From spatial to social competence: The association between spatial ability and prosocial behaviour in childhood

Abstract This study investigated the nature of the association between spatial ability and prosocial behaviour in middle childhood. We used a general‐population longitudinal survey from the United Kingdom, which allowed us to control for a wide range of area, family and child covariates, including early verbal ability and parenting, in a large sample ( N = 13,355, 51% male). The study's primary aim was to determine whether intrinsic‐dynamic spatial skills predicted prosocial behaviour and vice versa across ages 5 and 7 years. The results from cross‐lagged panel models with various levels of adjustment indicated that both paths were significant and equally strong. However, when also controlling for verbal ability and parenting practices, verbal ability (but not parenting) confounded the path from prosocial behaviour at age 5 to spatial ability at age 7. Therefore, only the path from spatial to social skills remained significant after adjustment for all confounders. Sex‐stratified analyses did not reveal significant differences between the paths for males and females. The present study contributes to our understanding of social and cognitive development in children, highlighting the impact of spatial skills across the social domain. The findings have implications for educational curricula in the early years and primary school.