Timing and chronicity of family poverty and development of unhealthy behaviors in children: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the impact of the timing and duration of family experiences of poverty over the child/adolescent early life course on child aggressive/delinquent behavior and tobacco and alcohol consumption.

Methods: Data were taken from a large scale population based birth cohort study with repeated follow-ups until 21 years after the birth. Poverty was measured during the pregnancy, 6 months, 5 years, and 14 years after the birth. Aggressive/delinquent behavior was measured at 14- and 21-year follow-ups. Tobacco and alcohol consumption were measured at the 21-year follow-up.

Results: In multivariate analysis, family poverty experienced at the 14-year follow-up predicted persistent aggressive/delinquent behavior as well as smoking and higher levels of alcohol consumption at the 21-year follow-up. However, the strongest associations were for recurrent experiences of family poverty, with the group that experienced repeated poverty (3-4 times) being more than twice more likely to be aggressive/delinquent at both 14 and 21 years, and to drink more than one glass of alcohol per day at 21 years.

Conclusions: Repeated experiences of poverty in early childhood and adolescence are strongly associated with a number of negative health-related behavior outcomes. Experience of poverty in the early adolescence seems to be the most sensitive period for such exposure.