Gender-Specific Contributions of Socioeconomic, Social, and Perinatal Factors to Cognitive Development in Pre-Adolescents

Contributions of SES, social support, and perinatal health were tested in relation to cognitive development using structural equation modeling in 2,284 children. Although SES strongly predicted cognitive performance across gender, social support showed limited effects, and perinatal influences were selective, suggesting gender-specific patterns of environmental sensitivity in cognitive development.