About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 1. Attention, Learning, Memory

Abstract

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Executive function (EF) often predicts academic achievement in elementary-aged children (Willoughby et al., 2019) and research suggests that EF performance may be lower in children growing up in under-resourced contexts (Haft & Hoeft, 2017). Financial stress has also been shown to be associated with both academic achievement (Li et al., 2018) and EF (Hackman et al., 2015). This study’s aim was to further investigate the interplay between EF, academic achievement, and financial resources by examining the role financial resources may have in moderating the link between EF and academic achievement. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1386, 47.5% female), we examined whether the associations between a global EF measure, the Tower of Hanoi, (N = 996, M = 14.39, SD = 6.76) and either the Letter-Word Identification Test (N = 1025, M = 111.99, SD = 15.79) or Applied Problems Test (N = 1023, M = 110.80, SD = 17.14) of the Woodcock-Johnson Battery Revised, were moderated by financial resources, operationalized as income-to-needs ratio (INR) (N = 982, M = 3.95, SD = 3.03), in first grade (Mage = 83.8 months, SD = 3.7). We hypothesized we would observe an interaction effect such that the association between Letter-Word and Tower of Hanoi, and Applied Problems and Tower of Hanoi, would be stronger at a higher INR. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with Letter-Word as outcome, Tower of Hanoi as independent variable, INR as moderator, an interaction term between Letter-Word/INR, and child’s ethnicity, child’s sex, and mother’s education as covariates. We used the same model to examine Applied Problems as the outcome instead of Letter-Word. Results indicated that Tower of Hanoi (B = 0.26, p < 0.001) and INR (B = 0.60, p = 0.002) were each significantly and positively associated with Letter-Word, as was the case for Tower of Hanoi (B = 0.50, p < 0.001) and INR (B = 0.84, p < 0.001) with Applied Problems. Only for Letter-Word was a significant interaction between Tower of Hanoi and INR present (B = -0.05, p = 0.02). Simple slope analysis indicated Tower of Hanoi being positively associated with Letter-Word and this association was stronger in magnitude among children of low INR (B = 0.28, p < 0.001) when compared to average (B = 0.26, p < 0.001) and high (B = 0.24, p < 0.001) INR. Surprisingly, we found an interaction effect only for the association between Letter-Word and Tower of Hanoi such that at low INR the association is stronger, suggesting that greater financial resources might change the nature of links between EF and academic performance in early grades. Critically, results point to the need to scaffold policy, pedagogy, and interventions to reflect the extent to which family financial resources may intersect with EF processes supporting academic achievement. Students experiencing financial difficulties at home may need extra support when it comes to implementing strategies for EF development – and future research should explore the specific mechanisms underlying these links.

Author information

Author	Role
Isabel Valdivia, Virginia Tech	Presenting author
Benjamin Katz, Virginia Tech	Non-presenting author

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