Exposure to Childhood Poverty and Mental Health Symptomatology in Adolescence: A Role of Coping Strategies

Publication Date

12-2016

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology

Keywords

Adolescence, Disengagement coping, Externalizing symptoms, Internalizing symptoms, Poverty

Abstract

Childhood poverty is associated with stress dysregulation which contributes to psychological illness in later ages. The adverse effects of childhood poverty on stress regulation may be mediated in part by the use of disengaging strategies to cope with stress. However, the relations among childhood poverty, coping strategies and psychopathology throughout childhood to adolescence have not been explored. This prospective, longitudinal study included 185 low- and middle-income adolescents at age 17. Chronic exposure to poverty from birth to early adolescence (age 13) was prospectively associated with increases in the use of disengagement versus engagement coping four years later. Increased use of disengagement coping between the ages of 13 and 17 explained the indirect link between poverty exposure since birth and both externalizing and internalizing symptoms at age 17. The findings provide evidence for a coping pathway underlying the link between prolonged exposure to childhood poverty and mental health sequelae.

Copyright Date

8-3-2015

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as:

Kim, P., Neuendorf, C., Bianco, H., & Evans, G. W. (2016). Exposure to childhood poverty and mental health symptomatology in adolescence: A role of coping strategies. Stress and Health, 32(5), 494-502. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2646

Rights Holder

John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Provenance

Received from CHORUS

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

9 pgs

File Size

131 KB

Publication Title

Stress and Health

Volume

32

Issue

5

First Page

494

Last Page

502

ISSN

1532-2998

PubMed ID

26234956

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