Risk Factors
Source: Adapted from "Cumulative Risk, Maternal Responsiveness, and Allostatic Load Among Young Adolescents,”
by G. W. Evans, P. Kim, A. H. Ting, H. B. Tesher, and D. Shannis, 2007, Developmental Psychology, 43(2), pp. 341–351.
Poverty, more broadly referred to as low socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the most common risk factors that can have a drastic effect on children in all domains of child development.
Low SES is a high risk factor:
-related to a vast amount of problems that inhibit a child's development.
-Most common domains of development affected are health, socioemotional, and cognitive problems.
Health Problems:
Low SES is a high risk factor:
-related to a vast amount of problems that inhibit a child's development.
-Most common domains of development affected are health, socioemotional, and cognitive problems.
Health Problems:
- drug exposure
- respiratory illness
- cavities
- obesity
- problems with injury/Infection
- depression
- delinquency
- psychiatric
- agression
- low verbal ability
- low intelligence
- low achievement
School Achievement
- School Achievement is one of the most affected domains of poverty
- Poverty is a risk factor, and results show achievement continues to decline through the years
- According to research, poor children were on average only 1 month delayed at 2 1/2 years, but were eight months delayed by 5 years of age (Carta et al., 2001) While another study showed poorer children scored one-third of a grade lower in 1st grade but 5.8 grade levels lower in 8th grade than affluent children (Greenwood et al., 1992)
- According to research conducted by Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and Greg J. Duncan, for low-income children, a $10,000 increase in mean family income between birth and age 5 was associated with nearly a full-year increase in completed schooling.
- Family Invest Model - less access to cultural or financial capital that the family can "invest" in children, which leads to poorer health and low-quality learning (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 200)
- Family Stress Model - poverty is associated with conditions that stress parents, such as lack of food, single parenting, divorce, frequent moves, and job loss. (Bergin & Bergin, 2000)
- Students in low income have greater percentage to drop out of school
- A study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics collected data regarding family income and the percent of students who dropped out of school within their respected income level.
IMPACT
According to Bruce J. Diddle author of Social class, poverty, and education: policy and practice, children living in poverty are more prone to certain Educational risks such as:
- Fall Behind
- Held back a grade
- Problem students
- trouble with attendance
- Drop out
- Test lower on standardized tests
Cognitive Development
Source: Adapted from "Neurocognitive Correlates of Socioeconomic Status in Kindergarten Children,” by K. G. Noble, M. F. Norman, and M. J. Farah, 2005, Developmental Science, 8, pp. 74–87.
- Socioeconomic status is strongly associated with a number of indices of children's cognitive ability, including IQ, achievement tests, grade retention rates, and literacy (Baydar, Brooks-Gunn, & Furstenberg, 1993; Brooks-Gunn, Guo, & Furstenberg, 1993; Liaw & Brooks-Gunn, 1994; Smith, Brooks-Gunn, Klebanov, 1997).
-This study was scanned the brains of low-SES children and compared them to that of higher income children at the age of 5-years old, and the results are shown in standard deviations. The areas of difference are substantial
- Children's vocabulary and language are highly inter-related to the mothers sociodemographic characteristics
- Low income parents (mothers) tend to:
- speak less
- give less explanations
- use simple sentences
Thus children's vocabulary and language becomes limited, as shown in the graph below.
Other aspects of Low SES that affect cognitive development include:
- Inability of reading resources/materials
- Lack of learning resources (museums/field trips)
- Less parents will spend time reading to children
- Less access to computers
- Malnutrition which in return diminishes learning and thinking
Social and Emotional
- Poverty has had strong relations with social and emotional problems such as:
- dis- obedience
- impulsiveness
- difficulty getting along with peers
- Less compliance (positive behaviors)
- Low self-esteem
Short-term poverty is related to acting out, disobedience, and aggression
Resilience to Poverty
NOT all children living in poverty will continue to stay in poverty throughout there life.
According to the American Psychological Association,
Resilience
DEF = "the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress — such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences."
More Info related to resilience
Common characteristics include:
Link to how parents can help children to be resilient
According to the American Psychological Association,
Resilience
DEF = "the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress — such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences."
More Info related to resilience
Common characteristics include:
- Good social skills
- Reasoning ability
- Internal Locus of Control
- Autonomy
Link to how parents can help children to be resilient