Challenges for Low-Income Children in an Era of Increasing Income Inequality

Health practices, behaviours and quality of life of low-income preschoolers: A community-based cross-sectional comparison study in Singapore

Introduction

Children from low-income (LI) families often suffer from poor health, with sub-optimal health practices. This cross-sectional study examined the differences in health habits and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of LI preschool children compared to non-low-income preschool peers (PPG).

Method

Using data from the social-health Circle of Care-Health Development Screening Programme (CoC-HDSP) in Singapore, 118 LI children and 304 PPG children aged 18 months to 6 years old and their families were recruited from 13 government-funded preschools. Health practices examined included screen time habits, sleep, nutrition, dental health and the children's HRQoL using PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales.

Results

Majority of the children were aged 4-6 years in kindergarten 1 and 2. There were more Malay children in the LI than the PPG (61.9% versus [vs] 29.3%, P<0.001). Low-income children were more likely to have lower-educated parents (P<0.001). The completed vaccination rate in the LI group was lower than those in PPG (84.7% vs 98.0%, P<0.001). More in the LI group utilised emergency services for acute illnesses (P<0.05). Fewer LI children had ever visited a dentist (47.4% vs 75.4%, P<0.001), and more LI children consumed sweetened drinks daily (33.3% vs 8.6%, P<0.001). The LI group reported poorer-quality sleep (48.3% vs 27.2%, P<0.001), though both groups exceeded the daily recommended screen viewing duration. The LI group scored higher in the social (mean 92.4±12.2 vs 84.3±15.3, P<0.001) and emotional (mean 85.2±15.1 vs 76.6±17.3, P<0.001) domains of the PedsQL 4.0 when compared to PPG.

Conclusion

Low-income children have poorer health practices, receive less preventive paediatric care, and utilise more emergency services for acute illnesses. These findings are important for developing interventions that work towards improving the health of LI children.

Do American children automatically encode cues to wealth?

As adults, we readily notice markers of social status and wealth and draw conclusions about individuals based on these cues. Do children do the same? Using a "Who Said What?" task across 5- to 9-year-old American children (n = 159; Mage = 7.44 years; 51.6% female, 47.2% male, 1.2% nonconforming or not provided; 59.1% White, 23.3% racial-ethnic minority, 17.6% not provided) and adults (n = 182; 84.1% female, 13.7% male, 2.2% nonconforming or not provided; 54.9% White, 44.5% racial-ethnic minority, 0.6% not provided), we found that both children and adults automatically encode (i.e., spontaneously notice and remember) occupational cues (i.e., work attire) and quantitative cues (i.e., amount of money) to wealth but that only adults automatically encode qualitative cues to wealth (i.e., car quality), suggesting developmental changes in which types of cues to wealth are most salient. Furthermore, automatic encoding in children was sensitive to contextual factors; children from communities with less affluence and higher rates of unemployment were more likely to encode some wealth cues than their peers from more affluent and employed communities. Finally, from 5 to 7 years of age, children began to draw connections between wealth cues, using occupational cues to make inferences about the quantity and quality of others' possessions. This research highlights the changing salience of wealth cues across development and suggests that even young children are likely to notice economic inequality and thus to be ready for conversations about inequality, as well as the origins of inequality, at an earlier age than previously supposed.

Relational Peer Victimization as a Predictor of Academic Engagement

Peer victimization can be detrimental to youth. This study examines a particular type of peer victimization, relational peer victimization, and its effect on students' engagement in the classroom. We specifically investigate the longitudinal relationship between relational peer victimization and academic engagement in a sample of 204 Black 3rd through 5th grade elementary school students by utilizing multiple informants: students and their parents reported on relational peer victimization, and teachers reported on students' academic engagement. Our findings showed convergence between student and parent reports of relational peer victimization and revealed that experiencing relational peer victimization during the beginning of the school year (fall) negatively predicts teacher reported academic engagement towards the end of the school year (spring). Our study suggests that relational peer victimization is a critical issue that educators and researchers should consider when trying to foster academic engagement. There is also a need for further research regarding the role that families play in providing support to Black relationally victimized youth.

