Socioeconomic position, family context, and child cognitive development.

Socioeconomic position (SEP) may have different effects on cognitive development and family context could play a role in this association. This work aimed to analyse the role of socioeconomic positions, measured via various indicators collected longitudinally, in cognitive development at 7-11 years of age, evaluating the role of family context as a potential mediator. The study sample included 394 and 382 children from the INMA Gipuzkoa and Valencia cohorts, respectively. SEP indicators were assessed during pregnancy (family social class, parental education, employment, and disposable income) and at 7 (Gipuzkoa) and 11 (Valencia) years of age (At Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion (AROPE)). Family context and cognitive development were measured with the Haezi-Etxadi Family Assessment Scale 7-11 (HEFAS 7-11) and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (Raven's CPM), respectively. Linear regression models were developed to assess the relationships between (a) SEP-family context, (b) SEP-cognitive development, and (c) family context-cognitive development, adjusting for a priori-selected confounders. Simple and multiple mediation analyses were performed to explore the role of family context in the SEP-cognitive development relationship. Lower SEP was related with a lower cognitive score, this association being particularly robust for family social class. SEP indicators were related to subscales of family context, in particular those regarding cognitive stimulation, parental stress, and parenting. A relationship was also found between these three subscales and child cognitive development, mediating the effect of family social class on child cognition by 5.2, 5.5, and 10.8%, respectively, and 12.0% jointly.    Conclusion: Both family SEP and context contribute to a child's cognitive development. Equalising policies and positive parenting programmes could contribute to improving cognitive development in children. What is Known: • Parental social class, education, and employment status have been widely employed to measure socioeconomic position. What is New: • This work focuses on standard measurements of socioeconomic position but also other economic indicators such as the EHII and AROPE, and their effect on child cognitive development and family context. • Promotion of cognitive and linguistic development, parental stress and conflict, and parental profile fostering child development mediated the effect of family social class on cognitive development.

Social inequalities, green and blue spaces and mental health in 6-12 years old children participating in the INMA cohort.

Availability of green and blue spaces in the area of residence has been related to various health outcomes during childhood, including mental health. These environmental exposures are not evenly distributed among socioeconomic groups, which may increase social inequalities in mental health. The mechanisms through which natural environments may promote mental health are numerous and diverse. This study aimed to explore 1) the potential associations of socioeconomic variables (SES and maternal education attainment) with mental health scores and residential greenness, blueness and NO2 metrics, and, 2) the association between greenness and blueness metrics and mental health scores of children in the Spanish INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) birth cohort at two different time points. The study samples were composed of 1738 six-to eight-year-olds (49% female) and 1449 ten-to twelve-year-olds (living in Asturias, Gipuzkoa, Sabadell and Valencia, Spain. Individual Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in 100-, 300- and 500-m buffers and availability of green and blue spaces >5000 m2 in 300-m buffers were calculated using Geographic Information Systems software. Residential NO2 values were estimated using land use regression models. Internalizing, externalizing and total problems scores were obtained with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Linear and logistic mixed-effects models revealed unequal distribution of environmental exposures by SES and maternal education but did not show statistically significant associations between greenness and blueness metrics and mental health indicators. The protective effect of green and blue spaces on children's mental health could not be confirmed in this study and therefore further research is required.

Risk of child poverty and social exclusion in two Spanish regions: social and family determinants.

OBJECTIVE: Describe the risk of poverty and social exclusion in children aged 8-11 years from Gipuzkoa and Valencia (Spain), through AROPE (At Risk Of Poverty or Social Exclusion) indicators, and evaluate their associated factors in the INMA Project (Childhood and Environment). METHOD: Families in Gipuzkoa and Valencia (394 and 382, respectively) completed a questionnaire in 2015-2016. Low work intensity (LWI), at risk of poverty (RP) and material deprivation (MD) were estimated. AROPE consisted in meeting any of the previous sub-indicators. Socio-demographic, family and parental characteristics were considered. Frequencies, Venn's diagrams, and chi-square and Fisher tests were used in bivariate analysis and logistic regression in multivariate analysis. RESULTS: For LWI, RP, MD and AROPE, prevalence of 2.5%, 5.6%, 2.3% and 7.2% were obtained in Gipuzkoa, and 8.1%, 31.5%, 7.8% and 34.7% in Valencia, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, the AROPE was associated in both areas with maternal social class and non-nuclear families. In Gipuzkoa, it was also related to maternal education. In Valencia, other factors were the mother's foreign origin, and paternal education and smoking. CONCLUSION: There is higher AROPE prevalence in Valencia. Social class and family type were shared factors, but a differential pattern is observed in other social determinants. It is essential to implement social policies to reduce this axis of inequalities in health, especially in childhood.

The role of parental social class, education and unemployment on child cognitive development.

OBJECTIVE: Assessing the association between socioeconomic gradient and cognitive development among children of a Spanish birth cohort aged 5-6 years from a gender perspective. METHOD: Cognitive development was assessed on 525 children aged 5-6 years in the INMA-Valencia cohort, with the Global Cognitive Score (GCS) from McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. Information on social class, education level and employment was collected for both parents in addition to other sociodemographic factors, parental, family and child characteristics. The relationship between maternal and paternal socioeconomic gradient and cognitive development was assessed by linear regressions and comparing the variance explained by each indicator measured in the mother and father. RESULTS: Maternal socioeconomic gradient indicators explained more variance on GCS than paternal. Maternal education and paternal social class had an important individual effect that stayed after adjusting by other parental, child and family determinants. In the multivariable analysis, maternal education, age and intelligence, paternal social class and the child's age and sex were significantly associated with cognitive development. CONCLUSIONS: Diverse socioeconomic gradient factors have an important influence on cognitive development, maternal education being the strongest determinant. Policies should be implemented to mitigate the negative effects of this gradient on child development.