Effects of environmental measures on intelligence in young children: Growth curve modeling of longitudinal data

Effects of different environmental measures on individual intellectual grow th patterns were examined in 105 young children participating in a longitud inal study. Intelligence (Stanford-Binet, 4(th) edition) was measured at ag es 3 through 6 years, and child's environment (HOME and SES) was assessed a t age 3 years. Growth curve analyses revealed that HOME scores exerted a co nstant influence on the expected composite, verbal, and nonverbal intellect ual skills at each age. Only SES influenced the rare of growth, specificall y nonverbal intellectual skills. The magnitudes of these effects were moder ate, but consistent, regardless of whether age-standardized or subscale raw scores were analyzed. These findings confirm that HOME and SES scores are more than just different types of measures of the child's environment.