Association Between Neighborhood Deprivation and Child Cognition in Clinically Referred Youth

Abstract

Objective: When socioeconomic status is measured at the individual and/or family level, it has long been associated with cognition in children. However, the association between neighborhood deprivation, an index of community-level socioeconomic status, and child cognition is not fully understood. The goal of this study was to investigate (1) the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and child cognitive functioning and (2) whether child age moderates the relationship between cognitive functioning and neighborhood deprivation. Methods: This study included 9878 children, ages 3 through 17 years (M = 10.4 yrs, SD = 3.4 yrs). Data were gathered from children referred for and evaluated at an urban, outpatient neuropsychology assessment clinic between 2006 and 2022, located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Neighborhood socioeconomic status was measured at the census block level using the Area Deprivation Index composite. Results: There was a 20-point median difference in overall intelligence between the neighborhoods with the lowest and highest levels of deprivation. Overall intelligence and verbal comprehension, compared with working memory, fluid reasoning, and processing speed, demonstrated the strongest negative association with neighborhood deprivation (all p < 0.05). Older children had lower overall intelligence scores compared with younger children in neighborhoods with high levels of deprivation (p < 0.01), suggesting a cumulative influence of poverty exposure. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the stark disparities in child cognitive functioning across levels of neighborhood deprivation. Findings support the importance of access to early interventions and services that promote intellectual growth and verbal capacity among children who live in neighborhoods with great deprivation.

The impact of social-environmental factors on IQ in syndromic intellectual developmental disabilities

“…As recommended by Kover and colleagues [ 99 ], the impact of broader economic stability on IQ requires adopting a comprehensive, standardized measure of economic opportunity, such as the International Socio-Economic Index [ 103 ], Child Opportunity Index [ 145 ], or the Area Deprivation Index [ 146 ], the latter two of which incorporate multiple measures of economic disadvantage (e.g., employment opportunities, housing quality, and income). The association between greater neighborhood-level deprivation and lower IQ is strong in the general population [ 147 ], but its relation with IQ has not yet been studied in individuals with syndromic IDDs. The Child Opportunity Index and Area Deprivation Index are worth incorporating in future studies of syndromic IDDs, especially given the low administrative and participant burden for their measurement (i.e., home address).…”