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Socioeconomic Status, Urbanization and Executive Functions Development: Differences Between Urban and Rural Children* * The agreement with the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and Violet Kozloff of Brain Organization for Language & Literacy Development (BOLD) Lab - University of Delaware.

Status Socioeconômico, Urbanização e Desenvolvimento de Funções Executivas: Diferenças entre Crianças Urbanas e Rurais

Abstract

Socioeconomic Status (SES) has been linked to the development of Executive Functions (EF) usually by means of parental education and family income. Living conditions related to urbanization characteristics are rarely considered. This cross-sectional study investigated the performance in EF tasks of 99 Brazilian children aged 6 to 8 years residing in rural and urban regions. Results showed that children who lived in the rural area performed better than those who lived in the industrial city in the working memory and inhibitory tasks. Social interactions and urbanization conditions, such as parent occupations and social stratification, may explain these differences. Therefore, urbanization conditions of locations where families live should be considered in future studies concerning the influences of SES in EF development.

Keywords:
Executive Functions, socioeconomic status; child development

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