We examined the influence of income source within the context of persistent poverty on children's disruptive classroom behavior at age 12 and whether these associations were mediated by maternal supervision at ages 10 and 11. Using a subsample (N = 1,112) from the Quebec Longitudinal Study, we coded four economic circumstances indicating persistent poverty (income-toneeds ratio less than 1.5 times the poverty line) and income source (working poor, welfare dependent, work and welfare dependent, vs. never poor working) from ages 8 through 11. Children in welfare-dependent families showed an increase of 2.23 points on the disruptive scale compared with children in never-poor families, which could not be prospectively explained by maternal supervision. These results are above and beyond the influence of family structure, maternal characteristics, and early childhood disruptiveness.
Bane, M. J., & Ellwood, D. T. (1994). Welfare realities: From rhetoric to reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
2.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
3.
Behar, L. B., & Stringfield, S. (1974). A behavior rating scale for the preschool child. Developmental Psychology, 10, 601-610.
4.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development: Research perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22, 723-742.
5.
Brooks-Gunn, J., Klebanov, P., Smith, J. R., & Lee, K. (2001). Effects of combining public assistance and employment on mothers and their young children. Women and Health, 32, 179-210.
6.
Canadian Council on Social Development. (2000). Position paper: The 2000 federal budget. Ontario, Ottawa: Author. Retrieved October 2000, from http://www.ccsd.ca/pr/bud00re2.htm
7.
Chafel, J. A. (1997). Societal imagines of poverty: Child and adult beliefs. Youth and Society, 28, 432-463.
8.
Chilman, C. S. (1991). Working poor families: Trends, causes, effects, and suggested policies. Family Relations, 40, 191-198.
9.
Cloward, R., & Ohlin, L. (1960). Delinquency and opportunity. New York: Free Press.
10.
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1975). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
11.
Coley, R. L., & Chase-Lansdale, P. L. (2000). Welfare receipt, financial strain, and African American adolescent functioning. Social Service Review, 74, 381-404.
12.
Conger, R. D., Conger, K. J., Elder, G. H., Jr., Lorenz, F. O., Simons, R. L., & Whitbeck, L. B. (1993). Family economic stress and adjustment of early adolescent girls. Developmental Psychology, 29, 206-219.
13.
Conger, R. D., Ge, X., Elder, G. H., Jr, Lorenz, F. O., & Simons, R. L. (1994). Economic stress, coercive family process, and developmental problems of adolescents. Child Development, 65, 541-561.
14.
De Civita, M., Pagani, L., Vitaro, F., & Tremblay, R. (2004). The role of maternal educational aspirations in mediating the risk of income source on academic failure in children from persistently poor families. Children and Youth Services Review, 26, 749-769.
15.
Duncan, G. J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1997). Consequences of growing up poor. New York: Russell Sage.
16.
Elder, G. H., Jr., & Caspi, A. (1988). Economic stress in lives: Developmental perspectives. Journal of Social Issues, 44, 25-45.
17.
Elder, G. H., Jr., Eccles, J. S., Ardelt, M., & Lord, S. (1995). Inner-city parents under economic pressure: Perspectives on the strategies of parenting. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 771-784.
18.
Elder, G. H., Jr., Van Nguyen, T., & Caspi, A. (1985). Linking family hardship to children's lives. Child Development, 56, 361-375.
19.
Furstenberg, F. F., Jr., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Morgan, S. P. (1987). Adolescent mothers in later life. New York: Cambridge University Press.
20.
Haapasalo, J., & Tremblay, R. E. (1994). Physically aggressive boys from ages 6 to 12: Family background, parenting behavior, and prediction of delinquency. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 1044-1052.
21.
Hanson, T. L., McLanahan, S., & Thomson, E. (1997). Economic resources, parenting practices, and children's well-being. In G. Duncan & J. Brooks-Gunn (Eds.), Consequences of growing up poor (pp. 190-238). New York: Russell Sage.
22.
Huston, A. C., McLoyd, V. C., & Garcia-Coll, C. (1994). Children and poverty: Issues in contemporary research. Child Development, 65, 275-282.
23.
Huston, A. C., McLoyd, V. C., & Garcia Coll, C. (1997). Poverty and behavior: The case for multiple methods and levels of analysis. Developmental Review, 17, 376-393.
24.
