Economic volatility in childhood and subsequent adolescent mental health problems: a longitudinal population-based study of adolescents

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of the current paper was to investigate the association between the patterns of duration, timing and sequencing of exposure to low family income during childhood, and symptoms of mental health problems in adolescence.SettingSurvey administered to a large population-based sample of Norwegian adolescents.ParticipantsSurvey data from 9154 participants of 16–19 years age (53% participation rate; 52.7% girls) were linked to registry-based information about childhood family income from tax return data.Outcome measuresMental health outcomes were symptoms of emotional, conduct, hyperactivity, peer problems and general mental health problems measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, symptoms of depression measured with Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) measured with the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale.ResultsLatent class analysis and the BCH approach in Mplus were used to examine associations between patterns of poverty exposure and mental health outcomes. Four latent classes of poverty exposure emerged from the analysis. Participants moving into poverty (2.3%), out of poverty (3.5%) or those chronically poor (3.1%) had more symptoms of mental health problems (Cohen’s d=16-.50) than those with no poverty exposure (91.1%). This pattern was, however, not found for symptoms of ADHD. The pattern of results was confirmed in robustness checks using observed data.ConclusionsExposure to poverty in childhood was found to be associated with most mental health problems in adolescence. There was no strong suggestion of any timing or sequencing effects in the patterns of associations.

Trajectories of childhood adversity and the risk of depression in young adulthood: Results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

“…Like previous studies of childhood adversity in population-based samples (Björkenstam et al, 2017;Mersky et al, 2013;Perales et al, 2013;St Clair et al, 2015), although many of our study participants reported low levels of adversity throughout childhood, more than one-third experienced mild levels and about one-sixth were exposed to moderate or higher levels of adversity at some time during childhood. This is consistent with studies of economic trajectories, in which some households move into and out of poverty during childhood (Bøe et al, 2017;Shuey & Willson, 2014), and has also been observed in studies of maltreatment, in which abuse experiences are time-limited for some children (English et al, 2005;Jaffee & Maikovich-Fong, 2011;Manly et al, 2001;Thornberry et al, 2010). However, we did identify small proportions of children who experienced decreasing and increasing adversity throughout childhood, highlighting the clinical and research importance of assessing adversity at multiple times throughout childhood to correctly classify children's adversity experience.…”

“…However, we did identify small proportions of children who experienced decreasing and increasing adversity throughout childhood, highlighting the clinical and research importance of assessing adversity at multiple times throughout childhood to correctly classify children's adversity experience. This is consistent with studies of economic trajectories, in which some households move into and out of poverty during childhood (Bøe et al, 2017;Shuey & Willson, 2014), and has also been observed in studies of maltreatment, in which abuse experiences are time-limited for some children (English et al, 2005;Jaffee & Maikovich-Fong, 2011;Manly et al, 2001;Thornberry et al, 2010). may have better accounted for the severity of different types of events.…”

“…The increasing, decreasing, and chronically high adversity trajectory groups (Groups 3-5) shared similar depression risk and severity, which was surprising given past findings that chronic childhood maltreatment and other adversities persisting across multiple developmental stages are associated with the highest risk of health problems later in life (Jaffee & Maikovich-Fong, 2011;Slopen et al, 2014), as is longer duration of adversity (Dunn et al, 2018). Bøe et al (2017) derived trajectories of family income across middle childhood and adolescence in a large sample of Norwegian young adults and found consistent risks of many mental health outcomes including depression among those who were persistently poor and those who moved into or out of poverty, similar to our T A B L E 1 Bivariate associations between covariates of interest and depression outcomes at 18 years (n = 9,665) a results. Other studies have not found effects of the particular timing of adversities (Björkenstam et al, 2017).…”

“…Identifying trajectories of adversity throughout childhood allows for classification of individuals according to the accumulation, timing, and duration of their adverse experiences (Bøe et al, 2017). This may provide unique insights into the etiology of mental health problems according to the patterning and timing of childhood adversity, and may also suggest novel avenues for intervention.…”

Diabetic retinopathy in type 1 diabetes patients in Western Norway

“…1), which was conducted between June 2010 and September 2014. Epidemiological studies from Hordaland County have shown similar prevalence and incidence of DM (Joner et al 2004;Stene et al 2004), and similar demographic and income characteristics (Bøe et al 2017), as in other parts of the country. Together with the presence of a national universal healthcare system, this suggests that the study population is representative of the total Norwegian population.…”