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Cited by 58Early Childhood Education and DevelopmentSchool Choice and PerformanceChildren's Physical and Motor Development

The Relative Age Effects in Educational Development: A Systematic Review

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Urruticoechea, Alar, Oliveri, Andrés, Vernazza, Elena, Giménez-Dasí, Marta, Martínez-Arias, Rosario, Martín-Babarro, Javier·2021·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph18178966PMC PMC8431425
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Abstract

There is a large number of variables, studied in the literature, that affect the integral development of students in the educational stage, but few research analyze the effects that relative age can have on development. The aim of this study is to review and summarize the results obtained, on this subject, in recent research. The methodology used has followed the PRISMA declaration. The final sample is composed by 21 articles, which use data from 24 countries and 32 assessments. The main conclusions indicate that relatively younger children in same class groups: (a) obtain significantly lower mean scores in cognitive and motor tests, (b) have a higher repetition rate, and (c) have a less capacity of socialization. Finally, it should be noted that considering the results obtained by the research on relative age effect on child development, some authors propose to adapt educational practices to minimize these effects.

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Authors
Urruticoechea, A., Oliveri, A., Vernazza, E., Giménez-Dasí, M., Martínez-Arias, R., & Martín-Babarro, J.
Affiliations
  • Universidad Católica del Uruguay (UY)
  • Universidad de la República de Uruguay (UY)
  • Sección Departamental de Investigación y Psicología en Educación, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
  • Departamento de Psicobiología y Metodología en Ciencias del Comportamiento, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Corresponding author
Urruticoechea, Alar
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2021-08-26
Volume
18
Issue
17
Pages
8966
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph18178966
PMC
PMC8431425
OpenAlex
W3194093902
Cited by
58
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3
FWCI
1.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Library Open Repository (Universidad Complutense Madrid) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (FMV/_3/_2018/_1/_148997)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
  • Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Children's Physical and Motor Development
Keywords
relative age effect, school entry age, child development, cognitive development, motor development, school repetition, socialization, teaching practice
MeSH terms
Child Development, Humans, Students

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