What’s New in Psychology?

Poverty Connected to Children’s Behavior   

Jim Windell

            If you grow up poor, you are more likely to have behavior problems, right? Which means, also, that if you are raised in a wealthy family, you are more likely to be well-behaved and a model child.

            Can this be true?

            I, perhaps like many other people reading this blog, grew up poor. At the time, of course, I didn’t know we lived in poverty, but looking back on my childhood I know we were always barely scraping by. But was I a boy who misbehaved and displayed troublesome behavior?

            I think quite the contrary. The consensus in my family in later years was that I was more or less a good boy who obeyed my parents, followed the rules at home and school, and tried to please adults in my life. The same, though, could not be said of other children in my neighborhood. Some of my childhood friends were scary – what with their knife fights, stealing and propensity for using violence to solve problems.

            An article that comes out of the University of Georgia and was recently published in the Journal of Social Service Research, suggests that perhaps I was lucky in avoiding serious behavior problems and other negative outcomes of growing up in poverty.

           The study relied on data from portions of the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, following more than 1,600 children from birth to age 15.

           According to the lead author of the study, Soobin Kim, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Georgia’s School of Social Work, “We know that family socioeconomic status affects children’s development a lot. The major takeaway of this paper is that children born into poor families have consistently higher rates of behavior problems throughout their first 15 years of life than children who were born into not poor families.”

           Kim went on to say that the article highlights how living in a poor neighborhood can influence kids from wealthier families too.

           Kim and her associates point out that being born poor comes with a variety of disadvantages and often can have lasting effects on children’s lives. For instance, research shows that children from low-income families are less likely to finish school, more likely to experience crime and mental health struggles, and often have limited access to health care services. These disadvantages can make it incredibly challenging for individuals to break the cycle of poverty as they grow up.

           In addition, financial problems also exacerbate family stress. Parents who are worrying about money are more likely to engage in stricter, more controlling parenting, which may backfire and lead to more acting out. Poverty-stricken parents may also have less time or availability to actively participate in their children’s education, which can negatively impact development.

           Although children born into poor families were more likely to misbehave, engaging in behaviors such as throwing tantrums, teasing, fighting, lying and cheating – regardless of whether they lived in neighborhoods with high or low poverty rates, the researchers also found a connection between economic status at birth and where children grew up. For children from wealthier families where they grew up mattered. At age three, children from wealthier families who lived in high-poverty neighborhoods were about as likely to act out as their peers born into poor families.

           The researchers found children from low-income families consistently exhibit higher levels of problem behaviors throughout their first 15 years compared to kids from higher-income families. However, particularly around age three, children from higher-income families who lived in low-income neighborhoods exhibited similar levels of problem behaviors.

           “This suggests that when children are very young, children and their families are highly affected by the lack of safety and resources, such as access to day care, quality education and stable jobs, in poor neighborhoods,” Kim said. “But once children begin attending school and interacting with other friend groups, the neighborhood’s influence on child behavior seems to reduce.”

           Addressing resource gaps tied to both family income and neighborhood conditions is key to leveling the playing field for children’s development, Kim and her colleagues point out in the article. Expanding programs like Head Start, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services program aimed at supporting children’s growth and learning, may help curb behavioral differences in early childhood between children born in different socioeconomic circumstances.

           For school-aged children, school social workers can play a critical role by fostering stronger peer relationships and promoting a sense of belonging at school.

           Additionally, anti-poverty programs aimed at supporting families need to start early to close developmental and environmental gaps between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds, the article concludes.

           To read the original article, find it with this reference:

Kim, S., Engel, R. J., Goodkind, S., & Shook, J. J. (2024). Diverging Trajectories of Child Externalizing Behavior by Family Economic Status at Birth: The Mediating Role of Neighborhood Poverty. Journal of Social Service Research, 1-17.