Socioeconomic status is apredictor of neurocognitive performance of early female adolescents

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies have shown that high socioeconomic status (SES) is significantly associated with inhibitory control, working memory, verbal comprehension and IQ. However, in the Asian setting, with its prevailing poverty, information about the influence of SES on cognitive development of female adolescents is limited. This study was aimed to investigate the association between SES and neurocognitive performance of earlyfemaleadolescentsinSriLanka. Methods: Female adolescents aged 11–14 years (n = 200) of low and middle SES were studied to assess neurocognitivefunction.Afterobtainingbaselinedata,eightsubtestsoftheWechslerIntelligenceScaleforChildren (WISC–IV), Test Of Nonverbal Intelligence (TONI-3) and two computer-based executive function tests (inhibitionandvisuo-spatialworkingmemory)wereadministeredtoassessneurocognitivemeasuresoftheabove adolescents.TheresultswerecompiledintoadatabaseandanalyzedusingSPSSversion20statisticalsoftware. Results:HigherSESwasassociatedwithhigherperformanceinallneurocognitivetests.LowSESadolescents obtainedsignificantlypoortestscoresforexecutivefunctiontest(inhibitorycontrol:p<0.0001)andforWISC [verbalcomprehensionindex(VCI):p<0.0001),workingmemoryindex(WMI):p<0.0001andestimatedfull scaleIQ(EFSIQ):p<0.0001)]whencomparedwithmiddleSESadolescents.Maternaleducationalonesignificantly predicts VCI and EFSIQ than the combined influence of parental education, occupation and income. PsychosocialadversitiesofadolescentswereinverselycorrelatedwithVCI(r=−0.30;p<0.001)andEFSIQ(r =−0.20;p<0.001)ofWISCandmathematicsperformance(r=−0.34;p<0.001)atexaminationinschool. Conclusion:FindingsofthestudyrevealedtheimportanceofupliftmentofSESofthesocietytoimprovethe cognitiveandacademicoutcomesoflowSESindividuals.