Abstract :
Keywords Social-emotional development; Cognitive development; Path; Early childhood; Rural China Highlights * Never path predicts better social-emotional development at preschool age. * Improving path predicts better social-emotional development at preschool age. * Persistent path predicts worse social-emotional development at preschool age. * Deteriorating path predicts worse social-emotional development at preschool age. * Persistent path predicts worse cognitive development at preschool age. Abstract Background Social-emotional development during the first three years of life is associated with later social-emotional development and cognitive development. In rural China, research has found large shares of children under age three are developmentally delayed, yet little is known about the paths of social-emotional development before age 3 or how developmental paths predict later social-emotional skills and cognitive skills. Aims To investigate the paths of child social-emotional development during ages 0--3 and examine how different paths predict social-emotional development and cognitive development at preschool age. Methods Three waves of longitudinal panel data from 1245 children in rural Western China was collected. Child social-emotional development was measured by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional. Child cognitive development was measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and by the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Fourth Edition. Four paths of child social-emotional development were classified: "never" social-emotionally delayed; "persistently" social-emotionally delayed; "improving," or "deteriorating." Results 331 (27%) were never social-emotionally delayed; 373 children (30%) were persistently social-emotionally delayed; 149 children (12%) experienced improving social-emotional development; and 392 children (31%) experienced deteriorating social-emotional development. Children who were never social-emotionally delayed or who were on an "improving" path had higher social-emotional development at preschool age (p Conclusions Different paths of child social-emotional development before age 3 are associated with different social-emotional and cognitive development at preschool age. Author Affiliation: (a) International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, China (b) Rural Education Action Program, Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University, United States of America * Corresponding author at: International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, No. 620, West Chang'an Avenue, Chang'an District, Xi'an 710119, Shaanxi, China. Article History: Received 30 August 2021; Revised 31 December 2021; Accepted 5 January 2022 Byline: Lei Wang (a), Yifei Chen (a), Siqi Zhang [zhangsiqiceee@163.com] (a,b,*), Scott Rozelle [rozelle@stanford.edu] (b)