How do parents mitigate the impact of social inequality on childhood outcomes: A mixed method approach.

Children growing up in lower socioeconomic circumstances (SEC) display reduced educational outcomes in comparison to their more advantaged peers. SEC refers to an individual?s or family?s educational level, occupation, resources and household income in relation to others within society (Ginsborg, 2006). SEC related achievement gaps are evident throughout educational stages (Department for Education, 2022) and perpetuate the high levels of social inequality in the UK (Social Mobility Commission, 2023).

These disparities are thought to begin prior to school entry, due to differences in the development of core cognitive skills known as executive functions (EF). EFs are domain general fundamental cognitive abilities such as: working memory, attention and self-regulation (Blakey et al., 2020). These skills are essential for school readiness, providing children with foundational skills for learning (Blair & Raver, 2015).

EFs have been shown to be impacted by SEC therefore, early disparities EFs are thought to initiate achievement gaps in early childhood (Raver et al., 2013).

Prior to school entry, parent-child interactions are a fundamental space for learning and development; therefore, it is likely that differences in parenting behaviours are a key pathway through which differences in the development of EFs emerge (Fay-Stammbach, Hawes & Meredith 2014). However, research examining parenting behaviours in relation to the development of EFs has primarily focussed on a broad construct of ?sensitive caregiving? which incorporates a wide variety of behaviours (Ku & Blair, 2023), limiting understanding of the specific pathways through which EFs may develop.

The proposed study aims to understand how specific behaviours during parent-child interaction are associated with SEC and development of EFs; examining whether certain behaviours act as buffers to the impact of social inequality. This project aims to provide an in-depth understanding of early parent-child interactions, a key space for the development of EFs and a useful platform for future interventions to mitigate social inequality.