Content area
Full text
Abstract: Sufficient evidence demonstrates that poverty has a negative effect on the psychological well-being of children, but most research has focused only on white populations. The purpose of this literature review is to gain a better understanding of the positive and negative influences of socioeconomic factors, cultural/ethnic characteristics, and racial differences on the mental health of children. A review of the literature on the influence of race, ethnicity, and poverty on the mental health of children found that (1) children whose parents are in poverty or who have experienced severe economic losses are more likely to report or be reported to have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and antisocial behaviors; and (2) after controlling for socioeconomic status, African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics are less likely to report or be reported to have such mental health problems. A theoretical construct for this protective effect is related to cultural factors, such as perceived social support, deep religiosity/spirituality, extended families, and maternal coping strategies as buffers against psychological distress.
Key words: Face, ethnicity, poverty, psychiatric disorders.
Since the 1980s, researchers have learned a great deal about how poverty influences family life and children's psychological states. Elder' was one of the first researchers to link parents' economic hardship to children's psychiatric problems. In one study, Elder retrospectively studied 167 California children born in 1920-1921 who lived in Oakland during the depression years of the 1930s. Using the data archive of the Oakland Growth Study, Elder found a positive association between economic hardship and neglectful parental behaviors, such as rejection and nonsupportiveness. Consequently, Elder concluded that economic loss among families in the Oakland cohort increased the risk of fathers rejecting and neglecting their children, and thus increased the psychological distress and feelings of inadequacy among adolescents.
McLoyd2 argued that poverty and economic hardship are not conducive to a supportive, consistent, and involved familial environment. Furthermore, economic hardship adversely affects children's social and emotional development, since it affects the manner in which parents react to their children during stressful life experiences.
McLoyd's and Elder's findings are significant; however, their research was based on white populations. There is sufficient evidence to indicate differences in the epidemiology of psychological disorders in different racial and ethnic groups. It has been clearly substantiated...