Social class, conditional communication, and egocentric speech.

Studied social class differences in ability to communicate conditional information using 132 5th-grade white children, who were divided into lower- and middle-socioeconomic-status (SES) groups of approximately equal IQ. Dyadic groupings were formed by combining lower- and middle-SES children into the 4 possible speaker-listener combinations. The task required speakers to use a conditional communication in describing the rules of a game to a listener. Results showed that as listeners, lower- and middle-SES children responded equally well to the communications of both lower- and middle-SES speakers. However, as communicators, the lower-SES children performed more poorly than the middle-SES children. Both lower- and middle-SES listeners had equally great difficulty complying with the instructions provided by the lower-SES communicators. The data suggest that SES differences cannot be attributed to lack of comprehension of the conditional logic. Instead, it appears that the lower-SES children were difficult to understand because of strong tendencies toward egocentric communication patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black English phonology and learning to read.

Tested the hypothesis that phonological differences between standard and Black English interfere with the ability of beginning readers to learn sound–spelling correspondences in reading. 15 1st graders in each of 3 groups—low-socioeconomic status (SES), Black and White and middle-SES White—were asked to match spoken and written words. Mismatches were created by deleting final spoken consonants or by deleting initial consonants. The hypothesis that Black-English-speaking children of low SES would tend to make a match when final spoken consonants were deleted, whereas the White children of low and middle SES would not, was not supported. Decoding errors revealed that the 3 groups differed in word-attack strategies. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Race, class, and the attributional process.

Two experiments examined the process and content of attributional thinking in Black and White children who differed in socioeconomic status (SES). In Exp I, 171 7th graders subdivided into middle-SES Black, middle-SES White, low-SES Black, and low-SES White groups imagined that they succeeded or failed at an examination, with the cause of the outcome specified. Their perceptions of the dimensional properties of causes (locus, stability, and controllability), expectancy for success, teacher evaluation, and affective reactions were reported. Similar judgments were made in Exp II, with 148 of the Ss from Exp I, in response to actual rather than hypothetical success and failure, and Ss' causal attributions for their performance were reported. Analyses revealed that Blacks did not display a less adaptive attributional pattern than did Whites following actual performance, and no differences existed in Ss' understanding of the meaning (dimensional placement) of causes. A linkage between the locus of causes and affect also was documented in all race?×?SES groups. In contrast, race and class differences occurred in Ss' perceptions of predicted stability–expectancy and controllability–evaluation causal linkages. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's comprehension of family role portrayals in televised dramas: Effects of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and age.

578 middle and lower socioeconomic status (SES), Black and White children in Grades 2, 5, and 8 participated in 2 fully-crossed replications of the same design. They viewed 1 of 2 edited television dramas that portrayed either a White middle-class family (Study 1) or a Black working-class family (Study 2) in similar conflict resolution situations. Ss' comprehension of central (plot-essential) and peripheral content and their inferences about actors' emotions and causes of action were assessed. Memory for content was age-related in both studies. However, in Study 1, middle-SES 2nd graders viewing the middle-class family show scored higher than lower-SES 2nd graders. In Study 2 lower-SES 2nd graders who viewed the working-class family show achieved higher scores than their middle-class counterparts. There were no SES effects among 5th- and 8th-grade participants and no consistent effects of ethnicity at any age. Additional analyses indicated that congruence between televised characters and settings and viewers' own experiences, as indicated by SES, facilitated 2nd graders' processing of program content. Implications of age-related processing skills for social effects of TV are discussed. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Effect of School-Based Kindergarten Transition Policies and Practices on Child Academic Outcomes.

This study examined the effect of school-based kindergarten transition policies and practices on child outcomes. The authors followed 17,212 children from 992 schools in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten sample (ECLS-K) across the kindergarten school year. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that the number of school-based transition practices in the fall of kindergarten was associated with more positive academic achievement scores at the end of kindergarten, even controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES) and other demographic factors. This effect was stronger for low- and middle-SES children than high-SES children. For low-SES children, 7 transition practices were associated with a .21 standard deviation increase in predicted achievement scores beyond 0 practices. The effect of transition practices was partially mediated by an intervening effect on parent-initiated involvement in school during the kindergarten year. The findings support education policies to target kindergarten transition efforts to increase parent involvement in low-SES families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading achievement across three language groups: Growth estimates for overall reading and reading subskills obtained with the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey.

