Peer-reviewed article
Exploring a Range of Potential Factors Promoting and Constraining EF in South African Preschoolers.
Johanna Beukes, Caylee Cook, Steven J Howard, Gaia Scerif, Christopher F Sharpley et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined what helps or hinders executive function development in 125 preschoolers aged 3-5 years from disadvantaged communities in Cape Town, South Africa. Researchers tested children's working memory, inhibition and cognitive shifting, and asked caregivers about family circumstances, sleep, screen time, violence exposure and parenting. Older age, caregiver education, and better child sleep predicted stronger executive function, while poverty measures alone did not. The findings suggest that modifiable factors close to the child matter more than overall socioeconomic status for cognitive development in low-income contexts.
Key points
- Child age, caregiver secondary education, and fewer sleep difficulties together explained 25% of variation in executive function scores
- Household assets, screen time, violence exposure, and parenting practice scores were not significant predictors of executive function
- Hair cortisol concentration showed a positive correlation with executive function in a subsample (n=22), suggesting possible adaptive stress response
- Modifiable proximal factors shaped executive function development more strongly than socioeconomic indicators alone
- Results challenge universal assumptions about socioeconomic gradients in cognitive development
Limitations
The study is cross-sectional, so causality cannot be inferred. The small subsample for cortisol analysis (n=22) limits confidence in those findings, and the measure is specific to one South African city context, which may not generalise to other regions.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic disadvantage is widely associated with poorer cognitive and educational outcomes. However, emerging evidence suggests that children in low-income contexts may demonstrate resilience in executive function (EF) development. This study examined the predictors of EF in South African preschoolers from disadvantaged communities to identify modifiable, context-specific influences. METHODS: 125 Children (aged 3-5 years) and their caregivers were recruited from 15 early childhood centers in Cape Town. Children completed three tablet-based EF tasks from the Early Years Toolbox measuring working memory, inhibition, shifting, while caregivers reported on demographic variables, household assets, child sleep, child screen time, child exposure to violence, and parenting practices. Multiple linear regressions examined predictors of child EF, with exploratory analyses on a subset (n = 22) for hair cortisol analysis. RESULTS: Older child age (β = 0.37, p < 0.001), caregiver secondary education (β = 0.22, p = 0.003), and fewer sleep difficulties (β = -0.45, p = 0.042) significantly predicted higher child EF scores, together explaining 25% of variance. Household assets, screen time, violence exposure, and parenting scores were non-significant. In the subsample, hair cortisol concentration correlated positively with EF (ρ = 0.55, p = 0.009), suggesting potential adaptive calibration under adversity. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight that modifiable proximal factors (e.g., caregiver education and child sleep) shape EF development more strongly than socioeconomic indicators. Results challenge the presumed universality of SES-EF gradients and underscore the importance of culturally grounded, contextually validated measures for understanding resilience and early cognitive development in Majority World settings.