Introduction/Rationale: Inhibitory control (IC), an executive function, helps children regulate attention, emotions, and behavior. While socioeconomic status (SES) affects IC development, the extent of this impact remains unclear.
Objective: To examine the relationship between SES and IC by analyzing neural responses using electroencephalography (EEG).
Methods: Seventy-five typically developing children, aged 5–13, participated. SES was measured using the Area Deprivation Index (ADI; higher scores indicate greater deprivation), parental education, household income, and income-to-needs ratio. IC was assessed via EEG during the Zoo Task, where children inhibited responses to certain visual stimuli. EEG measures, N1 and N2, were analyzed to evaluate IC.
Results/Practice Implications: Results showed a small but significant negative relationship between ADI scores and IC performance for N1 (r = 0.22, p = 0.031) and N2 amplitudes (r = 0.21, p = 0.037), suggesting less attention and IC in children with lower-SES background. Higher parental education (r = 0.34, p = 0.001), income (r = 0.20, p = 0.047), and income-to-needs ratio (r = 0.20, p = 0.040) were linked to greater accuracy on the Zoo Task, indicating stronger IC in higher-SES children. Thus, lower-SES children exhibit weaker IC performance and reduced brain activity related to attention and IC.
Conclusion/Significance to Occupational Therapy Profession: These findings support prior research linking low SES to weaker executive function, especially in early childhood. Neural imaging confirms SES-related effects on brain function and IC performance. These results may inform innovative occupational therapy interventions affecting IC development, including caregivers’ practices and behavioral regulation strategies.