Heterogeneous treatment effects on Children's cognitive/non-cognitive skills: A reevaluation of an influential early childhood intervention

Xie, Yu; Near, Christopher E.; Xu, Hongwei; Song, Xi

doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2019.102389

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…In recent decades, a large number of social scientists have begun to recognize and verify the importance of noncognitive skills (Farkas, 2003). Noncognitive skills have been hypothesized to be crucial determinants of a multiplicity of outcomes, ranging from educational attainment (Anger and Heineck, 2010; Xie et al., 2020) to income and labor market performance (Cunha and Heckman, 2009) and incarceration and teenage childbearing (Heckman, 2006), as well as a variety of economic outcomes (Almlund et al., 2011; Heckman et al., 2013). Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the sources and consequences of noncognitive skills among the Chinese population will offer valuable insights for numerous research questions about social inequality and stratification in China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social-demographic correlates of mindset in China

Qing

Xie

2021

Chinese Journal of Sociology

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Mindset, growth or fixed, refers to two different beliefs people hold about the underlying nature of ability, and was first put forward by the psychologist Carol Dweck. The central role of mindset in motivation, self-regulation and interpersonal processes has been the subject of growing research interest, but there are few discussions of mindset in the context of China. Using the China Family Panel Studies, this study aims to offer a comprehensive understanding of social-demographic correlates of mindset in China. Following the psychological literature, we construct a binary status of mindset via exploratory factor analysis. We find that place of origin (rural or urban), educational level, employment status and life-course events are correlated to mindset. It is also determined that mindset acts as a fundamental psychological factor strongly associated with multiple outcomes, including educational attainment, cognitive skills, attitudes and subject well-being.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social-demographic correlates of mindset in China

Qing

Xie

2021

Chinese Journal of Sociology

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“…New evidence from the High/Scope Perry Preschool intervention, also a center-based program for African American children in the 1960s, demonstrates a positive impact not only on participants, but also on their siblings and children, with the offspring of those in the treatment condition having fewer school suspensions, less criminal behavior, and greater educational attainment and employment relative to the children of participants in the control condition (Heckman & Karapakula, 2019). Moreover, a re-analysis of this intervention study to explore possible heterogeneity based on the child's socioeconomic position found that the treatment effects on both noncognitive and cognitive skills were larger and more persistent for the children from the most disadvantaged families relative to those from more advantaged families (Xie, Near, Xu, & Song, 2020).…”

Section: Social Policies and Community Context As Resilience-promoting Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience-promoting policies and contexts for children of color in the United States: Existing research and future priorities

Slopen

Williams

2021

Dev Psychopathol

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The health status of children in the United States varies by racial and ethnic, shaped by an interrelated set of systems that disadvantage children of color in the United States. In this article, we argue for a broad view of resilience, in both research and policy, that views resilience not just as a property of individuals but also as a characteristic of social contexts and policies. Accordingly, we describe the empirical evidence for policies and contexts as factors that can improve health among children and families that are deprived of equal opportunities and resources due to structural racism. We discuss the evidence and opportunities for policies and interventions across a variety of societal systems, including programs to promote economic and food security, early education, health care, and the neighborhood and community context. Based on this evidence and other research on racism and resilience, we conclude by outlining some directions for future research.

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“…But such effects in smallscale policy experiments targeted at the most disadvantaged families are, per a recent metaanalysis published in Nature, are rarely robust or generalizable (Smithers et al, 2018). What is more, re-analysis of the Perry Preschool data finds that its positive effect was specific to the most disadvantaged, of the low-income sample, and worked through cognitive skills (Xie et al, 2020). In nationally-representative samples, externalizing problem behaviors in children are, in early childhood, associated with cognitive development, and later educational attainment, but typically those behavioral problems internalized toward the self are not (McLeod & Kaiser, 2004;Moilanen et al, 2010;Turney & McLanahan, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Findings for the effects of non-cognitive skills from either policy and laboratory experiments rarely generalize to representative, population-level samples (Morris et al, 2021;Smithers et al, 2018). Even within select minority and low-income samples, average effects conceal significant heterogeneity (Xie 2020). Some models show average effects of non-cognitive skills remain significant controlling for parental socio-economic status.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Character of Class: Self-Concept, Self-Control and Social Immobility

Moullin

2021

Preprint

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The importance of "character" or non-cognitive skills to socio-economic success has received much interest from across the social sciences, and in policy. However, there is little clarity as to what the non-cognitive comprises, or how or for whom it contributes to socio-economic outcomes. I consider a range of measures of children’s self-beliefs and behaviors, and of class reproduction, in the British Cohort Study, a representative sample of Britons born in 1970. Model-based factor analysis finds there is no general non-cognitive dimension to skills. Children’s self-concept and teacher-ratings of their self-control form two distinct factors, with the latter in particular closely related to cognitive skill. Natural effect models find self-concept as well as self-control helps account for social immobility, the lower chances of attaining the middle class, and the (higher) professional-managerial class, for those from working-class, and non-elite backgrounds. Much, but not all, of the mediation role of character reflects its association with performance on cognitive tests. Non-cognitive factors thus matter to socio-economic outcomes, but in a way more consistent with Bourdieusian models of cultural capital than with economic conceptions of human capital.

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Heterogeneous treatment effects on Children's cognitive/non-cognitive skills: A reevaluation of an influential early childhood intervention

Cited by 19 publications

References 63 publications

Social-demographic correlates of mindset in China

Social-demographic correlates of mindset in China

Resilience-promoting policies and contexts for children of color in the United States: Existing research and future priorities

The Character of Class: Self-Concept, Self-Control and Social Immobility

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