Table 4.
Indirect Effects of Childhood Social Class on Midlife Cognition Through Personality
| Trait | Mediation Parameter | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| SES to Personality (path a) | Personality to Cognition (path b) | Indirect Effect (axb) | Total Effect (path c) | Direct Effect (path c’) | ||||
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| b (SE) | p | b (SE) | p | b (SE) | p | b (SE) | b (SE) | |
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| Memory | .38 (.04) | .31 (.04) | ||||||
| Neuroticism (S) | .00 (.01) | .556 | .08 (.14) | .549 | .00 (.00) | .787 | p=.000 | p=.000 |
| Extraversion (S) | .00 (.01) | .767 | .13 (.13) | .301 | .00 (.00) | .835 | ||
| Openness (S) | .04 (.01) | .000 | .73 (.16) | .000 | .03 (.01) | .000 | ||
| Agreeableness (S) | −.02 (.01) | .001 | −.24 (.16) | .128 | .00 (.00) | .183 | ||
| Conscientiousness (S) | .00 (.01) | .978 | .30 (.19) | .103 | .00 (.00) | .955 | ||
| Neuroticism (M) | −.06 (.01) | .000 | .21 (.10) | .030 | −.01 (.01) | .047 | ||
| Extraversion (M) | .03 (.01) | .005 | .22 (.10) | .025 | .01 (.00) | .091 | ||
| Agreeableness (M) | .04 (.01) | .000 | .22 (.11) | .051 | .01 (.01) | .080 | ||
| Conscientiousness (M) | .05 (.01) | .000 | .50 (.08) | .000 | .02 (.01) | .000 | ||
| Verbal Fluency | .79 (.09) | .68 (.09) | ||||||
| Neuroticism (S) | .00 (.01) | .549 | .14 (.29) | .623 | .00 (.00) | .816 | p=.000 | p=.000 |
| Extraversion (S) | .00 (.01) | .784 | .91 (.27) | .009 | .00 (.01) | .794 | ||
| Openness (S) | .04 (.01) | .000 | 1.34 (.32) | .000 | .06 (.02) | .000 | ||
| Agreeableness (S) | −.02 (.01) | .001 | −.65 (.34) | .057 | .01 (.01) | .107 | ||
| Conscientiousness (S) | .00 (.01) | .946 | .68 (.39) | .082 | .00 (.00) | .954 | ||
| Neuroticism (M) | −.06 (.01) | .000 | .50 (.21) | .015 | −.03 (.01) | .027 | ||
| Extraversion (M) | .03 (.01) | .004 | .33 (.21) | .115 | .01 (.01) | .186 | ||
| Agreeableness (M) | .04 (.01) | .000 | .62 (.34) | .010 | .02 (.01) | .029 | ||
| Conscientiousness (M) | .05 (.01) | .000 | .77 (.18) | .000 | .04 (.01) | .002 | ||
| Speed | 4.01 (1.21) | 3.06 (1.24) | ||||||
| Neuroticism (S) | .00 (.01) | .548 | 1.07 (4.02) | .789 | .00 (.03) | .893 | p=.001 | p=.013 |
| Extraversion (S) | .00 (.01) | .890 | 8.41 (3.76) | .026 | −.01 (.06) | .900 | ||
| Openness (S) | .04 (.01) | .000 | 15.39 (4.57) | .001 | .65 (.21) | .002 | ||
| Agreeableness (S) | −.02 (.01) | .002 | −10.34 (4.70) | .028 | .17 (.10) | .087 | ||
| Conscientiousness (S) | .00 (.01) | .726 | 11.80 (5.48) | .031 | .02 (.06) | .753 | ||
| Neuroticism (M) | −.06 (.01) | .000 | 3.19(2.86) | .264 | −.18 (.17) | .281 | ||
| Extraversion (M) | .03 (.01) | .005 | 2.66 (2.92) | .363 | .07 (.08) | .413 | ||
| Agreeableness (M) | .04 (.01) | .000 | 1.95 (3.32) | .556 | .07 (.13) | .569 | ||
| Conscientiousness (M) | .05 (.01) | .000 | 3.17 (2.44) | .195 | .16 (.13) | .220 | ||
| Overall Cognition | .16 (.01) | .13 (.01) | ||||||
| Neuroticism (S) | .00 (.01) | .494 | .03 (.04) | .519 | .00 (.00) | .748 | p=.000 | p=.000 |
| Extraversion (S) | .00 (.01) | .906 | .14 (.04) | .002 | .00 (.00) | .910 | ||
| Openness (S) | .04 (.01) | .000 | .32 (.05) | .000 | .01 (.00 | .000 | ||
| Agreeableness (S) | −.02 (.01) | .002 | −.14 (.05) | .010 | .00 (.00) | .055 | ||
| Conscientiousness (S) | .00 (.01) | .795 | .18 (.06) | .006 | .00 (.00) | .808 | ||
| Neuroticism (M) | −.06 (.01) | .000 | .10 (.03) | .002 | −.006 (.002) | .007 | ||
| Extraversion (M) | .03 (.01) | .004 | .09 (.03) | .009 | .002 (.001) | .061 | ||
| Agreeableness (M) | .04 (.01) | .000 | .11 (.04) | .005 | .004 (.002) | .019 | ||
| Conscientiousness (M) | .05 (.01) | .000 | .16 (.04) | .000 | .008 (.002) | .000 | ||
Note. N=2,871 for Memory, 2,872 for Fluency, 2,809 for Speed, 2817 for overall cognition. (S) indicates self-reports of personality. (M) indicated mother ratings of personality. Coefficients are unstandardized coefficients from the mediation analysis controlling for sex and social class. Numbers in parentheses are standard errors.