Does Age Moderate the Influence of Early Life Language Experiences? A Naturalistic Home Observation Study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina d'Apice ◽  
Sophie von Stumm
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Cognitive Testing ◽  
Parent Ratings ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Observation Study ◽  
Home Environments ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Audio Recordings

We explored if children’s age moderated associations between their early life language experiences and their linguistic and cognitive skills. For 107 British children, aged 24 to 48 months, and their families, we collected 3 day-long audio-recordings of their naturalistic home environments (M = 15.06 hours per day, SD = 1.87). Children’s cognitive ability was assessed by parent-ratings and with a cognitive testing booklet that children completed at home. We found that the quantity, lexical diversity and vocabulary sophistication of adult speech were associated with children’s linguistic and cognitive skills. However, these associations were not moderated by children’s age. Our findings suggest that the influence of early life language experience is not differentiated at age 24 to 48 months.

Relationships Between Cognitive and Driving Self-Awareness in Older Drivers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Paire-Ficout ◽  
Sylviane Lafont ◽  
Marion Hay ◽  
Amandine Coquillat ◽  
Colette Fabrigoule ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Older Drivers ◽  
Driving Ability ◽  
Digit Symbol Substitution Test ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Subjective Data

Abstract Objectives Many older drivers incorrectly estimate their driving ability. The present study aimed to determine whether, and if so, to what extent unawareness of cognitive abilities affects self-awareness of driving ability. Methods Two successive studies were conducted. A cohort study investigated cognitive self-awareness and an experimental study examined driving self-awareness in older drivers. In each one, self-awareness was assessed by cross-analyzing objective (respectively Trail-Making Tests A & B and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test and driving performance of on-road assessment) and subjective data (responses about everyday cognitive skills and driving ability). Older drivers were then classified as being over-, correct or underestimators. The three cognitive and driving self-awareness profiles were then cross-analyzed. Results In the cohort study, 1,190 drivers aged 70 years or older were included. The results showed that 42.7% of older drivers overestimated their cognitive ability, 42.2% estimated it correctly, and 15.1% underestimated it. The experimental study included 145 participants from the cohort. The results showed that 34% of participants overestimated, 45% correctly estimated, and 21 % underestimated their driving ability. There was a significant relationship between cognitive and driving self-awareness profiles (p=0,02). This overlap was more marked in overestimators. Discussion Significant overlap between cognitive and driving self-awareness provides useful and new knowledge about driving in the aging population. Misestimation of cognitive ability could hamper self-awareness of driving ability, and consequently self-regulation of driving. It is now crucial to develop measures that promote self-awareness of ability.

scholarly journals Early-life circumstances and the risk of function-limiting long-term conditions in later life

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-180
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Iveson ◽  
Chris Dibben ◽  
Ian J. Deary
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Functional Limitation ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
Childhood Cognitive Ability ◽  
The Life Course

Older adults are particularly prone to function-limiting health issues that adversely affect their well-being. Previous work has identified factors from across the life course –childhood socio-economic status, childhood cognitive ability and education – that predict later-life functional outcomes. However, the independence of these contributions is unclear as later-in-the-life-course predictors are themselves affected by earlier ones. The present study capitalised on the recent linkage of the Scottish Mental Survey 1947 with the Scottish Longitudinal Study, using path analyses to examine the direct and indirect associations between life-course predictors and the risk of functional limitation at ages 55 (N = 2,374), 65 (N = 1,971) and 75 (N = 1,534). The odds of reporting a function-limiting long-term condition increased across later life. At age 55, reporting a functional limitation was significantly less likely in those with higher childhood socio-economic status, higher childhood cognitive ability and higher educational attainment; these associations were only partly mediated by other predictors. At age 65, adult socio-economic status emerged as a mediator of several associations, although direct associations with childhood socio-economic status and childhood cognitive ability were still observed. At age 75, only childhood socio-economic status and adult socio-economic status directly predicted the risk of a functional limitation, particularly those associated with disease or illness. A consistent pattern and direction of associations was observed with self-rated health more generally. These results demonstrate that early-life and adult circumstances are associated with functional limitations later in life, but that these associations are partly a product of complex mediation between life-course factors.

scholarly journals Dissecting Biological Pathways of Psychopathology using Cognitive Genomics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Lam ◽  
Chia-Yen Chen ◽  
W. David Hill ◽  
Charley Xia ◽  
Ruoyu Tian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Genetic Correlation ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Biological Pathways ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Gene Sets ◽  
Cognitive Dimensions

Cognitive deficits are known to be related to most forms of psychopathology. Here, we perform local genetic correlation analysis as a means of identifying independent segments of the genome that show biologically interpretable pleiotropic associations between cognitive dimensions and psychopathology. We identified collective segments of the genome, which we call "meta-loci", that showed differential pleiotropic patterns for psychopathology relative to either General Cognitive Ability (GCA) or Non-Cognitive Skills (NCS). We observed that neurodevelopmental gene sets expressed during the prenatal-early childhood predominated in GCA-relevant meta-loci, while post-natal synaptic gene sets were more involved in NCS-relevant meta-loci. Notably, we found that GABA-ergic, cholinergic, and glutamatergic genes drove pleiotropic relationships within dissociable NCS meta-loci.

