Timing and Chronicity of Family Poverty and Development of Unhealthy Behaviors in Children: A Longitudinal Study

PurposeTo 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.MethodsData 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.ResultsIn 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.ConclusionsRepeated 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.