Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T12:55:20.887Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Inattention in boys from low-income backgrounds predicts welfare receipt: a 30-year prospective study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2019

Francis Vergunst Open the ORCID record for Francis Vergunst [Opens in a new window] ,
Richard E. Tremblay ,
Daniel Nagin ,
Yao Zheng ,
Cedric Galera ,
Jungwee Park ,
Elizabeth Beasley ,
Yann Algan ,
Frank Vitaro  and
Sylvana M. Côté
Francis Vergunst
Affiliation:
Ste-Justine Hospital Research Center, University of Montréal, Montreal, Canada
Richard E. Tremblay
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics and Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sport Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Daniel Nagin
Affiliation:
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Yao Zheng
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Cedric Galera
Affiliation:
University of Bordeaux, INSERM U1219, Bordeaux, France
Jungwee Park
Affiliation:
Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Elizabeth Beasley
Affiliation:
CEPREMAP, Paris, France
Yann Algan
Affiliation:
Sciences Po, OFCE, Paris, France
Frank Vitaro
Affiliation:
School of Psycho-Education, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
Sylvana M. Côté*
Affiliation:
Ste-Justine Hospital Research Center, 3175, Côte Sainte-Catherine, Étage A, Local A-568, Montréal (Québec), Canada
*
Author for correspondence: Sylvana M. Côté, E-mail: sylvana.cote.1@umontreal.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Childhood disruptive behaviors are highly prevalent and associated with adverse long-term social and economic outcomes. Trajectories of welfare receipt in early adulthood and the association of childhood behaviors with high welfare receipt trajectories have not been examined.

Methods

Boys (n = 1000) from low socioeconomic backgrounds were assessed by kindergarten teachers for inattention, hyperactivity, aggression, opposition, and prosociality, and prospectively followed up for 30 years. We used group-base trajectory modeling to estimate trajectories of welfare receipt from age 19–36 years using government tax return records, then examined the association between teacher-rated behaviors and trajectory group membership using mixed effects multinomial regression models.

Results

Three trajectories of welfare receipt were identified: low (70.8%), declining (19.9%), and chronic (9.3%). The mean annual personal employment earnings (US$) for the three groups at age 35/36 years was $36 500 (s.d. = $24 000), $15 600 (s.d. = $16 275), and $1700 (s.d. = $4800), respectively. Relative to the low welfare receipt group, a unit increase in inattention (mean = 2.64; s.d. = 2.32, range = 0–8) at age 6 was associated with an increased risk of being in the chronic group (relative risk ratio; RRR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.03–1.31) and in the declining group (RRR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.03–1.23), after adjustment for child IQ and family adversity, and independent of other behaviors. Family adversity was more strongly associated with trajectories of welfare receipt than any behavior.

Conclusions

Boys from disadvantaged backgrounds exhibiting high inattention in kindergarten are at elevated risk of chronic welfare receipt during adulthood. Screening and support for inattentive behaviors beginning in kindergarten could have long-term social and economic benefits for individuals and society.

Keywords

ADHDaggressionconduct disorderexternalizinghyperactivityinattentionnon-cognitiveoppositionprosocialitytax return
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 50 , Issue 12 , September 2020 , pp. 2001 - 2009
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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

