A research team from CINTESIS – Centre for Health Technology and Services Research and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) draws attention to the effects of crises on children’s IQ (intelligence quotient).
According to a study by this group, published in the scientific journal Intelligence, the growth trend in the IQ (intelligence quotient) of Portuguese school-age children was negatively affected by the economic crisis that took place between 2008 and 2016. Although IQ has increased over 25 years, the gains were smaller after 2008.
“With the current covid-19 pandemic situation, it is possible that we will see a further reduction in IQ growth, on average, in children,” admits Irene Carvalho, a researcher at CINTESIS/FMUP and one of the authors of this study.
For the moment, the results of the study prior to the pandemic show the presence of the Flynn effect, but only for the period between 1991 and 2008, with an IQ growth of 2.6 points per decade”. The Flynn effect is defined as a phenomenon related to the observed increase in IQ, on average over decades, in various countries around the world, for reasons that include biological, historical, and social factors, such as education, medical care, and nutrition.
This higher growth in IQ coincided with a period of economic expansion in Portugal, and children with lower levels of intellectual ability had the most gains in IQ. However, between 2008 and 2016, these gains were smaller, in line with similar studies conducted in other countries, standing at only 1.7 points per decade.
In Portugal, the authors believe that children’s cognitive development has been affected by the economic recession, possibly due to the change in the “family environment” and “family dynamics”.
“The results are in line with the hypothesis that economic depression negatively affected children’s cognitive development through the demoralization of parents, with a consequent decrease in the quality of the family environment provided for that development,” they say.
For the researchers, “these results are indicative of the importance of parental education in children’s cognitive development”, suggesting that higher levels of parental education may have a positive effect on children’s IQ. They point out, however, that “in periods of recession, more education may not be enough to counterbalance this negative effect”.
According to Irene Carvalho, the restrictions imposed by the pandemic may again have a negative effect on the IQ growth of children, a phenomenon that requires special attention.
“The usual educational process has been compromised not only because there are fewer classes and the classes are at a distance, which also compromises the process of socialization between peers, but also because of possible changes in family dynamics and environment,” she explains.
Still, she believes that “it will be possible to reverse the curve in a positive way, when the circumstances and day-to-day functioning are resumed, in the post-pandemic period”.
This study was carried out in co-authorship by a team of researchers from CINTESIS, FMUP, REQUIMTE/LAQV, the Nova University of Lisbon, CESPU, and the University Hospital Center of São João, coordinated by Conceição Calhau, from CINTESIS/NOVA Medical School.