{"title":"Associations between parent-reported family economic hardship and mental health conditions in U.S. children","authors":"Evva Assing-Murray, Lydie A. Lebrun-Harris","doi":"10.1080/10796126.2020.1764188","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study examines the association between parent-reported family economic hardship (FEH) and child mental health conditions. We hypothesized a positive association between parent perceptions of FEH and child mental health conditions that would persist after controlling for underlying demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Cross-sectional data came from the 2016 and 2017 National Surveys of Children's Health (NSCH), nationally representative surveys of non-institutionalized children in the United States, aged 0–17 years. We conducted chi-square as well as multivariable logistic regression analyses to investigate the relationships between FEH and internalizing disorders and behavioral/conduct problems among children ages 3–17 years. Overall, one in four children experienced FEH during their lifetime. FEH was statistically significantly (p < 0.0001) and positively correlated with each mental health condition, and the association remained after adjusting for covariates. Specifically, FEH was associated with 84% increased odds of having an internalizing disorder (OR = 1.84, 95%, CI: 1.54–2.20) and 53% increased odds of having behavioral/conduct problems (OR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.25–1.87). Findings suggest that income alone may be an insufficient predictor of the health risks of economic hardship. Further research should examine FEH as a broader measure of disadvantage and its relationship with child health.","PeriodicalId":35244,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Children and Poverty","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2020-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10796126.2020.1764188","citationCount":"6","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Children and Poverty","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10796126.2020.1764188","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 6
Abstract
ABSTRACT This study examines the association between parent-reported family economic hardship (FEH) and child mental health conditions. We hypothesized a positive association between parent perceptions of FEH and child mental health conditions that would persist after controlling for underlying demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Cross-sectional data came from the 2016 and 2017 National Surveys of Children's Health (NSCH), nationally representative surveys of non-institutionalized children in the United States, aged 0–17 years. We conducted chi-square as well as multivariable logistic regression analyses to investigate the relationships between FEH and internalizing disorders and behavioral/conduct problems among children ages 3–17 years. Overall, one in four children experienced FEH during their lifetime. FEH was statistically significantly (p < 0.0001) and positively correlated with each mental health condition, and the association remained after adjusting for covariates. Specifically, FEH was associated with 84% increased odds of having an internalizing disorder (OR = 1.84, 95%, CI: 1.54–2.20) and 53% increased odds of having behavioral/conduct problems (OR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.25–1.87). Findings suggest that income alone may be an insufficient predictor of the health risks of economic hardship. Further research should examine FEH as a broader measure of disadvantage and its relationship with child health.