title: Biological Sensitivity to Family Income: Differential Effects on Early Executive Functioning.
abstract: The study examined how the interplay between children's cortisol response and family income is related to executive function (EF) skills. The sample included one hundred and two 5- to 6-year-olds (64% minority). EF skills were measured using laboratory tasks and observer ratings. Physiological reactivity was assessed via cortisol response during a laboratory visit. A consistent, positive association between family income and EF skills emerged only for children who showed high cortisol response, a marker of biological sensitivity to context. In contrast, family income was not related to EF skills in children who displayed low cortisol response. Follow-up analyses revealed a disordinal interaction, suggesting that differential susceptibility can be detected at the level of basic cognitive and self-regulatory skills that support adaptive functioning.
authors.affiliation: Stanford University.
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Obradović
authors.affiliation: Stanford University.
authors.forename: Ximena A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7705-0693
authors.initials: XA
authors.lastname: Portilla
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco.|University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Parissa J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Ballard
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D065786:Delay Discounting / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D007182:Income; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone