Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T14:31:30.944Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - Poverty and Early Childhood Adjustment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Elizabeth B. Owens
Affiliation:
Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley, CA
Daniel S. Shaw
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Suniya S. Luthar
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
Get access

Summary

Childhood poverty appears to be an enduring and entrenched problem, resistant to most social and economic policies intended to lift families above the poverty line. Although rates of poverty among families of pre–school-age children initially declined during the 1960s, when antipoverty programs directed at children and families were initiated, rates rose throughout the 1970s and 1980s and leveled off in the 1990s, with the consequence that young children continue to experience poverty at alarmingly high rates. In fact, in 1999 about one in five infants and preschool-age children in the United States lived in families whose incomes fell below the poverty threshold (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000a). Poverty is considered a pervasive and nonspecific stressor, rather than a bounded one, because it negatively affects many aspects of individual and family functioning; yet at the same time, many impoverished children are positively adjusted (Garmezy, 1991; Luthar, 1999; Werner & Smith, 1992). How is it that some children are vulnerable to the effects of poverty, whereas others demonstrate positive adjustment (i.e., resilience)? Attempts to answer this question are at the core of this chapter. Our primary objective is twofold: to summarize findings from relevant literatures regarding factors associated with better or worse adjustment among young impoverished children, and to showcase one effort toward the identification of such factors using data from the Pitt Mother and Child Project, a longitudinal study of adjustment and psychopathology among young boys from low-income families.

Type
Chapter
Information
Resilience and Vulnerability
Adaptation in the Context of Childhood Adversities
, pp. 267 - 292
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist/4–18 and 1991 profile. Burlington: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont
Ainsworth, M. D. S., & Wittig, B. A. (1969). Attachment and exploratory behavior of one-year-olds in a strange situation. In B. M. Foss (Ed.), Determinants of infant behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 113–136). London: Methuen
Bates, J. E. (1980). The concept of difficult temperament. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 26, 299–319Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J. E., & Erbaugh, J. K. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1: Attachment. New York: Basic Books
Bradley, R. H., Whiteside, L., Mundfrom, D. J., Casey, P. H., Kelleher, K. J., & Pope, S. K. (1994). Early indications of resilience and their relation to experiences in the home environments of low birthweight, premature children living in poverty. Child Development, 65 (2), 346–360CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bretherton, I., & Munholland, K. A. (1999). Internal working models in attachment relationships: A construct revisited. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 89–114). New York: Guilford Press
Brody, G. H., Stoneman, Z., Flor, D., McCrary, C., Hastings, L., & Conyers, O. (1994). Financial resources, parent psychological functioning, parent co-caregiving, and early adolescent competence in rural two-parent African-American families. Child Development, 65(2), 590–605CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooks-Gunn, J., & Duncan, G. J. (1997). The effects of poverty on children. The Future of Children, 7(2), 55–71CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldwell, B. M., & Bradley, R. H. (1984). Manual for the home observation for measurement of the environment. Little Rock: University of Arkansas Press
Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F. A., Lynch, M., & Holt, K. D. (1993). Resilience in maltreated children: Processes leading to adaptive outcome. Development and Psychopathology, 5(4), 629–648CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conger, R. D., Ge, X., Elder, G. H., Lorenz, F. O., & Simons, R. L. (1994). Economic stress, coercive family process, and development problems of adolescents. Child Development, 65(2), 541–561CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowen, E. L., Wyman, P. A., Work, W. C., & Parker, G. R. (1990). The Rochester Child Resilience Project: Overview and summary of first year findings. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 193–212CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1994). Socialization mediators of the relation between socioeconomic status and child conduct problems. Child Development, 65(2), 649–665CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubow, E. F., & Ippolito, M. E. (1994). Effects of poverty and quality of the home environment on changes in the academic and behavioral adjustment of elementary school-age children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 23(4), 401–412CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duncan, G. J., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Klebanov, P. K. (1994). Economic deprivation and early childhood development. Child Development, 65, 296–318CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duncan, G. J., Yeung, W. J., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Smith, J. R. (1998). How much does childhood poverty affect the life chances of children?American Sociological Review, 63(3), 406–423CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egeland, B., Kalkoske, M., Gottesman, N., & Erickson, M. F. (1990). Preschool behavior problems: Stability and factors accounting for change. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 31, 891–909CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egeland, B., & Sroufe, L. A. (1981). Attachment and early maltreatment. Child Development, 52, 44–52CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erickson, M. F., Sroufe, L. A., & Egeland, B. (1985). The relationship between quality of attachment and behavior problems in preschool in a high-risk sample. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points of attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2), 147–167CrossRef
Farber, E. A., & Egeland, B. (1987). Invulnerability among abused and neglected children. In E. J. Anthony & B. J. Cohler (Eds.), The invulnerable child (pp. 253–288). New York: Guilford Press
