Poster #35 - Understanding Links Between Income and Behavioral Trajectories from Early Childhood through Adolescence

• In Event: 2-001 - Poster Session 1 during Breakfast

Abstract

Over 20% of kindergarteners meet the criteria for internalizing and/or externalizing disorders. While the problem behaviors of most of these children subside over time, roughly 10% will maintain elevated problem behavior through adolescence, placing them at greater risk for worse psychological, social, and economic outcomes in adulthood. Children from low-income homes are more likely to exhibit internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Nevertheless, we have a narrow understanding of the role family income plays in shaping behavioral development due to several limitations in the literature.

This study uses nationally representative, longitudinal data on more than 10,000 children matched to their mothers from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and its Child and Young Adult Supplements to address extant weaknesses in the literature examining associations between income and behavioral development. First, we examine the magnitude of links between family income (both cumulative and timing-specific income) and internalizing and externalizing problems during early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. Second, it looks at how income predicts children’s trajectories of internalizing and externalizing from childhood through adolescence. Income was reported by parents every year. Internalizing and externalizing will be drawn from the parent-reports on the Behavior Problems Index (BPI).

Preliminary models examining timing-specific associations between externalizing problems and internalizing problems and income in early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence are shown in Table 1 and Table 2. Early child income consistently relates to externalizing problems during each developmental stage, but contemporaneous income associates with variability in externalizing problems above and beyond early childhood income. With respect to internalizing problems, early childhood income was less consistently associated with problem behavior; however, contemporaneous income related to internalizing problems at each developmental period. Links between income and externalizing problems tended to be stronger than relations with internalizing problems, but for both types of problem behavior, cumulative income measured across childhood and adolescence tended to be the strongest predictor of behavioral functioning. Future analysis will more carefully examine nonlinearities in links between income dynamics (i.e. levels and changes) and behavior. Additionally, latent growth curve modeling techniques will be used to address links between income dynamics and children’s behavioral trajectories. Findings from developmental psychopathology suggest that these behavioral trajectories are more robust predictors of long-term wellbeing than are behavior problems at a single point in time.

Authors

• Portia Miller, University of Pittsburgh
  Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, University of Pittsburgh

• Kendra Whitfield, University of Pittsburgh

• Laura Betancur, University of Pittsburgh