Contextual Factors Predictive of Social-Emotional Functioning Among Children of Mothers With and Without Low Intellectual Functioning

This study used Future of Families Child and Wellbeing Study data to examine community, family, and maternal predictors of social-emotional outcomes for kindergarten-aged children of mothers with and without low intellectual functioning. Multivariate analysis of variance and multivariate regression explored relationships between maternal intellectual functioning, covariates, and outcomes. As poverty was an important covariate, predictive of outcomes, marginal analysis was used to understand the interaction between poverty and intellectual functioning on each of the outcomes. Children whose mothers had low intellectual functioning had poorer outcomes than their peers regarding positive, anxious/depressed, and withdrawn behaviors regardless of poverty level. This research supports prioritizing these children for early social-emotional education as they enter elementary school, as well as prioritizing their families for supportive interventions in community-based settings.