Children who are cognitively delayed are very likely to experience a range of negative educational and societal outcomes. Thus, it is important to accurately identify those factors that elevate a child's risk for cognitive delay. Yet cognitive delay's etiology is both complex and poorly understood. Few studies have used measures of the wide range of hypothesized risk factors (e.g., poverty, low birthweight, poor child health) and samples that allow for unbiased population sub-group (e.g., African Americans, Latinos, Asians) estimates. No study to date has investigated cognitive delay by repeatedly assessing the cognitive abilities of children over their first five years. This project explores the disorder's etiology using a new, nationally representative dataset, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). The project has two specific aims: 1) To use an unusually large, nationally representative sample of low birthweight and non-low-birthweight children, with multiple data collection points at very young ages, to examine developmental patterns of cognitive delay at 9, 24, 48, and 60 months of age, and how these are related to poverty, low birthweight, and their correlates, including single parenthood and racial/ethnic minority status;and 2) To test three types of post-birth risk factors as potential explanations for the relationships between (a) poverty, low birthweight, and their correlates, and (b) cognitive disability at 9, 24, 48, and 60 months. These additional risk factors are poor child health, inadequate parenting, and low quality childcare. The project will address these aims by fitting generalized linear mixed models to ECLS-B data for children at 9, 24, 48, and 60 months of age. In these models, child physical health, parenting quality, and caregiving will appear as time-varying covariates. By providing accurate estimates of the factors that elevate a child's risk for cognitive delay, the project will help identify promising avenues for early intervention.

Public Health Relevance

Young children with cognitive delays are at high risk for a range of negative long-term health and social outcomes. This project will capitalize on the availability of a new, nationally representative dataset to illuminate the multiple pathways that lead to cognitive delay during young childhood, and identify promising avenues for early intervention.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
1R21HD058124-01A1
Application #
7637111
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-HOP-L (90))
Program Officer
King, Rosalind B
Project Start
2009-07-10
Project End
2011-05-31
Budget Start
2009-07-10
Budget End
2010-05-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$221,250
Indirect Cost
Name
Pennsylvania State University
Department
Type
Organized Research Units
DUNS #
003403953
City
University Park
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
16802
Hillemeier, Marianne M; Morgan, Paul L; Farkas, George et al. (2013) Quality disparities in child care for at-risk children: comparing Head Start and non-Head Start settings. Matern Child Health J 17:180-8
Morgan, Paul L; Farkas, George; Hillemeier, Marianne M et al. (2009) Risk factors for learning-related behavior problems at 24 months of age: population-based estimates. J Abnorm Child Psychol 37:401-13
Hillemeier, Marianne M; Farkas, George; Morgan, Paul L et al. (2009) Disparities in the prevalence of cognitive delay: how early do they appear? Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 23:186-98