Do early life cognitive ability and self-regulation skills explain socio-economic inequalities in academic achievement? An effect decomposition analysis in UK and Australian cohorts.

ABSTRACT: Socio-economic inequalities in academic achievement emerge early in life and are observed across the globe. Cognitive ability and "non-cognitive" attributes (such as self-regulation) are the focus of many early years' interventions. Despite this, little research has compared the contributions of early cognitive and self-regulation abilities as separate pathways to inequalities in academic achievement. We examined this in two nationally representative cohorts in the UK (Millennium Cohort Study, n = 11,168; 61% original cohort) and Australia (LSAC, n = 3028; 59% original cohort). An effect decomposition method was used to examine the pathways from socio-economic disadvantage (in infancy) to two academic outcomes: 'low' maths and literacy scores (based on bottom quintile) at age 7-9 years. Ri

SUBMITTER: Pearce A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5012893 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature