Centre for Research in Child Development, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University, Australia.
Dev Sci. 2022 Jul;25(4):e13218. doi: 10.1111/desc.13218. Epub 2022 Jan 10.
In this study (n = 1000, M = 53.4 months, SD = 3.4; 53% females), we investigated the contributions of the family socioeconomic status (SES; maternal education and an income-related measure) and number and age of siblings to the development of children's math, reading, and working memory (WM) updating skills over the kindergarten years. Results from a multivariate multilevel growth curve model showed that children from more disadvantaged SES backgrounds already had a multifaceted developmental lag at kindergarten entry. Maternal education was the aspect of SES that more clearly affected the child's cognitive development; the mother's education predicted children's math, reading, and WM-updating skills at kindergarten entry as well as the rate of development of reading skills over the kindergarten years. Independently of SES status, children with more siblings also showed poorer reading and math skills than those in one-child families at kindergarten entry. We also found that both older and younger siblings affected, negatively, children's reading skills before they attended kindergarten-which suggests that the development of reading skills is more responsive to environmental factors during the first years than other aspects of the child development. The findings underscore the independent role of siblings upon entry to kindergarten, and the enduring role of maternal education even after children are exposed to formal schooling.
在这项研究中（n=1000，M=53.4 个月，SD=3.4；女性占 53%），我们调查了家庭社会经济地位（SES；母亲的教育程度和与收入相关的衡量标准）以及兄弟姐妹的数量和年龄对儿童在幼儿园期间数学、阅读和工作记忆（WM）更新技能发展的影响。多元多层增长曲线模型的结果表明，来自 SES 背景较差的儿童在幼儿园入学时已经存在多方面的发展滞后。母亲的教育是 SES 中更明显影响儿童认知发展的方面；母亲的教育程度预测了儿童在幼儿园入学时的数学、阅读和 WM 更新技能以及幼儿园期间阅读技能的发展速度。独立于 SES 地位，有多个兄弟姐妹的儿童在幼儿园入学时的阅读和数学技能也比独生子女家庭的儿童差。我们还发现，无论是年长的还是年幼的兄弟姐妹，在儿童进入幼儿园之前，都会对他们的阅读技能产生负面影响，这表明阅读技能的发展对幼儿期的环境因素比儿童发展的其他方面更为敏感。这些发现强调了进入幼儿园时兄弟姐妹的独立作用，以及即使儿童接受了正规教育，母亲教育的持久作用。