'It's just one big vicious circle': young people's experiences of highly visual social media and their mental health

Highly visual social media (HVSM) platforms, such as Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, are increasingly popular among young people. It is unclear what motivates young people to engage with these specific highly visual platforms and what impact the inherent features of HVSM have on young people's mental health. Nine semi-structured focus group sessions were conducted with males and females aged 14 and 15 years (n = 47) across five secondary schools in Northern Ireland. Thematic analyses were conducted, and a conceptual model was developed to illustrate the findings. This study found that features such as likes/comments on visuals and scrolling through a feed were associated with the role of 'viewer', instigating longer-lasting feelings of jealousy, inferiority and pressure to be accepted. To combat these negative emotions, young people turn to the role of 'contributor' by using filters, selecting highlights to post to their feed and adjusting their personas, resulting in temporary feelings of higher self-esteem, greater acceptance and popularity. As users of HVSM are constantly switching between the role of viewer and contributor, the emotions they experience are also constantly switching between instant inadequacy and instant gratification. HVSM appears to trigger an unrelenting process of emotional highs and lows for its adolescent users.

Perceived Social Status and Suicidal Ideation in Maltreated Children and Adolescents

Recent decades have seen an alarming increase in rates of suicide among young people, including children and adolescents (“youth”). Although child maltreatment constitutes a well-established risk factor for suicidal ideation in youth, few efforts have focused on identifying factors associated with maltreated youths’ increased risk for suicidal ideation, especially across development. The present study examined the relations between maltreated youths' (N = 279, M = 12.06 years, 52% female, 53% Latinx) perceptions of their social status and suicidal ideation and compared those relations between pre-adolescents and adolescents. Findings revealed unique developmental patterns: Perceived social status was associated with suicidal ideation, but only in adolescents, who showed greater risk for suicidal ideation if they viewed themselves as lower ranked in society and lower risk for suicidal ideation if they viewed themselves as higher ranked in society. Findings have implications for scientific and practical efforts aimed at better understanding and preventing suicide in a high-risk developmental population.

Health-Related Fitness Levels among Title I Elementary School Students

Over the past few decades, studies have emphasized improving children’s health by increasing health-related fitness levels. Despite the known benefits of health-related fitness in youth, studies have also highlighted a lack of physical activity opportunities for children living in low-income households. The purpose of this study was to investigate the health-related fitness levels of students attending Title I (low-income) elementary schools. A total of 77 elementary students (50.6% female; M_age = 10.0, SD = 0.827) from two Title I elementary schools in the western United States completed the FitnessGram assessments of aerobic capacity, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the number of students in the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) based upon the FitnessGram HFZ Performance Standards. Less than 17% of students achieved the HFZ for aerobic capacity and only 31.2% achieved the HFZ for upper body strength and endurance. Students performed better for abdominal strength and endurance and flexibility with 55.8% and 68.8% achieving the HFZ, respectively. The results of this study offer insights into the health-related fitness levels of a unique population, students attending Title I schools. School health professionals, including physical education teachers, need to be aware of existing disparities and make efforts to systematically intervene.

Subjective SES is Associated with Children's Neurophysiological Response to Auditory Oddballs

Language and reading acquisitions are strongly associated with a child's socioeconomic status (SES). There are a number of potential explanations for this relationship. We explore one potential explanation-a child's SES is associated with how children discriminate word-like sounds (i.e., phonological processing), a foundational skill for reading acquisition. Magnetoencephalography data from a sample of 71 children (aged 6 years and 11 months-12 years and 3 months), during a passive auditory oddball task containing word and nonword deviants, were used to test "where" (which sensors) and "when" (at what time) any association may occur. We also investigated associations between cognition, education, and this neurophysiological response. We report differences in the neural processing of word and nonword deviant tones at an early N200 component (likely representing early sensory processing) and a later P300 component (likely representing attentional and/or semantic processing). More interestingly we found "parental subjective" SES (the parents rating of their own relative affluence) was convincingly associated with later responses, but there were no significant associations with equivalized income. This suggests that the SES as rated by their parents is associated with underlying phonological detection skills. Furthermore, this correlation likely occurs at a later time point in information processing, associated with semantic and attentional processes. In contrast, household income is not significantly associated with these skills. One possibility is that the subjective assessment of SES is more impactful on neural mechanisms of phonological processing than the less complex and more objective measure of household income.

