Dynamic Models of Poverty and Psychosocial Adjustment through Childhood

Children exhibit significant variability in their poverty experiences and well-being through time, longitudinal realities that complicate the study of economic deprivation and adjustment in the early life course. Drawing on thirteen years of data from the Children of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data set, we examine how children's poverty histories predict latent growth curves of their psychosocial adjustment using multiply imputed data sets. The duration of poverty between birth and 1986 predicts the level of antisocial behavior and anxiety-depression in 1986, while the proportion of time spent in poverty between 1986 and 1992 predicts the rate increase in antisocial behavior between 1986 and 1992. Controlling the duration of poverty, we find that transitions into poverty between birth and 1986 predict the rate of increase in anxiety- depression between 1986 and 1992 among boys. Hispanic boys seem especially vulnerable to early poverty experiences: transitions into poverty between birth and 1986 raise their 1986 level of antisocial behavior, while the duration of poverty between birth and 1986 sharpens their rate of increase in anxiety-depression between 1986 and 1992. These findings underscore the value of a life-history approach to children's family experiences and well-being. Please note: Tables are not available at this time.