Maternal education and socioeconomic status of family as predictors of early childhood development in Armenia

Abstract

Background: Early childhood development (ECD) is a period of life from prenatal to 8 years of age. It is a time when children undergo significant growth and development that affect their lives into adulthood. Many risk factors can affect ECD. The most important phase of brain growth and development in children occurs during the first 1000 days of life; therefore, early interventions are critical. Studies from developing countries highlighted the significant association between socioeconomic status (SES) of the family and children’s developmental outcomes. Literature also indicated the importance of high maternal educational level for normal early childhood development. Aim: The primary goal of the study was to assess the relationship between ECD outcome of children under 3 years old and the main independent variables chosen for this study: family SES and maternal educational level. Methods: The study applied a cross-sectional survey design. The study targeted children under 3 years of age and their mothers residing in Yerevan, Armenia. Face-to-face interviews with mothers of children under 3 years of age were conducted. CREDI assessment tool was selected to measure early childhood development. In total, 225 children were selected in Yerevan, Armenia, using multi-stage cluster sampling technique. By descriptive and univariate analysis of selected covariates, the study identified confounding variables for ECD outcome and SES relationship as well as for ECD outcome and maternal education relationship, to control for in multivariable linear regression analyses of the associations of interest. Results: After adjusting for the identified confounders, the multivariable linear regression analysis showed a statistically significant dose-response relation between maternal education level and ECD score: compared to Primary/secondary/specialized education group, β coefficient was 7.23 (95% CI 4.34-10.13) for the Bachelor group and 9.45 (95% CI 6.32-12.57) for the Master/Phd group. The association between family SES and ECD score controlled for the identified confounders also showed significantly higher ECD outcome among children in high SES group (β=4.48, 95% CI 1.46-4.49) compared to those in low SES group. Conclusion: The results of this study are consistent with the global evidence that maternal education is primary predicting factor for early childhood development, and higher maternal education is one of the predicting factors for better early developmental outcomes. The study obtained similar results on the effect of SES level on childhood development, and highlighted that children have better ECD outcomes in families having high socioeconomic status. The study recommendations included developing educational programs on parenting, early childhood care and development, specifically targeting parents in low educational groups, and piloting cash transfer programs among families with low SES status in Armenia.