Cited by 733Child Abuse and TraumaChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentFood Security and Health in Diverse Populations

The DOI matches its Crossref record, with a small difference in title or year; 44 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Effects of Poverty on Childhood Brain Development: The Mediating Effect of Caregiving and Stressful Life Events

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Abstract

IMPORTANCE The study provides novel data to inform the mechanisms by which poverty negatively impacts childhood brain development. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether the income-to-needs ratio experienced in early childhood impacts brain development at school age and to explore the mediators of this effect. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This study was conducted at an academic research unit at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis. Data from a prospective longitudinal study of emotion development in preschool children who participated in neuroimaging at school age were used to investigate the effects of poverty on brain development. Children were assessed annually for 3 to 6 years prior to the time of a magnetic resonance imaging scan, during which they were evaluated on psychosocial, behavioral, and other developmental dimensions. Preschoolers included in the study were 3 to 6 years of age and were recruited from primary care and day care sites in the St Louis metropolitan area; they were annually assessed behaviorally for 5 to 10 years. Healthy preschoolers and those with clinical symptoms of depression participated in neuroimaging at school age/early adolescence. EXPOSURE Household poverty as measured by the income-to-needs ratio. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Brain volumes of children's white matter and cortical gray matter, as well as hippocampus and amygdala volumes, obtained using magnetic resonance imaging. Mediators of interest were caregiver support/hostility measured observationally during the preschool period and stressful life events measured prospectively. RESULTS Poverty was associated with smaller white and cortical gray matter and hippocampal and amygdala volumes. The effects of poverty on hippocampal volume were mediated by caregiving support/hostility on the left and right, as well as stressful life events on the left. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The finding that exposure to poverty in early childhood materially impacts brain development at school age further underscores the importance of attention to the well-established deleterious effects of poverty on child development. Findings that these effects on the hippocampus are mediated by caregiving and stressful life events suggest that attempts to enhance early caregiving should be a focused public health target for prevention and early intervention. Findings substantiate the behavioral literature on the negative effects of poverty on child development and provide new data confirming that effects extend to brain development. Mechanisms for these effects on the hippocampus are suggested to inform intervention.

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Crossref · 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.3139

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Metadata

Authors
Luby, J., Belden, A., Botteron, K., Marrus, N., Harms, M. P., Babb, C., Nishino, T., & Barch, D.
Affiliations
Washington University in St. Louis (US)
Corresponding author
Luby, Joan
Venue
JAMA Pediatrics
Published
2013-12-01
Volume
167
Issue
12
Pages
1135
ISSN
  • 1072-4710 (ISSN-L)
  • 2168-6203
OpenAlex
W2134744704
Cited by
733
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 73 · 2021: 58 · 2020: 103 · 2019: 63 · 2018: 83 · 2017: 61 · 2016: 52 · 2015: 42 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 1
FWCI
44.82
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • U.S. Public Health Service (R01 PA07-070)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K01MH090515, R01MH064769, R01MH090786, T32MH100019)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
Keywords
child poverty, income-to-needs ratio, brain development, hippocampus, amygdala, white matter, cortical gray matter, caregiver support, life events, mediation, preschool children, emotional development, early intervention
MeSH terms
Brain, Child, Child Development, Depression, Female, Humans, Life Change Events, Longitudinal Studies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Poverty, Stress, Psychological, Washington, Caregivers

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