Modeling the associations between socioeconomic risk factors, executive function components, and reading among children in rural Côte d’Ivoire

Executive Functions (inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and working memory) mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and reading. However, little is known of the roles of individual executive functioning components in mediating the socioeconomic-reading achievement gap, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In Côte d’Ivoire, children experience many socioeconomic disadvantages (i.e., fewer household resources, maternal illiteracy), and kinship fostering (child in care of extended family while parents pursue economic opportunities elsewhere) is prevalent. This study examines the relation between executive functioning components, socioeconomic risks, and reading among 5th grade children in rural Côte d’Ivoire (N = 369). Poorer working memory mediated the relationship between higher cumulative socioeconomic risk (poverty, maternal illiteracy, fostering) and lower reading scores. Further, working memory fully mediated the negative effects of fostering risk on reading scores. Results suggest that executive functioning components are differentially impacted by environmental socioeconomic risks and play different roles in supporting reading development.