Impact of child socioemotional and cognitive development on exam results in adolescence: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study
Background Cognitive ability and socioemotional behaviour during childhood have independently been shown to impact educational outcomes. The extent to which their co-development predicts these outcomes remains unclear. This study aimed to assess associations between concurrent cognitive and socioemotional development trajectories in childhood and exam results at age 16 years. Data and method We analysed longitudinal data on 9084 children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Exposure trajectories of cognitive and socioemotional development from age 3 to 14 years were characterised using group-based multi-trajectory models. We used logistic regression to assess associations between these development trajectories and exam attainment, measured by passing five or more GCSE subjects at age 16, adjusting for confounders. Population-attributable fractions were calculated to quantify the contribution of cognitive and socioemotional problems to poor educational outcomes. Results Compared with th
