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Author: Turley, Ruth N. Lopez
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Turley, Ruth N. Lopez
Maternal Age and Child Cognitive Development: Maternal Maturity vs. Family Background
Working Paper, Department of Sociology, Harvard University, December 1999.
Also: http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~turley/JMF2.PDF
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Sociology, Harvard University
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

While some studies have attributed the cognitive disadvantage of children born to young mothers to maternal competency and level of maturity, a controversial study by Geronimus et al. (1994) found that their disadvantage is not explained by the mother's age but by her family background. This study extends their cross-sectional analyses and finds that maternal family background also explains the children's rates of cognitive improvement over time. Furthermore, it also finds that maternal family background explains more of the association between maternal age and children's cognitive development than the children's home environment.
Bibliography Citation
Turley, Ruth N. Lopez. "Maternal Age and Child Cognitive Development: Maternal Maturity vs. Family Background." Working Paper, Department of Sociology, Harvard University, December 1999.