Child mental health and resilience in the context of socioeconomic disadvantage: results from the Born in Bradford cohort study

Abstract

Socioeconomic disadvantage has been linked to mental health difficulties in children and adolescents, although many children appear to do well despite exposure to financial adversity in childhood. Our study looked at the effects of family financial difficulty on children's mental health outcomes (n = 636) at 4-5 years in a multi-ethnic UK cohort, the Born in Bradford cohort. We considered potential parent and child variables promoting resilience in this population. Univariate linear regression was used to identify associations between family financial difficulty measured antenatally and child mental health difficulties measured by teacher-rated Strengths and Difficulties (SDQ) scores at 4-5 years. Hierarchical multivariate regression was used to test for potential moderating effects of parent and child factors. Mothers completed the General Health Questionnaire-28, Kessler-6 Questionnaire and questions related to parenting warmth, hostility and confidence. Parent-rated Infant Characteristic Questionnaires and teacher-rated Early Years Foundation Stage scores provided information on child temperament, literacy and physical development as potential moderators. Financial difficulty was associated with worse mental health outcomes in children. High parent warmth, high child literacy scores and physical development scores were all associated with positive child mental health outcomes at 4-5 years. In terms of protective effects, only maternal warmth was found to significantly moderate the relationship between financial difficulty and child mental health difficulties. The current study demonstrates that family financial difficulty is associated with poorer child mental health outcomes in a UK cohort of mothers and their school-aged children. It provides evidence of the positive relationships between warm parenting, child literacy and child physical development with mental health in young children. The study supports the finding that warm parenting moderates the relationship between family financial difficulty and interventions supporting this aspect of parenting may therefore provide particular benefit to children growing up in this context.

Independent contributions of family and neighbourhood indicators of socioeconomic status and migrant status to risk of mental health problems in 4–12 year old children

“…Perceived financial difficulties and material deprivation are both independently associated with risk of MHP in children in our study. Our findings are supported by other studies performed in the United Kingdom, United States of Americaand Sweden ( Kirby, Wright, & Allgar, 2019 ; Kim & Hagquist, 2018 ; Neckerman et al, 2016 ). A possible explanation may be that not only poverty or quantitative income but also the experience of financial difficulties and material deprivation play a role ( Alegría et al, 2018 ).…”

The Contributing Role of Family, School, and Peer Supportive Relationships in Protecting the Mental Wellbeing of Children and Adolescents

“…For example, warm, supportive parenting has been demonstrated to mitigate the impact of family financial difficulty on mental health difficulties in early and middle childhood, with high levels of supportive parent–child interaction a more important predictor of child development than measures of disadvantage (e.g. parental education or income) (Sylva et al, 2008 ; Kirby et al, 2020 ).…”

Differential Effects of Multiple Dimensions of Poverty on Child Behavioral Problems: Results from the A-CHILD Study

“…Material deprivation is another indicator used to assess the lack of socially perceived necessities, items considered by the majority of the population to be essential for good standards of living [7]. A number of studies have defined material deprivation as a lack of standards of living, such as food insecurity, housing instability, and being behind on utility bills [8][9][10][11].…”