This study estimated normative reading trajectories for the population of English-proficient language minority students attending U.S. public elementary schools. Achievement of English-language learners (ELLs) was evaluated in terms of native English speakers' progress, and estimates were adjusted for the effects of socioeconomic status (SES). The ELL group was disaggregated into native Spanish speakers and native speakers of Asian languages. Multilevel latent variable growth modeling indicated that achievement trends of Asian-language ELLs are more similar to those of native English speakers than to those of Spanish ELL groups. Spanish ELLs had lower initial reading achievement than both Asian-language ELLs and native English speakers, and Asian students had higher initial achievement than did the native English speaking group. Additionally, Spanish ELLs had statistically significantly less growth over time than did Asian ELLs, with differences being most notable on reading evaluation–related tasks. Language-related differences in total reading were minimized when SES effects were specifically modeled, suggesting that SES may be the more significant factor explaining the lower achievement rates of English-proficient native Spanish speakers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance on Piagetian tasks of Black children of differing socioeconomic levels.

233 Black children in Grades 1–6 and from 2 socioeconomic (SES) levels, as determined by eligibility for the school lunch program and parents' occupations, were given 5 Piagetian tasks to determine if differences in SES were associated with differences in cognitive development levels. Measures of reasoning, seriation, classification, causation, and conservation were used. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that in all 5 variables the higher SES Ss performed better than lower SES Ss. The conservation measure showed distinct developmental differences between the high- and low-SES Ss. Examination of the means suggested only a small difference in developmental level between the SES groups on the other tasks. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive and negative associations with alcohol and familial risk for alcoholism.

Considerable evidence indicates that cognitions regarding favorable drinking consequences figure prominently in the development of problem drinking. Because children of alcoholics (COAs) are at particularly high risk for developing drinking problems, the authors hypothesized that they would have higher levels of such cognitions than children of nonalcoholics (CONAs). The authors administered a free-recall task consisting of alcohol, positive, negative, and neutral words to 100 college students and predicted that COAs (n?=?18) would have higher levels of positive associations (measured by contiguous recall) and lower levels of negative associations with alcohol than would CONAs (n?=?82). The results indicated that although COAs had significantly fewer negative associations than CONAs they had statistically comparable levels of positive associations. Early intervention efforts among COAs may be enhanced by placing increased emphasis on alcohol's negative consequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent personality as a prospective predictor of parenting: An interactionist perspective.

This study examined personality during adolescence as a predictor of later parenting of toddler-aged offspring. On the basis of empirical research on the timing of parenthood and the interactionist model (Conger & Donnellan, 2007), we examined age at parenthood and family socioeconomic status (SES) as mediators of the relation between personality and parenting. Participants were 228 emerging adults from an ongoing longitudinal study of the transition to adulthood. Later entry into parenthood and higher SES accounted for the association between personality characteristics and lower levels of harsh parenting and higher levels of positive parenting. Consistent with the interactionist model, both personality characteristics and SES-linked variables were related to interpersonal processes in families. The findings suggest that promoting adaptive personality traits during childhood and adolescence may help delay early entry into parenthood, promote higher SES, and, indirectly, foster more positive parenting of young children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental and population comparisons of taxonomic and thematic organization in free recall.

Assessed taxonomic and thematic clustering in free recall in 240 7- and 10-yr-olds from Black and White and low- and middle-SES backgrounds. Materials were pictures that were cross classifiable by taxonomic and thematic categories. A free study condition, in which Ss studied the pictures any way they wished, tested the hypothesis that taxonomic clustering would increase with age and thematic clustering would decrease with age. This condition also tested A. R. Jensen's (see record 1969-09740-001) prediction of population differences in clustering and recall. Two conditions were also included that determined whether constraining Ss to sort taxonomically or thematically during the study period would raise recall and clustering. Results for the free study condition indicate that recall and taxonomic clustering increased with age but thematic clustering was low for both ages. This pattern of performance did not vary with ethnicity or SES. The constrained taxonomic condition raised taxonomic clustering for all children but had no effect on recall for either age group. The constrained thematic condition generally raised thematic clustering for all Ss, but the beneficial effect of the constrained thematic condition on recall was limited to the 10-yr-olds. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting behavior and emotional status of physically abusive mothers.

