Associations between executive function and early math and literacy skills in preschool children

Jasmine R. Ernst; Amanda Grenell; Stephanie M. Carlson

doi:10.1016/j.ijedro.2022.100201

Associations between executive function and early math and literacy skills in preschool children

Jasmine R. Ernst, Amanda Grenell, Stephanie M. Carlson

Institute of Child Development

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The current study directly compared the magnitude of associations between executive function (EF) and math versus literacy and investigated whether they differed by age within the preschool years. Participants were 92 typically developing, preschool children in the United States (M_age=58.53 months; 47.8% Female; 58.7% White; 29.3% Non-White). Children completed a developmentally sensitive battery of direct EF assessments, math and literacy achievement tests, and IQ tests. Results showed an EF Composite was associated with math, but not literacy, after controlling for age, verbal and nonverbal IQ, and socioeconomic status. Extending prior work to a younger age, we examined whether the association between EF and academic achievement was moderated by age but found no significant interactions. These findings support the link between EF and math before kindergarten and indicate a similar magnitude of associations in younger and older preschoolers.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	100201
Journal	International Journal of Educational Research Open
Volume	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2022.100201
State	Published - Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by a Graduate Student Grant from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota awarded to Amanda Grenell. Research reported in this publication was also partially supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32 HD007475. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022

Keywords

Academic achievement
Executive function
Literacy
Mathematics
Preschool

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abstract = "The current study directly compared the magnitude of associations between executive function (EF) and math versus literacy and investigated whether they differed by age within the preschool years. Participants were 92 typically developing, preschool children in the United States (Mage=58.53 months; 47.8% Female; 58.7% White; 29.3% Non-White). Children completed a developmentally sensitive battery of direct EF assessments, math and literacy achievement tests, and IQ tests. Results showed an EF Composite was associated with math, but not literacy, after controlling for age, verbal and nonverbal IQ, and socioeconomic status. Extending prior work to a younger age, we examined whether the association between EF and academic achievement was moderated by age but found no significant interactions. These findings support the link between EF and math before kindergarten and indicate a similar magnitude of associations in younger and older preschoolers.",

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note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by a Graduate Student Grant from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota awarded to Amanda Grenell. Research reported in this publication was also partially supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32 HD007475. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022",

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Associations between executive function and early math and literacy skills in preschool children

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