Dataset Information

Associations of conflict and migration on childhood cognitive development in Ethiopia: Evidence from a longitudinal study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Migration has substantial consequences on the wellness of affected households, thereby exposing children to circumstances that are detrimental for healthy cognitive development. This study evaluates the relationship between conflict and migration during conception or early childhood and childhood cognitive development outcomes among families in Ethiopia. We hypothesized that migration is associated with worse cognitive development outcomes among children and that this association is mediated by educational disparities and caregiver psychological distress.

Methods

The study used longitudinal data of children enrolled in the Young Lives Study (YLS) conducted in Ethiopia during 2002 (age 1), 2006-2007 (age 5), and 2009-2010 (age 8). We used multivariate linear and logistic regression to analyze the association between migration on cognitive development during middle childhood. Household migration and caregiver psychological distress were measured during round 1, type of education was measured at round 2, and cognitive development was measured at round 3.

Results

Results of the multivariate regression analysis showed that migrant children achieved lower scores on a test of verbal intelligence after controlling for sex, ethnicity, religion, and caregiver distress (β: -8.09; 95% CI: -15.33, -0.85). Results of the mediation analysis show that the type of schooling that children attended, but not caregiver psychological distress, mediated the association between migration and cognitive development. Migrant children were more likely to attend private schools, which buffered the association between migration and lower cognitive development.

Conclusions

This study suggests that migration is a key determinant of childhood cognitive development among migrated populations. More research is needed to build the evidence base to support interventions for this growing, underserved population.

SUBMITTER: Demis LY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10279456 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Associations of conflict and migration on childhood cognitive development in Ethiopia: Evidence from a longitudinal study.

Demis Lina Y LY Kane Jeremy C JC Greene Martha Claire MC

Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines 20220125 11

<h4>Background</h4>Migration has substantial consequences on the wellness of affected households, thereby exposing children to circumstances that are detrimental for healthy cognitive development. This study evaluates the relationship between conflict and migration during conception or early childhood and childhood cognitive development outcomes among families in Ethiopia. We hypothesized that migration is associated with worse cognitive development outcomes among children and that this associat ...[more]

PMID: 35076934

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Project description:The burden of food insecurity is large in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet the evidence-base on the relation between household food insecurity and early child development is extremely limited. Furthermore, available research mostly relies on cross-sectional data, limiting the quality of existing evidence. We use longitudinal data on preschool-aged children and their households in Ghana to investigate how being in a food insecure household was associated with early child development outcomes across three years. Household food insecurity was measured over three years using the Household Hunger Score. Households were first classified as "ever food insecure" if they were food insecure at any round. We also assessed persistence of household food insecurity by classifying households into three categories: (i) never food insecure; (ii) transitory food insecurity, if the household was food insecure only in one wave; and (iii) persistent food insecurity, if the household was food insecure in two or all waves. Child development was assessed across literacy, numeracy, social-emotional, short-term memory, and self-regulation domains. Controlling for baseline values of each respective outcome and child and household characteristics, children from ever food insecure households had lower literacy, numeracy and short-term memory. When we distinguished between transitory and persistent food insecurity, transitory spells of food insecurity predicted decreased numeracy (β = -0.176, 95% CI: -0.317; -0.035), short-term memory (β = -0.237, 95% CI: -0.382; -0.092), and self-regulation (β = -0.154, 95% CI: -0.326; 0.017) compared with children from never food insecure households. By contrast, children residing in persistently food insecure households had lower literacy scores (β = -0.243, 95% CI: -0.496; 0.009). No gender differences were detected. Results were broadly robust to the inclusion of additional controls. This novel evidence from a Sub-Saharan African country highlights the need for multi-sectoral approaches including social protection and nutrition to support early child development.

Dataset Information

Associations of conflict and migration on childhood cognitive development in Ethiopia: Evidence from a longitudinal study.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Associations of conflict and migration on childhood cognitive development in Ethiopia: Evidence from a longitudinal study.

Similar Datasets

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