Good brain health in early childhood is directly linked to better mental health, cognition, and educational attainment(成就) in adolescence and adulthood. It can also provide the ability to feel better quickly in times of stress. Unfortunately, brain development can be hampered by poverty. Studies have shown that early childhood poverty is a risk factor for lower educational attainment. It is also associated with differences in brain structure, poorer cognition, behavioral problems, and mental health symptoms.
This shows just how important it is to give all children an equal chance in life. But until sufficient measures are taken to reduce inequality and improve outcomes, our new study, published in Psychological Medicine, shows one low-cost activity that may at least counteract (抵消) some of the negative effects of poverty on the brain: reading for pleasure. Our observational study shows a dramatic and positive link between the fun and simple activity and better cognition, mental health, and educational attainment.
Our new study discovered that reading for pleasure in early childhood had a connection with better scores on comprehensive cognition assessments and better educational attainment in young adolescence. It was also associated with fewer mental health problems and less time spent on electronic devices. We also found reading for pleasure can be beneficial regardless of social and economic status. It may also be helpful regardless of the children’s initial intelligence level. That’s because the effect didn’t depend on how many years of education the children’s parents had had — which is our best measure for very young children’s intelligence (IQ is partially heritable (可继承的)).
Because there are many different reasons why poverty may negatively affect brain development, we need a comprehensive and holistic (整体的) approach to improving outcomes. While reading for pleasure is unlikely, on its own, to fully address the challenging effects of poverty on the brain, it provides a simple method for improving children’s development and attainment.
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