Parental Education as a Factor Correlated to Cognitive Performance in Offspring

Abstract

Abstract Background The purpose of the study was to investigate the correlation between the results of 4 cognitive tests and years of parental education and to analyze their impact on cognitive performance in mentally healthy subjects. Subjects and Methods The sample consisted of 72 mentally healthy subjects (25 men, 47 women) assessed by 4 cognitive tests – the Trail Making Test A (TMT-A), the Trail Making Test Β (TMT-B), Digit Symbol Test (DST) and Verbal Fluency Test (VFT). Results were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis and the partial correlation method to control the influence of one factor on the correlation between two variables. Results More years of parental education were associated with higher cognitive results. All four tests showed that mother's years of education have stronger positive influence on the cognitive performance of the child than fathers's years of education. For mothers this positive influential correlation have reached statistical significance for two cognitive tests – TMT-A (p < .000) and TMT-B (p < .007) and for DST was dose to reaching statistical significance (p <. 103), while for fathers only TMT-A has showed a statistically significant correlation. These general patterns of tendencies of parental education as a factor correlated to cognitive performance in offspring are retained even after Controlling for subject's age or years of education, which independently have strong correlations with the results of the 4 cognitive tests. Conclusions Mother's years of education affect cognitive functions of the offspring much more than father's years of education.