Socio‐economic status (SES) is linked to the development of cognitive abilities, particularly language and executive processes. It is unclear whether these represent a single or independent correlates. We studied 110 Ecuadorian youths aged 12–17 with measures of SES, language, executive function, and theory of mind (ToM), a.k.a. mentalizing. A subsample gave hair samples to estimate recent cortisol levels. Restricting analyses to reliable measures, SES was highly associated with language skill, and to a lesser extent with executive function and ToM performance. However, those latter associations were attenuated and non‐significant when language ability was controlled for statistically. Systemic cortisol levels were not associated with SES, but were significantly and negatively correlated with ToM, independent of variation in language skills. We conclude that language development underlies most of the impact of SES on executive function and ToM ability of adolescents, but that stress‐related cortisol may have an independent, direct effect on mentalizing.

中文翻译：

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青少年社会经济地位、执行功能和心理能力理论：与语言能力和皮质醇的关系

社会经济地位 (SES) 与认知能力的发展有关，尤其是语言和执行过程。目前还不清楚这些是代表单一的还是独立的相关性。我们对 110 名 12-17 岁的厄瓜多尔青年进行了 SES、语言、执行功能和心理理论 (ToM) 的测量，也称为心智化。一个子样本提供了头发样本来估计最近的皮质醇水平。将分析限制为可靠的措施，SES 与语言技能高度相关，在较小程度上与执行功能和 ToM 表现相关。然而，当语言能力受到统计学控制时，后一种关联会减弱且不显着。全身皮质醇水平与 SES 无关，但与 ToM 显着负相关，独立于语言技能的变化。