2-186 - What Promotes Better Outcomes for Children Experiencing Poverty? Multilevel Investigations of Resilience

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Childhood poverty is associated with suboptimal health, neurobehavioral, and occupational outcomes across the lifespan. Despite these average trends, some individuals exhibit positive developmental trajectories. This interdisciplinary symposium combines the expertise of psychologists, neuroscientists, sociologists and economists to examine factors ranging from psychosocial processes to policy changes that predict better-than-average outcomes for children experiencing poverty. Paper 1 reports that individuals who experienced socioeconomic disadvantage between the ages of zero and five but retained their ability to trust social partners into adulthood exhibited better adult metabolic health (N=328). Paper 2 presents evidence that improvements in family income between the ages of 10 and 16 was associated with greater default network neural connectivity in 69 low-to-moderate income Mexican-origin youth. Paper 3 assessed stressful life events, buffers and life achievements in a longitudinal cohort of 558 participants followed from age 12 to 25. Young adults who were resilient despite exposure to adversity were more likely to have perceived that they had sufficient money during childhood. Paper 4 is an econometric analysis of the roll-out of the Food Stamp Program conducted on N=888,247 individuals born in the U.S. between 1955 and 1980. The analysis revealed that benefiting from food stamps in the first five years of life was associated with higher earnings in adulthood. These papers collectively reflect significant potential for resilience among those experiencing poverty and suggest avenues for psychosocial interventions and policy changes that may improve the health, neurobehavioral development, and adult SES of children growing up poor.

Sub Unit

• Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Chair

• Camelia E. Hostinar, University of California -Davis

Individual Presentations

• Social Trust Buffers against Metabolic Risk Associated with Childhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage - Presenting Author: Camelia E. Hostinar, University of California -Davis; Kharah M Ross, Northwestern University; Edith Chen, Northwestern University; Gregory E Miller, Northwestern University

• Income Improvement across Adolescence Predicts Increased Default Network Connectivity in Mexican-Origin Youth - Presenting Author: David G Weissman, University of California, Davis; Richard W. Robins, University of California - Davis; Paul David Hastings, University of California, Davis; Amanda E Guyer, University of California, Davis

• Resilience: The Importance of Perception in Life Outcomes - Presenting Author: Jonah A. Cox, University of California -Davis; Kathi J. Conger, University of California, Davis Human Development and Family Studies Group

• Benefiting from Food Stamps in the First Five Years of Life Predicts Higher Adult Earnings - Presenting Author: Marianne P. Bitler, University of California -Davis; Theodore F. Figinski, U.S. Department of the Treasury