Blishen, BR, Carroll, WK and Moore, C (1987) The 1981 socioeconomic index for occupations in Canada. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie 24, 465–488.10.1111/j.1755-618X.1987.tb00639.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chetty, R, Stepner, M, Abraham, S, Lin, S, Scuderi, B, Turner, N, Bergeron, A and Cutler, D (2016) The association between income and life expectancy in the United States, 2001–2014. JAMA 315, 1750–1766.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daly, M, Delaney, L, Egan, M and Baumeister, RF (2015) Childhood self-control and unemployment throughout the life span: evidence from two British cohort studies. Psychological Science 26, 709–723.10.1177/0956797615569001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diamond, A and Lee, K (2011) Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old. Science 333, 959–964.10.1126/science.1204529CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duncan, GJ, Yeung, WJ, Brooks-Gunn, J and Smith, JR (1998) How much does childhood poverty affect the life chances of children? American Sociological Review 63, 406–423.10.2307/2657556CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Durlak, JA, Weissberg, RP and Pachan, M (2010) A meta-analysis of after-school programs that seek to promote personal and social skills in children and adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology 45, 294–309.10.1007/s10464-010-9300-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Durlak, JA, Weissberg, RP, Dymnicki, AB, Taylor, RD and Schellinger, KB (2011) The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: a meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development 82, 405–432.10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinstein, L (2000) The relative economic importance of academic, psychological and behavioural attributes developed on childhood. Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK. ISBN 0753013584, pp. 1–27.Google Scholar
Fergusson, DM, John Horwood, L and Ridder, EM (2005) Show me the child at seven II: childhood intelligence and later outcomes in adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 46, 850–858.10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01472.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, DM, Boden, JM and Horwood, LJ (2013) Childhood self-control and adult outcomes: results from a 30-year longitudinal study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 52, 709–717, e1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Galéra, C, Bouvard, M-P, Lagarde, E, Michel, G, Touchette, E, Fombonne, E and Melchior, M (2012) Childhood attention problems and socioeconomic status in adulthood: 18-year follow-up. The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science 201, 20–25.10.1192/bjp.bp.111.102491CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Government of Quebec (2018) Social Assistance and Social Solidarity Programs. Available at http://www4.gouv.qc.ca/FR/Portail/Citoyens/Evenements/immigrer-au-quebec/Pages/programme-aide-sociale.aspx (Accced 10 June 2018).Google Scholar
Hanushek, EA and Woessmann, L (2008) The role of cognitive skills in economic development. Journal of Economic Literature 46, 607–668.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healey, A, Knapp, M and Farrington, DP (2004) Adult labour market implications of antisocial behaviour in childhood and adolescence: findings from a UK longitudinal study. Applied Economics 36, 93–105.10.1080/0003684042000174001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heckman, JJ (2006) Skill formation and the economics of investing in disadvantaged children. Science 312, 1900–1902.10.1126/science.1128898CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heckman, JJ, Stixrud, J and Urzua, S (2006) The effects of cognitive and noncognitive abilities on labor market outcomes and social behavior. Journal of Labor Economics 24, 411–482.10.1086/504455CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heckman, J, Pinto, R and Savelyev, P (2013) Understanding the mechanisms through which an influential early childhood program boosted adult outcomes. The American Economic Review 103, 2052–2086.10.1257/aer.103.6.2052CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ilmakunnas, I and Moisio, P (2019) Social assistance trajectories among young adults in Finland: what are the determinants of welfare dependency? Social Policy & Administration 53, 693–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, DE, Greenberg, M and Crowley, M (2015) Early social-emotional functioning and public health: the relationship between kindergarten social competence and future wellness. American Journal of Public Health 105, 2283–2290.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Juon, H-S, Green, KM, Fothergill, KE, Kasper, JD, Thorpe, RJ and Ensminger, ME (2010) Welfare receipt trajectories of African-American women followed for 30 years. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 87, 76–94.10.1007/s11524-009-9413-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, DH and Shin, D-M (2014) Identifying and explaining different poverty trajectories using a group-based trajectory analysis – a case study of South Korea. Social Policy & Administration 48, 826–847.10.1111/spol.12065CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knapp, M, King, D, Healey, A and Thomas, C (2011) Economic outcomes in adulthood and their associations with antisocial conduct, attention deficit and anxiety problems in childhood. Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics 14, 137–147.Google ScholarPubMed
Lorge, I and Thorndike, R (1950) The Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test. New York, NY: Houghton.Google Scholar
