New Approaches to the Notion of “Environmental Risk”

Pressman, Aliza W.; Klebanov, Pamela Kato; Brooks‐Gunn, Jeanne

doi:10.1017/cbo9781139016827.011

Cited by 9 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…These data are consistent with prior cross-sectional evidence of elevated cumulative risk factor exposure among lower- relative to higher SES children and youth (Burchinal et al, 2000; Deater-Deckard et al, 1998; Evans, 2004; Evans & English, 2002; Federman et al, 1996; Felner et al, 1995; Greenberg et al, 1999; Klebanov, Brooks-Gunn, McCarton & McCormick,1998; Liaw & Brooks-Gunn, 1994; Rutter, 1979). The mediating role of cumulative risk exposure in poverty and behavioral adjustment is also consistent with the literature documenting widespread adverse mental health sequelae from cumulative risk exposure during childhood (Evans et al, in press; Obradovic et al, 2012; Pressman et al, 2012; Sameroff, 2006). Herein, we formally introduce elevated cumulative risk exposure as a viable explanatory mechanism linking early childhood poverty to compromised behavioral adjustment during emerging adulthood.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Childhood Poverty, Cumulative Risk Exposure, and Mental Health in Emerging Adults

Evans

Cassells

2013

Clinical Psychological Science

227

147

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One out of four American children are born into poverty, but little is known about the long-term, mental health implications of early deprivation. The more time in poverty from birth-age-9, the worse mental health as emerging adults (n = 196, M = 17.30 years, 53% male). These results maintain independently of concurrent, adult income levels for self-reported externalizing symptoms and a standard learned helplessness behavioral protocol, but internalizing symptoms were unaffected by childhood poverty. We then demonstrate that part of the reason why early poverty exposure is harmful to mental health among emerging adults is because of elevated cumulative risk exposure assessed at age 13. The significant, prospective, longitudinal relations between early childhood poverty and externalizing symptoms plus learned helplessness behavior are mediated, in part, by exposure to a confluence of psychosocial (violence, family turmoil, child separation from family) and physical (noise, crowding, substandard housing) risk factors during adolescence.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Childhood Poverty, Cumulative Risk Exposure, and Mental Health in Emerging Adults

Evans

Cassells

2013

Clinical Psychological Science

227

147

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The theory of cumulative risk proposes that it is the accumulation of adversities that has the strongest impact on developmental outcomes across the lifespan (Sameroff, Bartko, Baldwin, & Seifer, 1998), and empirical research supporting associations between cumulative risks and cognitive test scores and behavioral outcomes in childhood and adolescence has been replicated and is well accepted (see Pressman et al, 2012). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term effects of peer victimization on social outcomes through the fourth decade of life in individuals born at normal or extremely low birthweight

Day

Lieshout

Vaillancourt

et al. 2016

British J of Dev Psycho

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Exposure to early adversity is known to have deleterious effects on brain-behavior relations across the lifespan and across a range of domains. Here we tested a cumulative risk hypothesis of adult social functioning and health outcomes in the fourth decade of life, using the oldest known longitudinally followed cohort of survivors of extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1000 grams). We investigated the additional impact of peer victimization in youth on social outcomes at age 29–36 years in ELBW survivors and matched normal birth weight (NBW; >2500 grams) participants. In the combined sample, peer victimization was associated with lower likelihood of having children and household income, poorer family functioning and self-esteem, more loneliness and chronic health conditions, less social support, and increased likelihood for contact with police. Moderation analyses indicated that among ELBW survivors, compared to their NBW counterparts, victimization was more strongly associated with being convicted of a crime and with having chronic health conditions. These findings highlight the negative long-term impact of peer victimization on all children and that some outcomes may be differentially affected by prenatal and early postnatal environments.

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“…Thus, the cumulative risk index could vary from 0 to 6 for each wave of data collection. A large body of research indicates that this additive summation of exposure to multiple risk factors is consistently and strongly related to adverse child and adolescent cognitive and socioemotional outcomes (Sameroff, ; Obradovic et al, ; Pressman et al, ; Evans et al, ). The additive model is also consistently superior to the use of summary metrics that maintain the continuous values of each risk factor.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We operationalize chronic exposure to stressors with an index of cumulative risk exposure that encompasses multiple physical (e.g., substandard housing) and psychosocial (e.g., violence) stressors during childhood. A large and robust literature documents that cumulative risk adversely affects child development more than singular risk exposure (Sameroff, ; Obradovic et al, ; Pressman et al, ; Evans et al, ). We also examine developmental timing of cumulative risk exposure and alterations in amygdala structure and function.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood Cumulative Risk Exposure and Adult Amygdala Volume and Function

Evans

Swain

King

et al. 2015

J of Neuroscience Research

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Considerable work indicates that early cumulative risk exposure is aversive to human development, but very little research has examined neurological underpinnings of these robust findings. We investigated amygdala volume and reactivity to facial stimuli among adults (M = 23.7 years, n = 54) as a function of cumulative risk exposure during childhood (ages 9 and 13). In addition, we tested whether expected, cumulative risk elevations in amygdala volume would mediate functional reactivity of the amygdala during socio-emotional processing. Risks included substandard housing quality, noise, crowding, family turmoil, child separation from family, and violence. Total and left hemisphere adult amygdala volumes, respectively were positively related to cumulative risk exposure during childhood. The links between childhood cumulative risk exposure and elevated amygdala responses to emotionally neutral facial stimuli in adulthood were mediated by the respective amygdala volumes. Cumulative risk exposure in later adolescence (17 years), however, was unrelated to subsequent, adult amygdala volume or function. Physical and socioemotional risk exposures early in life appear to alter amygdala development, rendering adults more reactive to ambiguous stimuli such as neutral faces. These stress-related differences in childhood amygdala development might contribute to well-documented psychological distress as a function of early risk exposure.

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New Approaches to the Notion of “Environmental Risk”

Cited by 9 publications

References 71 publications

Childhood Poverty, Cumulative Risk Exposure, and Mental Health in Emerging Adults

Childhood Poverty, Cumulative Risk Exposure, and Mental Health in Emerging Adults

Long‐term effects of peer victimization on social outcomes through the fourth decade of life in individuals born at normal or extremely low birthweight

Childhood Cumulative Risk Exposure and Adult Amygdala Volume and Function

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