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Cited by 27Intergenerational and Educational Inequality StudiesCognitive Abilities and TestingSocial and Cultural Dynamics

Explaining Children’s Life Outcomes: Parental Socioeconomic Status, Intelligence and Neurocognitive Factors in a Dynamic Life Cycle Model

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de Neubourg, Elise, Borghans, Lex, Coppens, Karien, Jansen, Maria·2018·Child Indicators Research
DOI 10.1007/s12187-017-9481-8PMC PMC6132797
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Abstract

The goal of the present paper is to introduce a dynamic life cycle model that explains the reproduction of wealth and health over generations by introducing knowledge from cognitive neuroscience into the existing knowledge from the socioeconomic literature. The socioeconomic literature successfully identified the major role of socioeconomic status of parents, both as a direct and indirect effect, in the shaping and intergenerational reproduction of wealth and health. Furthermore, the importance of cognitive abilities as actor in this process has been widely studied in socioeconomic literature. A third factor that has been identified by the socioeconomic discipline is the so-called non-cognitive capabilities. This category, however, lacks a clear definition and seems to be a catchall for a collection of factors. Within the repository of these non-cognitive capabilities the construct of executive functions is an interesting and important contribution from cognitive neuroscience. The multidimensional construct of executive functioning or cognitive control (i.e. planning and formulation of objectives) and monitoring processes (i.e. influences the execution of these goals) is a valuable addition to a framework on reproduction of wealth and health over generations, because executive functions are sensitive to training. Merging insights of the socioeconomic literature and cognitive neuroscience in a life cycle model opens the opportunity of educational initiatives with regard to executive functions to break the intergenerational reproduction of poverty and deprivation.

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  • A lack of sensitive scaffolding may result in a less stimulating context for cognitive development.

    “a lack of sensitive scaffolding may result in a less stimulating context for cognitive development [16–19].”

    From Socioeconomic position, family context, and child cognitive development (2024) · cites this paper as [18]

    The Dynamic Life Cycle Model section says parental behaviour and investments influence children’s cognitive development, and that poorer parents may have a less effective parenting style. It does not discuss sensitive scaffolding specifically or establish that its absence produces a less stimulating context. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.78)

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Cited by

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Authors
de Neubourg, E., Borghans, L., Coppens, K., & Jansen, M.
Affiliations
Maastricht University (NL)
ORCID
Venue
Child Indicators Research
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-06-26
Volume
11
Issue
5
Pages
1495-1513
ISSN
  • 1874-897X (ISSN-L)
  • 1874-8988
DOI
10.1007/s12187-017-9481-8
PMC
PMC6132797
OpenAlex
W2710897688
Cited by
27
References
11
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2
FWCI
5.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Child Indicators Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Maastricht University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Cultural Dynamics
Keywords
intergenerational transmission, parental socioeconomic status, intelligence, executive function, cognitive control, health outcomes, cognitive training, educational intervention, poverty

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