Predictors of the IQ-achievement gap in France: A longitudinal analysis

Is the SES and academic achievement relationship mediated by cognitive ability? Evidence from PISA 2018 using data from 77 countries

Introduction

Earlier research has suggested that that the international large-scale assessment, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), may be looked upon as a form of school test that is mostly explained by participating students' socioeconomic status, non-cognitive factors, and various school factors, whereas another strand of research focuses on the similarities between PISA and cognitive ability assessments such as IQ tests. The latter position does also highlight the strong relationships between PISA scores and IQ test scores, typically aggregated to the country level. The current article adds to this scholarly debate by examining the latest PISA survey from 2018.

Methods

Correlation, regression, moderator, and mediation analyses were run for aggregated country-level data (N = 77) from PISA 2018.

Results

The results indicate that PISA scores indeed are strongly associated with both cognitive ability test scores and socioeconomic status indicators such as average annual national income.

Discussion

A more nuanced position suggests that PISA should be labelled a test that measures cognitive school skills rather than a proxy of national IQ, as the link between country-level abilities and school age abilities is neither causal, nor theoretically and empirically palpable, yet partly robust.

The influence of SES, cognitive, and non-cognitive abilities on grades: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from two Swedish cohorts

It is well established that socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, and non-cognitive abilities such as self-efficacy are substantially associated with academic achievement. However, the specific relationships of these variables remain a relatively unexplored topic in regard to more recent and representative samples. The current study examined such relations by taking advantage of two cohorts (total N = 12,315) of Swedish students at the elementary (Grade 6) and lower-secondary school levels (Grade 8) in the compulsory school. The regression models showed that all three variables explained a substantial portion of grade variance, with cognitive ability having the strongest relationship, followed by non-cognitive abilities, and SES. Longitudinal associations, which accounted for previous academic achievement, showed that the three variables did still explain a substantial amount of grade variance.

Development and validation of assessments of adolescent health literacy: a Rasch measurement model approach

BACKGROUND

Health literacy (HL) is implicated in improved health decision-making and health promotion, and reduced racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health disparities. Three major areas of HL include functional, interactive, and critical HL. HL skills develop throughout the lifespan as individuals' psychosocial and cognitive capacities develop and as they accumulate experiences with navigating health systems. Though adolescence is marked by increased involvement in health decision-making, most HL studies and measures of HL have focused on adults. Both the adult and adolescent HL literature are also limited by the paucity of validated test-based measures for assessing HL. The existing test-based validated HL measures for adolescents were originally designed for adults. However, adolescents are at an earlier phase of developing their HL skills (e.g., fewer experiences navigating the health system) compared to adults and measures originally designed for adults may assume prior knowledge that adolescents may lack therein underestimating adolescents' HL. This study developed and validated test-based assessments of adolescents' functional, interactive, and critical HL.

METHODS

Items were generated in an iterative process: focus groups with adolescents informed item content, cognitive interviews with adolescents and expert consultation established content and face validity of the initial items, and items were revised or removed where indicated. High school students (n = 355) completed a measurement battery including the revised HL items. The items were evaluated and validated using Rasch measurement models.

RESULTS

The final 6-item functional, 10-item interactive, and 7-item critical HL assessments and their composite (23 items) fit their respective Rasch models. Item-level invariance was established for gender (male vs. female), age (12-15-year-olds vs. 16-18-year-olds), and ethnicity in all assessments. The assessments had good convergent validity with an established measure of functional HL and scores on the assessments were positively related to reading instructions before taking medicine and questioning the truthfulness of health information found online.

