Risk and Protective Factors for Executive Function in Vulnerable South African Preschool-Age Children.

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Early Childhood Education

Background:

• Existing executive function (EF) research predominantly focuses on Western, high-income contexts.
• There's a critical need to understand EF development in diverse, low-income settings.
• Limited access to early childhood education and care (ECCE) services in these contexts may impact EF.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate longitudinal associations of context-specific risk and protective factors for EF development.
• To examine EF in South African children aged 3–5 years with limited ECCE access.
• To challenge and refine existing EF theories by studying under-represented populations.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study with 171 child-caregiver dyads in South Africa.
• Two data collection waves approximately seven months apart.
• Child EF assessed using the Early Years Toolbox; context-specific factors via caregiver questionnaire.

Main Results:

• Attending ECCE services and caregiver diversity were positively associated with child EF.
• Household income and caregiver education were not significant predictors of EF.
• Home resources showed an unexpected negative association with EF development.

Conclusions:

• Predictors of EF established in Western contexts may not generalize to low-income settings.
• ECCE services and caregiver diversity are crucial factors for EF development in this population.
• Future research should employ qualitative and ethnographic methods to capture cultural nuances in EF.