: RR = 1.19; 95% CI: 0.95-1.49). CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic disadvantage in infancy had a direct effect on academic but not self-regulation outcomes in late childhood. More precise public policy responses are needed that consider both the timing of children's exposure to disadvantage and the specific developmental domain impacted.
OBJECTIVES: A comprehensive understanding of how timing of exposure to disadvantage affects long-term developmental risk is needed for greater precision in child health policy. We investigated whether socioeconomic disadvantage in infancy (age 0-1 years) directly affects academic and self-regulation problems in late childhood (age 10-12 years), independent of disadvantage at school entry (age 4-6 years). METHODS: Analyses were replicated in 2 population-based cohorts: the Australian Temperament Project (ATP; N = 2443) and the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; N = 5107). Generalized linear models were used to estimate the crude and adjusted effects. Marginal structural models were used to estimate the controlled direct effect of socioeconomic disadvantage in infancy on academic and self-regulation outcomes in late childhood, independent of disadvantage at school entry. RESULTS: In both cohorts, socioeconomic disadvantage in infancy and at school entry was associated with poorer academic and self-regulation outcomes. Socioeconomic disadvantage in infancy had a direct effect on academic outcomes not mediated by disadvantage at school entry (ATP: risk ratio [RR] = 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09-1.86; LSAC: RR = 1.87; 95% CI: 1.52-2.31). Little evidence was found for a direct effect of disadvantage in infancy on self-regulation (ATP: RR = 1.22; 95% CI: 0.89-1.65; LSAC: RR = 1.19; 95% CI: 0.95-1.49). CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic disadvantage in infancy had a direct effect on academic but not self-regulation outcomes in late childhood. More precise public policy responses are needed that consider both the timing of children's exposure to disadvantage and the specific developmental domain impacted.
Authors: Simon N Leonard; Manuela Repetto; JohnPaul Kennedy; Enza Tudini; Samuel Fowler Journal: Int J Technol Des Educ Date: 2022-04-22 Impact factor: 2.177
Authors: Meredith O'Connor; Margarita Moreno-Betancur; Sharon Goldfeld; Melissa Wake; George Patton; Terence Dwyer; Mimi L K Tang; Richard Saffery; Jeffrey M Craig; Jane Loke; David Burgner; Craig A Olsson Journal: Int J Epidemiol Date: 2022-10-13 Impact factor: 9.685