CONCLUSIONS

These assessments are the first test-based measures of adolescents' interactive and critical HL, the first test-based measure of functional HL designed for adolescents, and the first composite test-based assessment of all three major areas of HL. These assessments should be used to inform strategies for improving adolescents' HL, decision-making, and behaviors.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy and intelligence quotient of offspring aged 18 and 30 years: Evidence from two birth cohorts in southern Brazil

Maternal smoking during pregnancy causes several harmful effects, including deficits in the intelligence quotient (IQ), a measure associated with academic achievements and higher socioeconomic position. We aimed to measure the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring's IQ in two birth cohorts from Pelotas, Brazil. Data from the 1982 and 1993 birth cohorts were analyzed. Smoking during pregnancy was ascertained at the perinatal follow-up, and IQ was measured at 30 years (1982) and 18 years (1993). Simple and multiple linear regressions were used for crude and adjusted analysis. Mediation analysis was performed using birth weight and breastfeeding as possible mediators. Data analysis was conducted in 2020. There were 3611 and 4050 participants from the 1982 and 1993 cohorts, respectively. After adjustment for potential confounders, the inverse association between smoking during pregnancy and children's IQ remained significant in both cohorts. Offspring of mothers who smoked during pregnancy had an average of 1.32 less IQ points (95%CI: -2.23, -0.242) in the 1982 cohort, and an average of 1.66 less IQ points (95%CI: -2.42, -0.90) in the 1993 cohort. Neither cohort showed association with paternal smoking (negative controls) after adjustment. Breastfeeding's mediated effects accounted for 26.2% and 23.9% of the association in the 1982 and 1993 cohorts, respectively, while birth weight's accounted for 6.8% and 30.1%, respectively; indirect effects were not significant. The inverse association between maternal smoking and IQ and the lack of association with paternal smoking reinforces our findings of a negative association between exposure and outcome.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy and intelligence quotient in offspring: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Exposure to tobacco during pregnancy may disrupt fetal brain development and impact offspring cognitive development.

AIMS

To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis on maternal smoking during pregnancy and intelligence quotient (IQ) in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Lilacs, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Original articles evaluating tobacco use/exposure during pregnancy and the offspring's IQ as the outcome. The review protocol is registered in PROSPERO (number CRD 42,019,116,257). For the meta-analysis, we included studies with information on the regression coefficient and its confidence interval (CI) or standard error. Random effects model was used for pooling the estimates.

RESULTS

25 studies were included in the review, and of these 14 met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. The overall pooled estimate showed that subjects who were exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy presented lower IQ scores, compared to those not exposed to maternal smoking (β -1.30; 95 % CI -1.74, -0.86; I² = 87.8 %); IQ scores were also lower in crude (β -5.46; 95 % CI -7.31, -3.60; I²: 79.0 %) and adjusted pooled estimates (β =-0.45; 95 % CI -0.76, -0.13; I² = 80.4 %), for the group exposed to maternal smoking. In the stratified analysis, an inverse association was also observed in studies with large sample size (n≥1000 participants) (β=-0.49; 95 % CI -0.96, -0.02), among those performed with adolescents (β=-1.16; 95 % CI -2.18, -0.14), and among those adjusted for maternal education (β=-0.57; 95 % CI -1.05, -0.08).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that exposure to tobacco during pregnancy may have negative effects on IQ. However, the findings of this meta-analysis should be interpreted with caution.

Cognitive ability and education: How behavioural genetic research has advanced our knowledge and understanding of their association

Cognitive ability and educational success predict positive outcomes across the lifespan, from higher earnings to better health and longevity. The shared positive outcomes associated with cognitive ability and education are emblematic of the strong interconnections between them. Part of the observed associations between cognitive ability and education, as well as their links with wealth, morbidity and mortality, are rooted in genetic variation. The current review evaluates the contribution of decades of behavioural genetic research to our knowledge and understanding of the biological and environmental basis of the association between cognitive ability and education. The evidence reviewed points to a strong genetic basis in their association, observed from middle childhood to old age, which is amplified by environmental experiences. In addition, the strong stability and heritability of educational success are not driven entirely by cognitive ability. This highlights the contribution of other educationally relevant noncognitive characteristics. Considering both cognitive and noncognitive skills as well as their biological and environmental underpinnings will be fundamental in moving towards a comprehensive, evidence-based model of education.