Executive Function Deficits Mediate Poverty’s Effects on Academic Achievement: Target for Intervention in At-Risk Children

Aim: Determine whether effects of poverty on academic achievement are mediated by effects of poverty on executive cognitive functions. Methods: Web-based classroom-administered tests assessed executive function in 5717 children grades k-8 in 40 schools, and poverty level and academic achievement for each school were drawn from US Department of Education data. Boot-strapping procedures were used to evaluate mediation by executive function of the association between poverty and academic proficiency. Results: Executive function and academic achievement were both related to school poverty (pearson r -0.50 to -0.65, p = 0.0009 to 0.0001). Estimated indirect effects of poverty on reading (-0.26, 95% CI: -0.47, -0.07) and math (-0.23, 95% CI: -0.44, -0.06) through effects on executive function were significant. Controlling for executive function, effects of poverty on reading (-0.58 to -0.31) and math (-0.59 to -0.35) were diminished, indicating partial mediation of effects of poverty on reading and math via effects on executive function. Conclusion: Interventions that enhance executive function in children in impoverished and/or violent environments could mitigate damaging effects of these environments on neurocognitive and associated life and health outcomes. Without intervention, many young adults in troubled areas of the world will be ill-prepared for productive function in society.