Among 125 South African preschoolers from disadvantaged Cape Town communities, older age, caregiver secondary education, and fewer sleep difficulties predicted higher executive function (together explaining 25% of variance), whereas household assets, screen time, violence exposure, and parenting scores did not, challenging the presumed universality of SES-EF gradients.
Older child age, caregiver secondary education, and fewer child sleep difficulties significantly predicted higher EF scores in South African preschoolers.
Household assets, screen time, exposure to violence, and parenting scores did not significantly predict child EF.
In an exploratory subsample, hair cortisol concentration was positively correlated with EF.
The findings challenge the presumed universality of socioeconomic status–EF gradients in this Majority World setting.
EF was assessed using three tablet-based tasks from the Early Years Toolbox, with caregivers reporting on a range of contextual factors.
This study looked at what influences thinking skills known as executive function (things like holding information in mind, controlling impulses, and switching between tasks) in 125 children aged 3 to 5 attending early childhood centers in disadvantaged communities in Cape Town, South Africa. Children did tablet-based games measuring these skills, and caregivers answered questions about family circumstances, sleep, screen time, exposure to violence, and parenting. Older children, children whose caregivers had completed secondary school, and children with fewer sleep difficulties tended to score higher on executive function. Together these factors explained about a quarter of the differences between children. Household possessions, screen time, exposure to violence, and parenting scores were not linked to executive function in this group. In a small subgroup of 22 children, higher hair cortisol (a marker of long-term stress hormone exposure) was linked with higher executive function scores, which the authors suggest could reflect adaptation to hardship, though the sample was small. This research suggests that factors close to a child's daily life, such as caregiver education and sleep, may matter more for early thinking skills than household wealth indicators in this setting. It also suggests that patterns seen in wealthier countries may not apply everywhere, and that measures and findings need to be validated in local contexts. Because the study is a single snapshot in time with caregiver reports, it cannot show cause and effect.
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Upload Your LabsBeukes J, Cook C, Howard S, Scerif G, Sharpley C, Hart R, et al.. (2026). Exploring a Range of Potential Factors Promoting and Constraining EF in South African Preschoolers.. Developmental science. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.70289