Administered the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Cornell Medical Index (CMI) to 8 physically abusive mothers (mean age 27.5 yrs) from low-SES families, 8 matched low-SES control mothers (mean age 26.5 yrs), and 8 matched middle-SES control mothers (mean age 32.9 yrs). Results show that abusive Ss differed from both control groups on the BDI and the Emotional Distress and Physical Symptoms scales of the CMI. Marginally significant differences were found on the Trait Anxiety scale of the STAI. No significant differences were found between control groups. Although direct observation in the home revealed no significant differences among the 3 groups on any measure of child behavior, the abusive Ss engaged in a far higher percentage of negative physical behaviors and a lower percentage of positive behaviors toward their children than did either of the control groups. A model of child abuse is suggested that proposes that parents who are in greater emotional and somatic distress may have a lower threshold for child misbehavior and may react more punitively to it. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suicide in urban New South Wales, Australia 1985-1994: socio-economic and migrant interactions

Variation of suicide with socio-economic status (SES) in urban NSW (Australia) during 1985-1994, by sex and country or region of birth, was examined using Poisson regression analysis of vital statistics and population data (age >? approximately 15 yr). Quintiles of SES were defined by municipality of residence and comparisons of suicide by SES were adjusted for age and country (or region) of birth (COB), and examined by COB. Risk of suicide in females was 28% that of males for all adults and 21% for youth (age 15-24 yr). Suicide risk was lower in males from southern Europe, Middle East and Asia, and higher in northern and eastern European males, compared to the Australian-born. Risks for suicide increased significantly with decreasing SES in males, but not in females. The relationship of male suicide and SES was stronger when controlled for COB. For males, the relative risk of suicide, adjusted for age and COB, was 66% higher in the lowest SES quintile compared to the highest quintile. and 39% higher for youth (age 15-24 yr). For male suicide, the population attributable fraction for SES (less than the highest quintile) was 27%. Analysis of SES differentials in male suicide according to COB indicated a significant inverse suicide gradient in relation to SES for the Australian-born and those born in New Zealand and the United Kingdom or Eire, but not in non-English speaking COB groups, except for Asia. For Australian-born males, suicide risk was 71% higher in the lowest SES group (compared to the highest), adjusted for age. These findings indicate that SES plays an important role in male suicide rates among the Australian-born and migrants from English-speaking countries and Asia, and among youth; but not in female suicide, nor suicide in most non-English speaking migrant groups. Reduction in SES differentials through economic and social policies may reduce male suicide in lower SES groups and should be seen to be at least as important as individual level interventions.     

Socioeconomic status differences in hormone therapy

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a significant sociodemographic correlate of noncontraceptive hormone therapy, yet multiple dimensions of SES have not been examined systematically in previous studies of hormone therapy. This study examined the lifetime incidence of noncontraceptive hormone therapy, how usage varied by type of reproductive organ surgery, and the bivariate and net associations between a large array of SES indicators and the likelihood of ever using hormones by age 53-54 years in a population sample (n = 3,612) of non-Hispanic white female participants in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (1957-1993). Approximately half of the women had ever used noncontraceptive hormones; 38.5% were current users. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, the most robust SES predictor of hormone therapy was a woman's husband's occupational status (higher status associated with higher rates of use), after adjustment for all other measured sociologic and biomedical factors (e.g., other SES measures, other health behaviors, menopausal symptoms, age at menopause, health insurance). The association of hormone therapy with education differed between women who underwent hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy (higher odds for less educated women) and those with intact reproductive organs (lower odds for less educated women). Additionally, a woman's own earnings and household net worth were positive net correlates of noncontraceptive hormone therapy.     

Modeling relationships among socioeconomic status, hostility, cardiovascular reactivity, and left ventricular mass in African American and White children.

In African American and White children and adolescents (N?=?147), socioeconomic status (SES) was measured in 2 ways: (a) using neighborhood-level measures of population density, median income, educational attainment, and the number of children born to single mothers and (b) using family-level measures of parents' occupation and education. Structural equation modeling revealed that both lower family SES and lower neighborhood SES were independently associated with greater hostility and consequently greater cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stressors in African Americans. Independent of neighborhood SES, only lower family SES was associated with greater cardiovascular reactivity in Whites. Heightened cardiovascular reactivity was associated with greater left ventricular mass (LVM) in Whites and marginally greater LVM in African Americans. Results suggest the importance of using multiple indicators of SES and confirm the relationship between SES and LVM in African Americans and Whites, albeit through different pathways. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socioeconomic Status, Resources, Psychological Experiences, and Emotional Responses: A Test of the Reserve Capacity Model.

