Assessing cognitive development in young refugee children: educational and environmental influences on IQ scores

This study examines nonverbal IQ scores in young refugee children by relating test performance to formal education, trauma-related experiences, and parental factors. Sixty-one refugee children and 101 children from a German clinical comparison group, aged 3–6 years, completed a nonverbal IQ test (Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children; KABC-II). Refugee children showed lower IQ scores (MIQ = 81.10, CI 76.96–85.23) than the comparison group (MIQ = 90.03, CI 86.61–93.45; U = 2100.50, Z = −3.39, p < 0.001, r = 0.27). Parental (rs = 0.33, p < 0.001) and children’s formal education (rs = 0.26, p = 0.005) were positively correlated to IQ only in the comparison group. In both groups, parental health and children’s traumatic experiences showed no significant correlation with IQ. Multiple-choice-free, adapted IQ calculations yielded age-appropriate test scores for the refugee group (M = 89.66, CI 86.59–92.73), possibly compensating for cross-cultural test differences due to former educational experiences.