scholarly journals Developmental cascades of internalising symptoms, externalising problems and cognitive ability from early childhood to middle adolescence

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 61-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eirini Flouri ◽  
Efstathios Papachristou ◽  
Emily Midouhas ◽  
George B. Ploubidis ◽  
Glyn Lewis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Behavioural Problems ◽  
Cognitive Assessments ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
Random Intercept ◽  
Externalising Problems ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
Bidirectional Associations ◽  
Internalising Problems

AbstractBackground:Cognitive ability and problem behaviour (externalising and internalising problems) are variable and inter-related in children. However, it is not known if they mutually influence one another, if difficulties in one cause difficulties in the other, or if they are related only because they share causes.Methods:Random-intercept cross-lagged models adjusted for confounding were fitted to explore this in 17,318 (51% male) children of the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study at ages 3, 5, 7, 11 and 14 years. Externalising and internalising problems were assessed using the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Cognitive ability was measured using standardised scores of age-appropriate validated cognitive ability assessments. Where multiple cognitive assessments were available a single score was derived using principal components analysis.Results:There was much evidence for cross-domain longitudinal effects in childhood, especially for cognitive ability (on both internalising and externalising problems and in both males and females) and externalising problems (on internalising problems in both genders and cognitive ability in males). Bidirectional effects were childhood-limited, gender-specific and less consistent. The consistent bidirectional associations were, in males, between externalising problems and cognitive ability, and, in females, between externalising and internalising problems (although the effects of internalising problems were weak). In adolescence, only externalising problems had cross-domain effects such that, in both genders, they were associated with lower cognitive ability in subsequent measurements and increased levels of internalising problems.Conclusions:In either childhood or adolescence, reducing behavioural problems could have both emotional and cognitive benefits. In childhood, improving cognitive skills could reduce both emotional and behavioural problems.

Early-Life Exposure to Tap Water and the Development of Cognitive Skills

2020 ◽  
pp. 0917-9031R3
Author(s):  
Yvonne Jie Chen ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Yun Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Early Life Exposure

scholarly journals The codevelopment of internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and cognitive ability across childhood and adolescence

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1375-1389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efstathios Papachristou ◽  
Eirini Flouri
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Maternal Education ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Externalizing Symptoms ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Growth Curve Models ◽  
Uk Millennium Cohort Study ◽  
Time Varying Covariates

AbstractCognitive ability, externalizing symptoms, and internalizing symptoms are correlated in children. However, it is not known why they combine in the general child population over time. To address this, we used data on 17,318 children participating in the UK Millennium Cohort Study and followed-up five times between ages 3 and 14 years. We fitted three parallel-process latent growth curve models to identify the parallel unfolding of children's trajectories of internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and cognitive ability across this period. We also examined the effects of time-invariant (ethnicity, birth weight, maternal education and age at birth, and breastfeeding status) and time-varying covariates (maternal psychological distress and socioeconomic disadvantage) on the growth parameters of the trajectories. The results showed that the intercepts of the trajectories of cognitive ability and, particularly, externalizing symptoms were inversely correlated. Their linear slopes were also inversely correlated, suggesting parallel development. Internalizing symptoms were correlated positively with externalizing symptoms and inversely (and more modestly) with cognitive ability at baseline, but the slope of internalizing symptoms correlated (positively) only with the slope of externalizing symptoms. The covariates predicted 9% to 41% of the variance in the intercepts and slopes of all domains, suggesting they are important common risk factors. Overall, it appears that externalizing symptoms develop in parallel with both cognitive ability and internalizing symptoms from early childhood through to middle adolescence. Children on an increasing trajectory of externalizing symptoms are likely both increasing in internalizing symptoms and decreasing in cognitive skills as well, and are thus an important group to target for intervention.

scholarly journals Personality and Other Lifelong Influences on Older–Age Health and Wellbeing: Preliminary Findings in Two Scottish Samples

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 438-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew A. Harris ◽  
Caroline E. Brett ◽  
John M. Starr ◽  
Ian J. Deary ◽  
Wendy Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Subjective Wellbeing ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Older Age ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Early Life Factors

Recent observations that personality traits are related to later–life health and wellbeing have inspired considerable interest in exploring the mechanisms involved. Other factors, such as cognitive ability and education, also show longitudinal influences on health and wellbeing, but it is not yet clear how all these early–life factors together contribute to later–life health and wellbeing. In this preliminary study, we assessed hypothesised relations among these variables across the life course, using structural equation modelling in a sample assessed on dependability (a personality trait related to conscientiousness) in childhood, cognitive ability and social class in childhood and older age, education, and health and subjective wellbeing in older age. Our models indicated that both health and subjective wellbeing in older age were influenced by childhood IQ and social class, via education. Some older–age personality traits mediated the effects of early–life variables, on subjective wellbeing in particular, but childhood dependability did not show significant associations. Our results therefore did not provide evidence that childhood dependability promotes older–age health and wellbeing, but did highlight the importance of other early–life factors, particularly characteristics that contribute to educational attainment. Further, personality in later life may mediate the effects of early–life factors on health and subjective wellbeing. © 2016 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology

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