The Influence Of Socioeconomic Status On Toddler's Intelligence And Problem Behavior And The Mediating Effect

Socioeconomic status is the social position that an individual or group defined in society according to the amount of social resources.Socioeconomic status including three indicators: family income,education,and occupation.In this study,286 infants and their parents were studied to examine the 'influence of family socioeconomic status on children's intelligence and problem behavior and the mediating effect.When infants were 6 months old,their mothers were interviewed to collect data of family income,parental education and parental occupation;when children were 14 months old,parents were invited to fill out the questionnaires under the guidance of a trained researcher.The economic difficulties of the family during the past year,as well as parental parenting pressure,parental cognitive and social involvement,infants' daily activities and articles were reported.When children were 24 months old,mothers completed the Infant-toddler Social and Emotional Assessment under the guidance of researchers.And doctors assessed children's intelligence and motor ability with the Bailey Infant and Child Development Scale.Correlation and structural equation modeling were performed for data analysis.It was found that:(1)Early family socioeconomic status was significantly correlated with children's problem behavior at the age of 24 months,but not significantly correlated with children's intelligence and motor development at the same age.The higher family socioeconomic status is,the lower children's behavior problem are.(2)Parental cognitive involvement played a mediating role between family socioeconomic status and children's problem behavior.The higher family socioeconomic status is,the higher parental cognitive involvement is,the lower children's behavior problem are.Controlling for other indicators of socioeconomic status,parental education had a unique effect on parental cognitive involvement,and then on children's problem behavior;(3)Parental social involvement played a mediating role between family socioeconomic status and children's problem behavior.The higher family socioeconomic status is,the higher parental social involvement is,the lower children's behavior problem are.Controlling for other indicators of socioeconomic status,family income had a unique effect on parental social involvement,and then on children's problem behavior.(4)Parental stress played a mediating role between low family socioeconomic status and children's problem behavior.The higher family socioeconomic status is,the lower parental stress is,the lower children's behavior problem are.Controlling for other indicators of socioeconomic status,economic hardship had a unique effect on parental stress,and then on children's problem behavior.