Study Finds Upbringing of Latino Children May Affect Early Language, Cognitive Skills

UC Berkeley senior Maria Zaragoza, an English and film studies double major, said her experience growing up in a Latino household had a profound effect on the woman she is today.

But while Zaragoza made reference to the culture and diversity of her family life, two studies led by UC Berkeley researchers suggest ways in which the upbringing of Latino children may have had an impact on their early language and cognitive skills.

According to the studies, led by UC Berkeley education and public policy professor Bruce Fuller, toddlers in Latino families have less developed basic language and cognitive skills in comparison to those of Caucasian descent. Healthy prenatal care gives Latino children an initial advantage over Caucasian children, their robust birth weights contributing to early maturation.

But by the age of two or three, Caucasians surpass Latinos and the gap continues to grow, the studies say.

Funded in part by the Spencer Foundation, the primary study looked at a sample of 8,114 infants born in 2001, testing each at nine months and 24 months. The data seem to suggest that the lower educational levels of Latina mothers and larger family size contribute to the differences between ethnicities.

"The big drivers seem to be maternal education and the fact that Latino kids tend to be in homes with lower parent-to-child ratios," Fuller said.

However, Fuller was quick to point out that these studies do not reflect on the intelligence of Latino children. There is no disparity in mental capacity between Latino and Caucasian toddlers, just the ability of their mothers to cultivate certain skills, he said.

"It's really nurture over nature," he said.

While public policy focuses mainly on three- and four-year-olds, the slowed cognitive growth for Latino children occurs up two years earlier. According to Fuller, the level of cognitive and language development at age three predicts reading scores in elementary school.

"The outcome of this study is distressing because it suggests their (Latino children's) futures in elementary schools are fairly bleak," Fuller said.

Zaragoza, however, finds fault with the studies, saying that her upbringing in a large, Latino family aided her growth, rather than hindered it.

"It is very ingrained that (Latinos are) family-oriented," she said. "I think there are more people to act as a support system so I really disagree with that kind of assertion."

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