Adolescents' perceptions of family social status correlate with health and life chances: A twin difference longitudinal cohort study

Children from lower-income households are at increased risk for poor health, educational failure, and behavioral problems. This social gradient is one of the most reproduced findings in health and social science. How people view their position in social hierarchies also signals poor health. However, when adolescents' views of their social position begin to independently relate to well-being is currently unknown. A cotwin design was leveraged to test whether adolescents with identical family backgrounds, but who viewed their family's social status as higher than their same-aged and sex sibling, experienced better well-being in early and late adolescence. Participants were members of the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a representative cohort of British twins (n = 2,232) followed across the first 2 decades of life. By late adolescence, perceptions of subjective family social status (SFSS) robustly correlated with multiple indicators of health and well-being, including depression; anxiety; conduct problems; marijuana use; optimism; not in education, employment, or training (NEET) status; and crime. Findings held controlling for objective socioeconomic status both statistically and by cotwin design after accounting for measures of childhood intelligence (IQ), negative affect, and prior mental health risk and when self-report, informant report, and administrative data were used. Little support was found for the biological embedding of adolescents' perceptions of familial social status as indexed by inflammatory biomarkers or cognitive tests in late adolescence or for SFSS in early adolescence as a robust correlate of well-being or predictor of future problems. Future experimental studies are required to test whether altering adolescents' subjective social status will lead to improved well-being and social mobility.

Young Adolescents' Digital Technology Use, Perceived Impairments, and Well-Being in a Representative Sample

OBJECTIVE

To examine the cross-sectional associations between young adolescents' access, use, and perceived impairments related to digital technologies and their academic, psychological, and physical well-being.

STUDY DESIGN

There were 2104 adolescents (ages 10-15 years), representative of the North Carolina Public School population, who completed questionnaires in 2015. Administrative educational records were linked with parental consent.

RESULTS

Nearly all young adolescents (95%) had Internet access, 67% owned a mobile phone, and 68% had a social media account. Mobile phone ownership was not associated with any indicators of well-being (math and reading test scores, school belonging, psychological distress, conduct problems, or physical health) after controlling for demographic factors. Having a social media account and frequency of social media use were only robustly associated with conduct problems (explaining ∼3% of the variation in conduct problems). Despite the lack of strong associations, 91% of adolescents reported at least 1 perceived technology-related impairment and 29% of adolescents reported online-to-offline spillover of negative experiences. Economically disadvantaged adolescents reported similar access, but greater online-to-offline spillover and stronger associations between social media account ownership and poor psychological well-being compared with their more affluent peers.

CONCLUSIONS

At the population level, there was little evidence that digital technology access and use is negatively associated with young adolescents' well-being. Youth from economically disadvantaged families were equally likely to have access to digital technologies, but were more likely than their more affluent peers to report negative online experiences. Closing the digital divide requires prioritizing equity in experiences and opportunities, as well as in access.

Economic Inequality is Associated with Long-Term Harm on Adolescent Well-Being in China

Economic inequality has been found to be detrimental to psychological well-being. However, previous studies were mostly based on cross-sectional data, drew exclusively on adults, and confined to Western developed countries. To address these shortcomings, the current study investigated the longitudinal association of income inequality with adolescent psychological well-being in a non-Western developing economy (i.e., China). We used the China Family Panel Studies data set with a representative sample of 3,042 adolescents (M_age  = 12.59) from 20 provinces in China. Analyses showed that adolescents in more unequal provinces had lower happiness and more psychological distress. The associations between economic inequality and well-being varied across adolescents from different socioeconomic strata.

Interwealth Contact and Young Children's Concern for Equity

This study examined young children's contact with individuals of high-wealth and low-wealth backgrounds and their behavior toward peers of these backgrounds in a resource distribution task. The sample included 72 ethnically diverse higher income children (M_age  = 6.68 years, SD = 0.98 years). Contact with individuals of low-wealth backgrounds (interwealth contact) affected children's behavior indirectly, through social-cognitive reasoning processes. The more interwealth contact children reported, the more likely they were to reason about access to resources rather than their own wealth preferences in this context. This reasoning, in turn, was associated with more resources allocated to a low-wealth peer relative to a high-wealth peer. Thus, interwealth contact early in development was associated with more equitable peer interactions.