Effect of home environment on academic achievement in child protective service-involved children: Results from the second national survey of child and adolescent well-being study

Income is not an equalizer: health development inequities by ethnoracial backgrounds in California kindergartners

BACKGROUND

Early childhood health development is positively associated with income, but the strength of this relationship with ethnoracial background remains unclear. This study examined the extent of health development inequities among California kindergarteners based on ethnoracial backgrounds and neighborhood-level income.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study assessed health development inequities by analyzing neighborhood-level income, ethnoracial background, and health development data for California kindergarteners. Student-level data (n = 106,574) were collected through teacher report between 2010-2020 across 52 school districts and 964 schools. Student addresses were geocoded and linked to American Community Survey neighborhood income levels. Health development was measured using the Early Development Instrument, a population-level measure which includes physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge domains. Outcomes included being "on-track" in each domain as well as overall health development.

RESULTS

Using a Generalized Estimation Equation with a log-link function, while accounting for interactions between ethnoracial background, income, and income-squared, we found significant health development inequities by ethnoracial background and neighborhood-level income. Regarding overall health development, as well as the physical, social and emotional domains, Black students had a lower likelihood of being on-track compared to the weighted average across income levels, whereas Asian students surpassed the weighted average. White students exhibited the steepest slope, and at the lowest income levels, their health development scores were akin to their Black and Hispanic/Latino/a low-income counterparts but resembled their Asian counterparts at higher income levels. For the general knowledge and communication domain, white students consistently had the highest likelihood of being on-track, while Hispanic/Latino/a students had the lowest likelihood across all income levels.

CONCLUSION

This study examines health development inequities among California kindergarteners in diverse communities. Our analysis shows that the relationship between neighborhood-level income and kindergartners' health development varies by domain and is weaker for students of color. Given the scarcity of population-level data on health development outcomes, these analyses offer valuable insights for identifying ecosystems necessitating support in promoting equitable early childhood health development.

Associations between family environment resources and mental health problems in children

ABSTRACT Objective: The relationship between mental health and contextual factors has been increasingly investigated in the scientific literature to identify elements that may configure themselves as protective. The present study aimed to identify what resources (activities, family outings, toys, material elements, and learning) were offered in the daily lives of children with mental disorders, and from this, verify whether the offer of such resources in the family was associated with areas of greatest damage relative to mental health problems. Methods: Thirty-three caregivers of/people responsible for children between 6 and 12 years of age with most frequent diagnoses in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder seen at a general hospital participated. We used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ – parents version) and Family Environment Resources Inventory (RAF). Results: From a descriptive and correlational analysis, it was revealed that the more the mental health problems were present in children, the lower the family resources offer. Conclusions: The environmental resources offer proved to be protective for child development. Such findings are relevant to aid in outlining strategies for promoting mental health among children.