Fisher, L., Kokes, R. F., Cole, R. E., Perkins, P. M., & Wynne, L. C. (1987). Competent children at risk: A study of well-functioning offspring of disturbed parents. In E. J. Anthony & B. J. Cohler (Eds.), The invulnerable child (pp. 253–289). New York: Guilford Press
Garmezy, N. (1991). Resilience and vulnerability to adverse developmental outcomes associated with poverty. American Behavioral Scientist, 34(4), 416–430CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gelfand, D. M., & Teti, D. M. (1990). The effects of maternal depression on children. Clinical Psychology Review, 10(3), 329–353CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenberg, M. T. (1999). Attachment and psychopathology in childhood. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 469–496). New York: Guilford Press
Gresham, F. M., & Elliot, S. N. (1989). Social Skills Rating System: Parent, teacher, and child forms. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Systems
Guo, G. (1998). The timing of the influences of cumulative poverty on children's cognitive ability and achievement. Social Forces, 77(1), 257–287CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harnish, J. D., Dodge, K. A., & Valente, E. (1995). Mother–child interaction quality as a partial mediator of the roles of depressive symptoms and socioeconomic status in the development of child behavior problems. Child Development, 66(3), 739–753Google ScholarPubMed
Heinicke, C. M., Fineman, N. R., Ruth, G., Recchia, S. L., Guthrie, D., & Rodning, C. (1999). Relationship-based intervention with at-risk mothers: Outcome in the first year of life. Infant Mental Health Journal, 20(4), 349–3743.0.CO;2-X>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henggeler, S. W. (1990). Family therapy and beyond: A multisystemic approach to treating the behavior problems of children and adolescents. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole
Jackson, D. N. (1967). Personality Research Form manual. New York: Research Psychologists Press
Jason, J. M., & Jarvis, W. R. (1987). Infectious disease: Preventable causes of infant mortality. Pediatrics, 80, 335–341Google ScholarPubMed
Knitzer, J., Yoshikawa, H., Cauthen, N. K., & Aber, J. L. (2000). Welfare reform, family support, and child development: Perspectives from policy analysis and developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 12(4), 619–632CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kochanska, G., Kuczynski, L., & Maguire, M. (1989). Impact of diagnosed depression and self-reported mood on mothers' control strategies: A longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 17(5), 493–511CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Korenman, S., Miller, J. E., & Sjaastad, J. E. (1995). Long-term poverty and child development in the United States: Results from the NLSY. Children and Youth Services Review, 17, 127–155CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraemer, H. C., Kazdin, E., Offord, D. R., Kessler, R. C., Jensen, P. S., & Kupfer, D. J. (1997). Coming to terms with the terms of risk. Archives of General Psychiatry, 54, 337–343CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leadbeater, B. J., & Bishop, S. J. (1994). Predictors of behavior problems in preschool children of inner-city Afro-American and Puerto Rican adolescent mothers. Child Development, 65(2), 638–648CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lieberman, A. F., & Zeanah, C. H. (1999). Contributions of attachment theory to infant–parent psychotherapy and other interventions with infants and young children. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 555–574). New York: Guilford Press
Luthar, S. S. (1999). Poverty and children's adjustment. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Luthar, S. S., Cicchetti, D., & Becker, B. (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71(3), 543–562CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luthar, S. S., & Suchman, N. E. (1999). Relational psychotherapy mothers' group: A developmentally informed intervention for at-risk mothers. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 235–253CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luthar, S. S., & Zigler, E. (1991). Vulnerability and competence: A review of research on resilience in childhood. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61(1), 6–22CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lyons-Ruth, K., Alpern, L., & Repacholi, B. (1993). Disorganized infant attachment classification and maternal psychosocial problems as predictors of hostile-aggressive behavior in the preschool classroom. Child Development, 64(2), 572–585CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masten, A. S., Best, K. M., & Garmezy, N. (1990). Resilience and development: Contributions from the study of children who overcome adversity. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 425–444CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masten, A. S., & Coatsworth, J. D. (1998). The development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments: Lessons from research on successful children. American Psychologist, 53(2), 205–220CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McClelland, G. H., & Judd, C. M. (1993). Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. Psychological Bulletin, 114(2), 376–390CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McLoyd, V. C., Jayaratne, T. E., Ceballo, R., & Borquez, J. (1994). Unemployment and work interruption among African American single mothers: Effects on parenting and adolescent socioemotional functioning. Child Development, 65(2), 562–589CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Keefe, M. (1994). Adjustment of children from maritally violent homes. Families in Society, 75, 403–415Google Scholar
Osofsky, J. D., & Thompson, M. D. (2000). Adaptive and maladaptive parenting: Perspectives on risk and protective factors. In J. P. Shonkoff & S. J. Meisels (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention (2nd ed., pp. 54–75). New York: Cambridge University PressCrossRef
Pannacione, V., & Wahler, R. (1986). Child behavior, maternal depression, and social coercion as factors in the quality of child care. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45, 747–758Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (1982). Coercive family processes (Vol. 3). Eugene, OR: Castalia
Patterson, G. R., & Capaldi, D. (1991). Relation of parental transitions to boys' adjustment problems: I. A linear hypothesis. II. Mothers at risk for transitions and unskilled parenting. Developmental Psychology, 27(3), 489–504Google Scholar
