The impact of poverty duration on youth behavioral and cognitive outcomes.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Drawing upon the life course perspective and a theoretical framework synthesizing human capital and cultural capital perspectives, this study tests the effects of poverty experiences on the cognitive and behavioral outcomes of young adolescents. This study addresses several questions: (1) What is the effect of poverty experiences on adolescents' cognitive and behavioral outcomes, and how do these outcomes vary by race? (2) Does maternal mental health, maternal behavior, and home context mediate the effect of poverty experiences on adolescent outcomes? (3) Do prior behavioral problems and test scores affect behavioral problems and test scores of adolescents?.
Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the effects of poverty experiences on adolescent behavioral problems and test scores is examined for 1824 African American and white adolescents aged 10 to 14. The explanatory measures used to predict adolescent behavioral and cognitive outcomes included: poverty experience (poverty duration and welfare receipt duration), maternal psychological resources (mastery, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem), and parenting and context in 1994 and 1996 (cognitive stimulation, emotional support, and physical context). The analyses also include child background characteristics (age, race, and sex) and maternal background characteristics (years of education, AFQT scores, age at child's birth, and marital status).
I employ ordinary least squares regression to examine the impact of the explanatory variables on adolescent behavioral problems and test scores. An intervening model is used to test the mediating influence of maternal psychological resources, parenting behavior, and physical context on the relationship between poverty experiences and adolescent outcomes.
I found that poverty duration significantly increases adolescent internalized and externalized behavioral problems, and significantly reduces Reading and Math test scores. The detrimental impact of poverty is stronger for white adolescents than for African American adolescents. I also found that maternal psychological resources, parenting, and physical context mediate poverty's effect on adolescent outcomes. These findings suggest the desirability of continued efforts to alleviate the effects of economic strain on poor families. Also, the strong effects of maternal mental health suggests that more emphasis on improvements to maternal and child psychological well-being should be addressed.