Family cultural capital in relation to cognitive and socio-emotional development in preschoolers

Abstract

This study investigates how family cultural capital, particularly through museum and theatre attendance, is related to the cognitive and socio-emotional development of preschool children. The study included 1285 preschoolers (M = 70.6 months, SD = 4.43) and their parents. Assessments were conducted on children's executive functions, non-verbal intelligence, emotion comprehension, and sociometric status. Parents reported their educational levels as well as details about their children's attendance at theatres and museums. The evaluation of direct and indirect effects, utilising both path analysis and regression models, yielded the following findings. Firstly, more educated parents are more likely to expose their children to cultural activities. Secondly, both museum and theatre attendance significantly mediate the relationship between parental education and various developmental dimensions, including verbal working memory and emotion comprehension. Thirdly, a higher frequency of museum visits is associated with an enhanced level of preschoolers' verbal working memory, and this relationship is independent of parental education level.