The current study used ecological momentary assessment to test several tenets of the reserve capacity model (L.C. Gallo & K. A. Matthews, 2003). Women (N = 108) with varying socioeconomic status (SES) monitored positive and negative psychosocial experiences and emotions across 2 days. Measures of intrapsychic and social resources were aggregated to represent the reserve capacity available to manage stress. Lower SES was associated with less perceived control and positive affect and more social strain. Control and strain contributed to the association between SES and positive affect. Lower SES elicited greater positive but not negative emotional reactivity to psychosocial experiences. Women with low SES had fewer resources relative to those with higher SES, and resources contributed to the association between SES and daily experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neighborhood, family, and subjective socioeconomic status: How do they relate to adolescent health?

This study investigated the role of neighborhood, family, and individual subjective socioeconomic status (SES) in predicting adolescent physical health and psychological characteristics. Three hundred fifteen adolescents completed assessments of blood pressure, cortisol, and body mass index (BMI). Results revealed that lower neighborhood SES was associated with higher BMI and lower basal cortisol levels and that these effects persisted after controlling for family SES. Both family SES and neighborhood SES predicted negative psychological characteristics and experiences such as hostility and discrimination. In contrast, only subjective SES predicted positive psychological characteristics. These findings suggest the importance of understanding influences at the individual, family, and neighborhood levels for optimally targeting interventions to reduce health disparities earlier in life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why attend school? Chinese immigrant and European American preschoolers' views and outcomes.

The developing views of the purposes of school learning (PSLs) and related achievement among immigrant Chinese preschoolers and their European American (EA) age-mates were examined. Both culture and socioeconomic status (SES) were considered simultaneously, an often neglected research approach to studying Asian children. One hundred and fifty 4-year-olds—50 each of middle-class Chinese (CHM), low-income Chinese (CHL), and EA children—completed 2 story beginnings about school and were also tested for their language and math achievement. Results showed that 4-year-olds held sophisticated PSLs, ranging from intellectual to social and affect benefits. Large cultural and SES differences also emerged. CHM children mentioned more adult expectation and seriousness of learning than EA children who expressed more positive affect for self and compliance with adults. CHL children mentioned fewest PSLs. Achievement scores for oral expression of both immigrant groups were significantly lower than those of EA children despite similar reading and math achievement. Controlling for culture and SES, the authors found that children's articulated intellectual, but not other purposes, uniquely predicted their achievement in all tested domains. Cultural and SES influences on immigrant children are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mother–child interactional style in abuse, neglect, and control groups: Naturalistic observations in the home.

Examined mother–child interactional patterns in an urban environment. Three groups of mothers (n?=?12/group) were included in the study: (a) Ss with a known history of child abuse, (b) Ss with a known history of child neglect, and (c) Ss with no known history of child maltreatment. Ss and their children were observed in their homes on 3 consecutive days for 90 min each day. Interactions were described via a coding system of 11 major interactional patterns; dependent variables included verbal and nonverbal behaviors as well as measures of total interaction. Results indicate that the groups differed on several variables. Dysfunctional Ss showed significantly fewer positive behaviors than did the controls on verbal and nonverbal measures. Also, the abusive Ss showed significantly higher rates of verbal and physical aggression; the neglectful mothers had the lowest overall rates of interaction. The maltreated children also exhibited fewer positive behaviors and more aggressive behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of current theories of child maltreatment and of the treatment of dysfunctional families. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early teacher perceptions and later student academic achievement.

The researchers explore relationships between preschool teachers' appraisals of intelligence, concurrent child characteristics, and future high school performance in a core sample of 110 4-year-olds. Children with higher socioeconomic status (SES) and those perceived as assertive and independent were judged by teachers more positively than IQ score predicted; conversely, low SES and perceived immaturity were associated with more negative teacher judgments than IQ score predicted. After controlling for SES, preschool teachers' over- and underestimates of intelligence relative to IQ score significantly predicted grade point average (GPA) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) test-taking 14 years later. The relationship between teacher ratings and GPA was strongest for children whose ability was underestimated. Teacher predictions were weakest in homes rated by observers as more orderly or with mothers who were more career or community active. Prescient versus influential interpretations of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)