Sex Differences in the Association between Household Income and Children's Executive Function

Shervin Assari; Shanika Boyce; Mohsen Bazargan; Cleopatra Howard Caldwell

doi:10.3390/sexes1010002

Sex Differences in the Association between Household Income and Children's Executive Function

Sexes. 2020 Dec;1(1):19-31. doi: 10.3390/sexes1010002. Epub 2020 Oct 19.

Authors

Shervin Assari¹, Shanika Boyce², Mohsen Bazargan^{1

3}, Cleopatra Howard Caldwell⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, 90059 CA, USA.
² Department of Pediatrics, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, 90059 CA, USA.
³ Department of Family Medicine, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, 90095 CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Health Behaviors and Health Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109 MI, USA.

PMID: 33163684
DOI: 10.3390/sexes1010002

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate sex differences in the boosting effects of household income on children's executive function in the US. This is a cross-sectional study using data from Wave 1 of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Wave 1 ABCD included 8608 American children between ages 9 and 10 years old. The independent variable was household income. The primary outcome was executive function measured by the stop-signal task. Overall, high household income was associated with higher levels of executive function in the children. Sex showed a statistically significant interaction with household income on children's executive function, indicating a stronger effect of high household income for female compared to male children. Household income is a more salient determinant of executive function for female compared to male American children. Low-income female children remain at the highest risk regarding poor executive function.

Keywords: children; executive function; household income; socioeconomic status.

Abstract

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