INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 11 Program Schedule 02/17/2024 10:45 am - 12:00 pm Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 11: Cultural Neuropsychology \| Education/Training \| Professional Practice Issues Final Abstract #14 Multilingual and Socioeconomic Influences on Childhood Cognitive Skills Priyanka Alluri, Queens College, Queens, United States Yoko Nomura, Queens College, Queens, United States Category: Inclusion and Diversity/Multiculturalism Keyword 1: child development (normal) Keyword 2: language: second/foreign Keyword 3: demographic effects on test performance Objective: The growing efforts to address inequities in learning and cognitive health highlight the role of sociocultural influences on neurocognitive development. Family socioeconomic background and language environment are two such components of a child’s home and cultural environment that form the context for active learning and cognitive skill development. With growing multicultural populations in the US, conceptualizing these sociocultural factors as multilayered is a critical area of focus for neuropsychology. By highlighting two specific aspects of the sociocultural environment, our study aimed to elucidate the relationships between childhood cognitive functions and family socioeconomic and language background. To our knowledge, the current study is the first to consider a potential interaction between socioeconomic and language influences on neuropsychological domains outside of executive functioning during early childhood. Participants and Methods: The study assessed neuropsychological functioning in a culturally diverse sample (N= 171) of five-year-old children. All participating children were native English speakers. Parents reported the children’s family background information, and children completed neuropsychological testing with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence—Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV) at roughly five years of age (M= 60 months, SD= 3 months). Socioeconomic status (SES), derived from parental occupation, income, education, and welfare status, had been extracted through latent class analysis and grouped into low, medium, and high SES categories in a prior study. Exposure to linguistic diversity in early childhood was operationalized as a monolingual (English) or multilingual language environment, based on parent-report of languages spoken in the household. The study assessed the independent and joint effects of language environment (i.e., monolingual and multilingual) and socioeconomic level (i.e., low, medium, and high) on neuropsychological performance. Factorial multivariate and univariate analysis of variance were used to identify main and interaction effects of SES and language environment on WPPSI-IV indices of neuropsychological performance. Results: Results indicated significant main effects of SES and language environment and no interaction effect on neuropsychological outcomes in children at age five. Higher SES and multilingual backgrounds were independently associated with higher cognitive performance; although, performance differences between groups varied by cognitive domain. Multilingual language environment was related to increased performance on visuospatial measures (p= .020); higher SES was associated with increased performance on measures of verbal comprehension (p< .001), visuospatial function (p= .013), fluid reasoning (p= .013), processing speed (p= .020), and general intellectual function (p< .001). Conclusions: Findings reflected a significant disparity between high and low SES levels across multiple cognitive domains. Despite the SES disparity, a multilingual benefit in visuospatial abilities was found across SES groups. Relevant theoretical frameworks, systemic considerations, and implications are discussed. While many studies of neuropsychological performance in childhood have neglected to consider demographic variables, these study findings suggest an important role for contextual factors on cognitive functions in childhood. The study adds to the extant literature by examining the understudied intersection of two aspects of sociocultural environment that contribute to cognitive development.

Poster

02/17/2024
10:45 am - 12:00 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 11: Cultural Neuropsychology | Education/Training | Professional Practice Issues

Final Abstract #14

Multilingual and Socioeconomic Influences on Childhood Cognitive Skills

Priyanka Alluri, Queens College, Queens, United States
Yoko Nomura, Queens College, Queens, United States

Category: Inclusion and Diversity/Multiculturalism

Keyword 1: child development (normal)
Keyword 2: language: second/foreign
Keyword 3: demographic effects on test performance

Objective:

The growing efforts to address inequities in learning and cognitive health highlight the role of sociocultural influences on neurocognitive development. Family socioeconomic background and language environment are two such components of a child’s home and cultural environment that form the context for active learning and cognitive skill development. With growing multicultural populations in the US, conceptualizing these sociocultural factors as multilayered is a critical area of focus for neuropsychology. By highlighting two specific aspects of the sociocultural environment, our study aimed to elucidate the relationships between childhood cognitive functions and family socioeconomic and language background. To our knowledge, the current study is the first to consider a potential interaction between socioeconomic and language influences on neuropsychological domains outside of executive functioning during early childhood.

Participants and Methods:

The study assessed neuropsychological functioning in a culturally diverse sample (N= 171) of five-year-old children. All participating children were native English speakers. Parents reported the children’s family background information, and children completed neuropsychological testing with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence—Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV) at roughly five years of age (M= 60 months, SD= 3 months). Socioeconomic status (SES), derived from parental occupation, income, education, and welfare status, had been extracted through latent class analysis and grouped into low, medium, and high SES categories in a prior study. Exposure to linguistic diversity in early childhood was operationalized as a monolingual (English) or multilingual language environment, based on parent-report of languages spoken in the household. The study assessed the independent and joint effects of language environment (i.e., monolingual and multilingual) and socioeconomic level (i.e., low, medium, and high) on neuropsychological performance. Factorial multivariate and univariate analysis of variance were used to identify main and interaction effects of SES and language environment on WPPSI-IV indices of neuropsychological performance.

Results:

Results indicated significant main effects of SES and language environment and no interaction effect on neuropsychological outcomes in children at age five. Higher SES and multilingual backgrounds were independently associated with higher cognitive performance; although, performance differences between groups varied by cognitive domain. Multilingual language environment was related to increased performance on visuospatial measures (p= .020); higher SES was associated with increased performance on measures of verbal comprehension (p< .001), visuospatial function (p= .013), fluid reasoning (p= .013), processing speed (p= .020), and general intellectual function (p< .001).

Conclusions:

Findings reflected a significant disparity between high and low SES levels across multiple cognitive domains. Despite the SES disparity, a multilingual benefit in visuospatial abilities was found across SES groups. Relevant theoretical frameworks, systemic considerations, and implications are discussed. While many studies of neuropsychological performance in childhood have neglected to consider demographic variables, these study findings suggest an important role for contextual factors on cognitive functions in childhood. The study adds to the extant literature by examining the understudied intersection of two aspects of sociocultural environment that contribute to cognitive development.