Poverty, caregiver depression and stress as predictors of children's externalizing behaviours in a low‐income sample

Abstract

A B S T RA C TPrevious research suggests a relationship between poverty, caregiver depression, caregiver stress and children's externalizing behaviour. However, little research exists to suggest the manner in which these concepts are interrelated. Latent growth curve analyses were conducted on caregiver-child dyads data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project to identify the path through which poverty, caregiver depression, caregiver stress and child externalizing behaviours were related. Analyses identified a path through which caregiver stress and depression mediated the effect of poverty on child externalizing behaviours. In addition, the influence of caregiver depression on child externalizing behaviours was mediated by caregiver stress. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.

Little cash to large households: Cash transfers and children's care in disadvantaged families in Ghana

“…The most frequently mentioned challenge in ensuring that children are happy, healthy and well cared for was poverty. Lack of resources was considered a major constraint in meeting both the material and non‐material needs of children, confirming existing evidence regarding the constraining role of poverty in providing care (see Henninger and Luze, ). A female non‐LEAP participant from Gomoa West indicated: “The biggest challenges parents face are all about money, because money is the only thing you can use to provide all the things needed by the child.”…”

“…In an urban study on childcare practices in Ghana's capital, Accra, women indicated that poverty presents a barrier to good feeding and childcare practices, because of a lack of food and the stress caused by living in poverty (Ruel, Armar‐Klemesu and Arimond, ). More generally, poverty is known to cause depression among caregivers, undermining the quality of care for children and affecting children's behaviour (Henninger and Luze, ). Poverty is also one of the factors playing into traditional kinship fostering, i.e.…”

Leveraging After-School Programs to Minimize Risks for Internalizing Symptoms Among Urban Youth: Weaving Together Music Education and Social Development

“…The latter finding in particular contradicted our expectations, as previous work has shown elevated rates of externalizing behavior among youth in high poverty communities (e.g., Henninger & Luze, 2014). It may be that parents and youth at Site 2 viewed higher levels of externalizing behavior as more normative within their community (Dirks et al, 2010), such that a particular behavior that may be viewed as problematic at Site 1 may be viewed as acceptable by parents and youth at Site 2.…”

Concurrent Participation in Federally-Funded Welfare Programs and Empowerment Toward Economic Self-Sufficiency

“…Contemporary researchers have found associations between poverty and lack of cognitive control, resulting in internal and external maladjustment in behaviors (Flouri, Midouhas, & Joshi, 2014;Henninger & Luze, 2014;Lipina et al, 2013). Internal and external maladjusted behaviors can be exhibited at home, in school, and/or in other settings.…”