Associations of Prenatal Socioeconomic Status and Childhood Working Memory: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Public Health

Background:

• Socioeconomic status (SES) during prenatal development is a critical factor influencing child development.
• Childhood working memory (WM) is essential for cognitive functions like learning and problem-solving.
• Previous research suggests a link between SES and cognitive development, but the precise relationship with WM needs further clarification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between prenatal socioeconomic status (SES) and childhood working memory (WM).
• To develop a more precise and integrative measure of nonverbal working memory.
• To examine potential sex differences in the relationship between prenatal SES and childhood WM.

Main Methods:

• A prospective birth cohort study in Mexico City with 515 children aged 6-9 years.
• Prenatal SES measured using the Mexican Association of Marketing Research and Public Opinion Agencies (AMAI) index.
• A latent variable for nonverbal working memory was created using data from multiple cognitive tasks.
• Structural equation models were employed to analyze the associations, controlling for various demographic, prenatal, and family factors.

Main Results:

• A latent variable representing nonverbal working memory was successfully constructed and found to be measurement invariant across child sex.
• Prenatal SES was significantly associated with childhood nonverbal working memory (standardized factor loading = 0.17; p = 0.004).
• This association was moderated by child sex: higher prenatal SES was linked to higher childhood WM in girls (standardized factor loading = 0.26; p = 0.002), but not in boys.

Conclusions:

• Prenatal socioeconomic status is a significant predictor of childhood working memory.
• The impact of prenatal SES on working memory appears to be stronger in girls than in boys.
• These findings highlight the importance of early life environment and potential sex-based disparities in cognitive development.