Mothers’ Early Mind-Mindedness Predicts Educational Attainment in Socially and Economically Disadvantaged British Children

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mothers’ Early Mind-Mindedness Predicts Educational Attainment in Socially and Economically Disadvantaged British Children

AU - Meins, Elizabeth

AU - Fernyhough, Charles

AU - Centifanti, Luna C Muñoz

N1 - © 2018, Authors. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

PY - 2019/7/1

Y1 - 2019/7/1

N2 - Relations between mothers' mind-mindedness (appropriate and nonattuned mind-related comments) at 8 months (N = 206), and children's educational attainment at ages 7 (n = 158) and 11 (n = 156) were investigated in a British sample. Appropriate mind-related comments were positively correlated with reading and mathematics performance at both ages but only in the low-socioeconomic status (SES) group. Path analyses showed that in the low-SES group, appropriate mind-related comments directly predicted age-11 reading performance, with age-4 verbal ability mediating the relation between appropriate mind-related comments and age-7 reading. In contrast, maternal sensitivity and infant–mother attachment security did not predict children's educational attainment. These findings are discussed in terms of genetic and environmental contributions to reading and mathematics performance.

AB - Relations between mothers' mind-mindedness (appropriate and nonattuned mind-related comments) at 8 months (N = 206), and children's educational attainment at ages 7 (n = 158) and 11 (n = 156) were investigated in a British sample. Appropriate mind-related comments were positively correlated with reading and mathematics performance at both ages but only in the low-socioeconomic status (SES) group. Path analyses showed that in the low-SES group, appropriate mind-related comments directly predicted age-11 reading performance, with age-4 verbal ability mediating the relation between appropriate mind-related comments and age-7 reading. In contrast, maternal sensitivity and infant–mother attachment security did not predict children's educational attainment. These findings are discussed in terms of genetic and environmental contributions to reading and mathematics performance.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054671662&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/cdev.13028

DO - 10.1111/cdev.13028

M3 - Article

SN - 0009-3920

VL - 90

SP - e454-e467

JO - Child Development

JF - Child Development

IS - 4

ER -