Braided pathways: Parental education and occupation as parallel channels to children's intelligence

Abstract

Family socioeconomic status (SES) is often described as a combination of parental education, occupational status, and income, but few studies have examined how parental education and occupation jointly relate to individually assessed intelligence. This study tested how maternal and paternal education and occupational status predict children's general intelligence (GIQ), whether education and occupation change each other's effects, and whether each helps to explain the other's association with GIQ. Participants were 1480 children referred to a university-based assessment center, along with their parents. Children's intelligence was assessed using the Anadolu–Sak Intelligence Scale (ASIS), and parents reported their education and occupation. We used hierarchical regressions to examine the added contributions of maternal and paternal education and occupation to GIQ, and mediation analyses (PROCESS) to estimate indirect paths between education and occupation for mothers and fathers separately. Both maternal and paternal education and occupational status significantly predicted children's GIQ beyond demographic covariates, with parental education showing stronger associations than occupational status. The results also showed partial mediation in both directions: parental education partly explained the link between occupational status and GIQ, and occupational status partly explained the link between parental education and GIQ, especially for mothers. Evidence that education and occupation changed each other's effects was limited and small in size. These findings support a braided view of SES in which parental education and occupational complexity act together to shape children's intelligence.