Assessing the Impact of Changes in Household Socioeconomic Status on the Health of Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Understanding how child and adolescent health is influenced by fluctuations in socioeconomic status has important public health and policy implications, as children are often subjected to both micro and macro-level socioeconomic events. This study provides the first systematic review to date on the relationship between changes in household or parental socioeconomic status and subsequent child and adolescent health outcomes. Eighty articles were identified for inclusion in this review, examining 85 different socioeconomic exposures in five categories: Income (n = 64), Employment (n = 14), Socioeconomic Mobility (n = 3), Education (n = 2), and Food Insecurity (n = 2). The health outcomes analyzed by these eighty articles were separated into eight discrete categories, with many articles examining outcomes in more than one category: Anthropometric Measurements (n = 21), Cognition and Development (n = 15), Dental Health (n = 3), Health Behaviours (n = 9), Mental Health (n = 12), Overall Parent/Guardian Assessed health (n = 6); Physical Health Outcomes (n = 11), and Socio-Emotional Behaviour (n = 30). Several consistent patterns emerged in the literature, such as a link between increased income and improved, or decreased income and deteriorating, cognition, dental health, and physical health. The results of this review suggest a need to replicate current studies in diverse geographies to expand generalizability and clarify regional patterns. There should also be an effort to go beyond income, and employment, to assess the relationship between less frequently studied socioeconomic exposures and child health outcomes.