Back to the drawing board: Rethinking potential predictors of preschool executive function in low-income South Africa

This study aimed to explore cross-sectional associations between executive function (EF), and community and household factors (household SES, caregiver education, home learning environment, caregiver/child interaction, caregiver wellbeing, and exposure to community violence) in a sample of children from very low-SES settings in Cape Town, South Africa. Results revealed that children exposed to higher levels of violence perform worse on inhibition tasks. No other associations were significant, highlighting the need to reassess how researchers can better understand these settings and the effects on EF development.