Are preadolescent and adolescent physical growth failures related to poorer adolescent cognitive and socioemotional skills in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam?

Abstract

This study uses longitudinal data from Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam to assess the associations between adolescent skills and their physical growth in life-cycle periods that are overlapping or following puberty growth spurts. In place of total growth over a life-cycle period, our analysis uses conditional growth, which is the part of height change that is uncorrelated with height at the start of the period. The adolescents’ cognitive achievements are based on their test results in math, receptive vocabulary, and reading comprehension, and their socioemotional skills are based on their self-efficacy, self-esteem, and peer relations. The main findings include: (1) adolescent cognitive achievements are associated with preadolescence and early adolescence growth; (2) the association between cognitive skills and physical growth continues into late adolescence for boys in poor regions; (3) significant associations are found between adolescents’ socioemotional skills and their growth in preadolescence, adolescence or both; and (4) across adolescent groups by sex and poor versus nonpoor regions, growth between ages 12 and 15 is associated with their socioemotional skills. The findings of this study provide additional insights to support age-specific investments in the health and nutrition of preadolescents and adolescents.