What’s your family got to do with it? Social Risk and Child IQ

 Want a higher IQ? Choose your family wisely. A study that came out in 1993 showed that children who were exposed to more social risk factors had significantly lower IQ levels, even when accounting for socioeconomic status and mother IQ.

The social risk factors measured in the study were mostly surrounding family context, and included more than 4 children in the home, no father figure in the home, a mother who did not complete high school, rigid parental perspectives on parenting, many stressful life events (family deaths, illnesses), and mother anxiety or mental illness. 

How strong was the association between social risk factors and child IQ?

At age 4, the average IQ of children with no social risk factors was 118 while the IQ of children with 7 or more risk factors was 85, a difference of about 30 points. The risks that were most strongly related to IQ were mother education, parent occupation (unemployed, laborer, or semiskilled) and minority status, as well as low affectionate mother-child relationships and ridged parenting perspectives. When children were re-assessed at age 13, findings were similar; those with more social risk factors had significantly lower IQ levels.

                 Interestingly, it was not the type of social risks experienced but the number of them that was critical. Children with varying types of social risks, but with the same number of total risks, had similar IQ levels. It was the addition of more social risk factors, whichever ones they may be, that accounted for the drop in IQ.

                A reasonable question is whether the IQ findings can simply be explained by the child’s socioeconomic or minority status. However, when these two factors were accounted for, the findings remained. This means that regardless of socioeconomic status or race, if a child had more social risk factors, they were more likely to have a lower IQ.

               The next question some may ask, as stated by the authors, is whether “mothers with poor IQ genes provide poor environments for their children with poor IQ genes” (94).  Interestingly, when taking mother’s IQ into account, the study still found that those with more social risk had lower IQs. In other words, no matter the IQ level of the mother, the IQ level of the child still varied depending on how many social risks were present. Of course, comparing child IQ to maternal IQ alone should be interpreted with caution, as suggested by Dr. Patricia Brennan, a Psychology Professor at Emory University. “The only time the father is mentioned is whether or not he is present in the home. Knowledge about the father, especially his IQ level, may provide us with more evidence about social risks versus genetic risks.”     

What do these findings mean?

They could mean that social surrounding may have a substantial influence on child IQ, though more studies are needed to fully understand the relationship between social experiences, biology, and resulting IQ. This article does, however, suggest the importance of understanding a child’s abilities and behaviors within their social contexts and the potential influence of social surroundings. Teachers, families and communities should be sensitive to a child’s social context and the potential influence it may have on him or her.

                While these findings are interesting, more research needs to be done to understand whether intervening to reduce social risk factors makes a difference in IQ levels. IQ was assessed twice in this study, at age 4 and 13. However, the study was unable to clearly conclude whether there were lasting impacts of social risks at age 4 on the IQ levels found at age 13 (and therefore, whether changing social risk factors could result in a change in IQ). This is because the number of risk factors each child experienced at age 4 was about the same as the number of risk factors experienced at age 13. Since the number of risk factors was the same, the study was unable to fully understand whether the earlier risk factors had a lasting impact on adolescent IQ, or if currently present risk factors had a greater impact. 

                To determine whether earlier risk factors may potentially have a lasting impact on adolescent IQ, we would need to intervene with children who have a high number of risks factors, reduce the risk factors and track the children overtime. We can then see whether the children’s’ IQ remains associated with their early social risks, or if it increases to match their new, lesser, risk profile.

               Lastly, there are ethical considerations surrounding these findings. Many of the social risk factors assessed in this study are difficult to change, and it is important that blame not be placed on families that experience these factors. While the social risk factors may have a potential impact on the child, they may also be significant stressors for the parents and family as a whole. It is important to not put fault with these findings, but to understand the complex and interdependent nature of social risk factors. In order for a lasting change to occur, there likely will need to be interventions that include multiple factors and address the communities, families, and individuals.

Reference: Sameroff, A. J., Seifer, R., Baldwin, A. and Baldwin, C. (1993), Stability of Intelligence from Preschool to Adolescence: The Influence of Social and Family Risk Factors. Child Development, 64: 80–97.

Picture: http://unitedfamiliesinternational.wordpress.com/2010/05/

Author: Erica Smearman is an MD/PhD student at Emory University. She has always been interested in the interplay between biology and psychology in human behavior and in understanding the complexities of how we are as people and why we do the things we do.