Peterson, L., Ewigman, B., & Vandiver, T. (1994). Role of parental anger in low-income women: Discipline strategy, perceptions of behavior problems, and the need for control. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 23(4), 435–443CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pianta, R. C., Egeland, B., & Sroufe, L. A. (1990). Maternal stress and children's development: Prediction of school outcomes and identification of protective factors. In J. Rolf, A. S. Masten, D Cicchetti, K. H. Nuechterlein, & S. Weintraub (Eds.), Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology (pp. 215–235). New York: Cambridge University PressCrossRef
Pianta, R. C., & Steinberg, M. (1991, April). Relationships between children and kindergarten teachers: Associations with home and classroom behavior. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, WA
Pollitt, E. (1994). Poverty and child development: Relevance of research in developing countries to the United States. Child Development, 65(2), 283–295Google ScholarPubMed
Radke-Yarrow, M., & Brown, E. (1993). Resilience and vulnerability in children of multiple-risk families. Development and Psychopathology, 5(4), 581–592CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radke-Yarrow, M., & Sherman, T. (1990). Hard growing: Children who survive. In J. Rolf, A. S. Masten, D. Cicchetti, K. H. Nuechterlein, & S. Weintraub (Eds.), Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology (pp. 97–119). New York: Cambridge University PressCrossRef
Renken, B., Egeland, B., Marvinney, D., Mangelsdorf, S., & Sroufe, L. A. (1989). Early childhood antecedents of aggression and passive-withdrawal in early elementary school. Journal of Personality, 57(2), 257–281CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rohner, R. P. (1986). The warmth dimension: Foundations of parental acceptance-rejection theory. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
Rose, S. L., Rose, S. A., & Feldman, J. F. (1989). Stability of behavior problems in very young children. Development and Psychopathology, 1(1), 5–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1983). Statistical and personal interactions: Facets and perspectives. In D. Magnusson & V. L. Allen (Eds.), Human development: An interactional perspective (pp. 295–319). New York: Academic Press
Rutter, M. (1985). Resilience in the face of adversity: Protective factors and resistance to psychiatric disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 598–611CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1994). Urban poverty and the family context of delinquency: A new look at structure and process in a classic study. Child Development, 65(2), 523–540CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaw, D. S., & Bell, R. Q. (1993). Developmental theories of parental contributors to antisocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21(5), 493–518CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, D. S., Bell, R. Q., & Gilliom, M. (2000). A truly early starter model of antisocial behavior revisited. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 3, 155–172CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, D. S., Keenan, K., & Vondra, J. I. (1994). Developmental precursors of externalizing behavior: Ages 1 to 3. Developmental Psychology, 30, 355–364CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Owens, E. B., Vondra, J. I., Keenan, K., & Winslow, E. B. (1996). Early risk factors and pathways in the development of early disruptive behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 679–699CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaw, D. S., & Vondra, J. I. (1995). Infant attachment security and maternal predictors of early behavior problems: A longitudinal study of low-income families. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23(3), 335–357CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, D. S., Vondra, J. I., Hommerding, K. D., Keenan, K., & Dunn, M. (1994). Chronic family adversity and early child behavior problems: A longitudinal study of low income families. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35(6), 1109–1122CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, D. S., Winslow, E. B., Owens, E. B., Vondra, J. I., Cohn, J. F., & Bell, R. Q. (1998). The development of early externalizing problems among children from low-income families: A transformational perspective. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 95–107CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, J., & Prior, M. (1995). Temperament and stress resilience in school-age children: A within-families study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(2), 168–179CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, B., & Sechrest, L. (1991). Treatment of aptitude X treatment interactions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59(2), 233–244CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spielberger, C. D., Johnson, E. H., Russell, S. F., Crane, R. J., Jacobs, G. A., & Worden, T. J. (1985). The experience and expression of anger: Construction and validation of an anger expression scale. In M. A. Chesney & R. H. Rosemann (Eds.), Anger and hostility in cardiovascular and behavioral disorders (pp. 5–30). New York: Hemisphere/McGraw-Hill
Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Loeber, R., Farrington, D. P., Zhang, Q., Kammen, W., & Maguin, E. (1993). The double edge of protective and risk factors for delinquency: Interrelations and developmental patterns. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 683–702CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tschann, J. M., Kaiser, P., Chesney, M. A., Alkon, A., & Boyce, W. T. (1996). Resilience and vulnerability among preschool children: Family functioning, temperament, and behavior problems. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35(2), 184–192CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Urban, J., Carlson, E., Egeland, B., & Sroufe, L. A. (1991). Patterns of individual adaptation across childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 3(4), 445–460CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. (2000a). Poverty in the United States: 1999 [On-line]. Available at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/povty99.html
U.S. Census Bureau (2000b). Historical poverty tables [On-line]. Available at http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/histpov/hstpov1.html
Werner, E., & Smith, R. (1982). Vulnerable but invincible: A longitudinal study of resilient children and youth. New York: McGraw-Hill
Weschler, D. (1989). Weschler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence – Revised. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp
Winslow, E. B., Shaw, D. S., Bruns, H., & Kiebler, K. (1995, March). Parenting as a mediator of child behavior problems and maternal stress, support, and adjustment. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Indianapolis, IN

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×