This data set supports an article submitted for publication. It comprises data from a sample of 115 Ecuadorian adolescents, aged 11-19. There is data on socioeconomic status of each participant, and on five different cognitive tests: The Vocabulary subtest from Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Spanish version), The Tower Test and the Design Fluency Tests from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (Spanish version), and the The Faux pas test (an abbreviated Spanish version containing 8 scenarios). Also in the data file is test-retest reliability information of the scales, and the results of a cortisol assay from hair samples in 30 of the participants.
Socio‐economic status (SES) is linked to the development of cognitive abilities, particularly language and executive processes. It is unclear whether these represent a single or independent correlates. We studied 110 Ecuadorian youths aged 12–17 with measures of SES, language, executive function, and theory of mind (ToM), a.k.a. mentalizing. A subsample gave hair samples to estimate recent cortisol levels. Restricting analyses to reliable measures, SES was highly associated with language skill, and to a lesser extent with executive function and ToM performance. However, those latter associations were attenuated and non‐significant when language ability was controlled for statistically. Systemic cortisol levels were not associated with SES, but were significantly and negatively correlated with ToM, independent of variation in language skills. We conclude that language development underlies most of the impact of SES on executive function and ToM ability of adolescents, but that stress‐related cortisol may have an independent, direct effect on mentalizing.
Dataset for: Pluck, G., Córdova, M. A., Bock, C., Chalen, I., & Trueba, A. F. (2020). Socio‐economic status, executive functions, and theory of mind ability in adolescents: Relationships with language ability and cortisol. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12354