Mackintosh, N (2011) IQ and Human Intelligence. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mazza, JRSE, Lambert, J, Zunzunegui, MV, Tremblay, RE, Boivin, M and Côté, SM (2017) Early adolescence behavior problems and timing of poverty during childhood: a comparison of lifecourse models. Social Science & Medicine (1982) 177, 35–42.10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.01.039CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moffitt, TE, Arseneault, L, Belsky, D, Dickson, N, Hancox, RJ, Harrington, H, Houts, R, Poulton, R, Roberts, BW and Ross, S (2011) A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, 2693–2698.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mok, PLH, Antonsen, S, Pedersen, CB, Carr, MJ, Kapur, N, Nazroo, J and Webb, RT (2018) Family income inequalities and trajectories through childhood and self-harm and violence in young adults: a population-based, nested case-control study. The Lancet Public Health 3, e498–e507.10.1016/S2468-2667(18)30164-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mrug, S, Molina, BSG, Hoza, B, Gerdes, AC, Hinshaw, SP, Hechtman, L and Arnold, LE (2012) Peer rejection and friendships in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: contributions to long-term outcomes. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 40, 1013–1026.10.1007/s10802-012-9610-2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, AL, Obsuth, I, Eisner, M and Ribeaud, D (2017) Evaluating longitudinal invariance in dimensions of mental health across adolescence: an analysis of the social behavior questionnaire. Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191117721741.Google ScholarPubMed
Nagin, D (2005) Group-Based Modeling of Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.10.4159/9780674041318CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagin, DS and Tremblay, RE (2001) Analyzing developmental trajectories of distinct but related behaviors: a group-based method. Psychological Methods 6, 18–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olivier, J, May, WL and Bell, ML (2017) Relative effect sizes for measures of risk. Communications in Statistics – Theory and Methods 46, 6774–6781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, KI and Moser, K (2009) Unemployment impairs mental health: meta-analyses. Journal of Vocational Behavior 74, 264–282.10.1016/j.jvb.2009.01.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pingault, J-B, Tremblay, RE, Vitaro, F, Carbonneau, R, Genolini, C, Falissard, B and Côté, SM (2011) Childhood trajectories of inattention and hyperactivity and prediction of educational attainment in early adulthood: a 16-year longitudinal population-based study. The American Journal of Psychiatry 168, 1164–1170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pingault, J-B, Côté, SM, Galéra, C, Genolini, C, Falissard, B, Vitaro, F and Tremblay, RE (2013) Childhood trajectories of inattention, hyperactivity and oppositional behaviors and prediction of substance abuse/dependence: a 15-year longitudinal population-based study. Molecular Psychiatry 18, 806–812.10.1038/mp.2012.87CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rivenbark, JG, Odgers, CL, Caspi, A, Harrington, H, Hogan, S, Houts, RM, Poulton, R and Moffitt, TE (2018) The high societal costs of childhood conduct problems: evidence from administrative records up to age 38 in a longitudinal birth cohort. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines 59, 703–710.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sareen, J, Afifi, TO, McMillan, KA and Asmundson, GJG (2011) Relationship between household income and mental disorders: findings from a population-based longitudinal study. Archives of General Psychiatry 68, 419–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Séguin, JR, Boulerice, B, Harden, PW, Tremblay, RE and Pihl, RO (1999) Executive functions and physical aggression after controlling for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, general memory, and IQ. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 40, 1197–1208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, M, Hodgkins, P, Caci, H, Young, S, Kahle, J, Woods, AG and Arnold, LE (2012) A systematic review and analysis of long-term outcomes in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: effects of treatment and non-treatment. BMC Medicine 10, 99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thapar, A, van den Bree, M, Fowler, T, Langley, K and Whittinger, N (2006) Predictors of antisocial behaviour in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 15, 118–125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tremblay, RE, Loeber, R, Gagnon, C, Charlebois, P, Larivée, S and LeBlanc, M (1991) Disruptive boys with stable and unstable high fighting behavior patterns during junior elementary school. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 19, 285–300.10.1007/BF00911232CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vergunst, F, Tremblay, RE, Nagin, D, Algan, Y, Beasley, E, Park, J, Galera, C, Vitaro, F and Côté, SM (2019a) Association of behavior in boys from Low socioeconomic neighborhoods With employment earnings in adulthood. JAMA Pediatrics 173, 334–341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vergunst, F, Tremblay, RE, Nagin, D, Algan, Y, Beasley, E, Park, J, Vitaro, F and Côté, S (2019b) Association between childhood behaviors and adult employment earnings in Canada. JAMA Psychiatry doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.1326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vergunst, F, Tremblay, RE, Galera, C, Nagin, D, Vitaro, F, Boivin, M and Côté, SM (2019c) Multi-rater developmental trajectories of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention symptoms from 1.5 to 17 years: a population-based birth cohort study. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 28, 973–983.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veroff, J, McClelland, L and Marquis, K (1971) Measuring Intelligence and Achievement Motivation in Surveys: Final Report to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Office of Economic Opportunity. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Wagmiller, RL and Adelman, RM (2009) Childhood and Intergenerational Poverty: The Long-Term Consequences of Growing Up Poor. New York, NY: National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Vergunst et al. supplementary material

Vergunst et al. supplementary material

Download Vergunst et al. supplementary material(File)
File 17.8 KB