Early Childhood Research Quarterly 23 (2008) 193–212 Socioeconomic status, parental investments, and the cognitive and behavioral outcomes of low-income children from immigrant and native households Rashmita S. Mistry a,∗ , Jeremy C. Biesanz b , Nina Chien c , Carollee Howes c , Aprile D. Benner c a Department of Education, University of California, Los Angeles, Box 951521, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1521, United States b Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada c Department of Education, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States Received 6 March 2007; received in revised form 20 December 2007; accepted 20 January 2008 Abstract The current study examines the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on preschool children’s cognitive and behavioral outcomes and if these relations are mediated by the quality of children’s home environment and moderated by family nativity status. Data come from 1459 low-income families (n = 257 and 1202 immigrant and native families, respectively). Results indicated that among both immigrant and native households, maternal education, as compared to household income or welfare receipt, was the strongest predictor of a composite of SES. Path analyses estimated direct and indirect effects of SES and revealed greater similarity than difference in the processes by which SES influences immigrant and native children’s preschool outcomes. Language/literacy stim- ulation and maternal supportiveness mediated the relations of SES to children’s cognitive outcomes among both immigrant and native families. In contrast, parenting stress mediated the effects of SES on children’s aggressive behavior among native, but not immigrant, households. Published by Elsevier Inc. Keywords: Poverty; SES; Immigrant families; Family processes; Preschool outcomes Despite a sizable body of research documenting the importance of children’s early experiences for later cognitive, academic, and social development (see Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000), little research has focused on young children of immigrants, particularly those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The omission is of significance given the rapidly increasing representation of immigrant children in U.S. society. One in five children living in the United States today is either foreign born or has at least one foreign-born parent (Hernandez, 2004). Immigrant children constitute the fastest growing segment of the U.S. child population, with a significant percentage of these being children under the age of six (referred to as “young children of immigrants”; Capps, Fix, Ost, Reardon-Anderson, & Passel, 2004; Hernandez, 2004). These children represent a highly diverse group in terms of culture, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. In one way, however, they are remarkably similar – a majority of young children of newcomer immigrants (i.e., arrival ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 310 825 6569; fax: +1 310 206 6293. E-mail address: mistry@gseis.ucla.edu (R.S. Mistry). 0885-2006/$ – see front matter. Published by Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2008.01.002