Poster #71 - The Protective Role of the Child Tax Credit on Caregiver Mental Wellbeing and Young Children's Behavioral Functioning

• In Event: Poster Session 07

Abstract

Decades of research have noted that children developing in poverty or low-income environments are more likely to be exposed to lower quality developmental opportunities, higher stress, and limited positive parent-child interactions. To ameliorate the effects of poverty on children’s development, several studies have found that cash transfers or stimulus payments positively influence children’s brain development and caregiver’s mental wellbeing. As such, in this study we explore the link between financial difficulties and children's behavioral outcomes while assessing the meditating role of caregiver mental health and the protective role of cash transfers (i.e. Child Tax Credit). We draw on a subsample of data from the Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development in Early Childhood, a national early childhood wellbeing survey intended to gather information during the pandemic about households with at least one child between the ages of 0 to 5 (N=3,153; 86% White, 6% Black, 5% other race, 4% Asian, and 2% Native American/American Indian). In the analytic sample, 60% of families reported receipt of a Child Tax Credit payment. Utilizing structural equation modeling, we explore the following three research questions: 1) What is the relationship between financial difficulties and children’s behavioral outcomes? 2) Does caregiver mental health (anxiety, depression, and stress) help to explain the relationship between financial difficulties and children's behavioral outcomes? 3) And how, if at all, does receiving the CTC serve as a protective factor for caregiver mental health. The findings from our study have direct implications for policies aiming to support children and families’ well-being.

Authors

• Nneka Ibekwe-Okafor, Boston University

• Jacqueline P. Sims, Boston University

• Kaeleigh Hernandez, Boston University
  Presenting Author

• Stephanie Michelle Curenton, Boston University

• Sara Moran, Boston University