Jackson, A. (2001). Low income trends in the 1990s. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Council on Social Development. Retrieved March 2005, from http://www.ccsd.ca/pubs/2000/lit/
25.
Jackson, A. P., Brooks-Gunn, J., Huang, C. C., & Glassman, M. (2000). Single mothers in lowwage jobs: Financial strain, parenting, and preschoolers' outcomes. Child Development, 71, 1409-1423.
26.
Jarrett, R. L. (1995). Growing up poor: The family experiences of socially mobile youth in lowincome African American neighborhoods. Journal of Adolescent Research, 10, 111-135.
27.
Kalil, A., & Eccles, J. S. (1998). Does welfare affect family processes and adolescent adjustment?Child Development, 69, 1597-1613.
28.
Knitzer, J., Yoshikawa, H., Cauthen, N. K., & Aber, J. L. (2000). Welfare reform, family support, and child development: Perspectives from policy analysis and developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 619-632.
29.
Korenman, S., Miller, J. E., & Sjaastad, J. E. (1995). Long-term poverty and child development in the United States: Results from the NLSY. Children and Youth Services Review, 17, 127-155.
30.
Lee, K. (2000). Urban poverty in Canada: A statistical profile. Canadian Council on Social Development. Ontario, Ottawa. Retrieved October 2000, from http://www.ccsd.ca/pubs/2000/up/home.htm
31.
Lefebvre, P., & Merrigan, P. (1998). Family background, family income, maternal work, and child development (Discussion Paper No. W-98-12E). Applied Research Branch Strategic Policy Human Resources Development Canada.
32.
Lempers, J. D., Clark-Lempers, D., & Simons, R. L. (1989). Economic hardship, parenting, and distress in adolescence. Child Development, 60, 25-39.
33.
Levine P. B., & Zimmerman, D. J. (2000). Children's welfare exposure and subsequent development (Discussion Paper No. 7522). Institute for Research on Poverty. Retrieved February 2000, from http://papers.nber.org/papers/w7522
34.
Loeber, R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1998). Development of juvenile aggression and violence: Some common misconceptions and controversies. American Psychologist, 53, 242-259.
35.
McLeod, J. D., & Shanahan, M. J. (1993). Poverty, parenting, and children's mental health. American Sociological Review, 58, 351-366.
36.
McLoyd, V. C. (1998). Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. American Psychologist, 53, 185-204.
37.
McLoyd, V. C., Jayaratne, T. E., Ceballo, R., & Borquez, J. (1994). Unemployment and work interruption among African American single-mothers: Effects on parenting and adolescent socioemotional functioning. Child Development, 65, 562-589.
38.
National Council of Welfare. (1987, November). Welfare in Canada: The tangled safety net. Ontario, Ottawa: Author.
39.
National Council of Welfare. (1997, Winter). Welfare incomes 1995. Ontario, Ottawa: Author.
40.
National Council of Welfare. (1998, Autumn). Child benefits: Kids are still hungry. Ontario, Ottawa: Author. Retrieved September 2001 from http://www.ncw
41.
National Council of Welfare. (2000). Welfare income 1999. Ontario, Ottawa: Author. Retrieved September 2001, from http://www.ncw
42.
Offord, D. R., Boyle, M. H., & Jones, B. R. (1987). Psychiatric disorder and poor school performance among welfare children in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 32, 518-525.
43.
Pagani, L., Boulerice, B., Vitaro, F., & Tremblay, R. E. (1999). Effects of poverty on academic failure and delinquency in boys: A change and process model approach. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 1209-1219.
44.
Patterson, G. R., & Capaldi, D. M. (1991). Antisocial parents: Unskilled and vulnerable. In P. A. Cowen, & M. Hetherington (Eds.), Family transitions (pp. 195-218). Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
45.
Patterson, G. R., DeBaryshe, B. D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). Developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. American Psychologist, 44, 329-335.
46.
Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (1997). Supportive parenting, ecological context, and children's adjustment: A seven-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 68, 908-923.
47.
Rodgers, J. R. (1995). An empirical study of intergenerational transmission of poverty in the United States. Social Science Quarterly, 76, 178-194.
48.
Ross, D. P., & Roberts, P. (1999). Income and child well-being: A new perspective on the poverty debate. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Council on Social Development. Retrieved October 2000, from http://www.ccsd.ca/pubs/inckids/home.htm
49.
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1994). Urban poverty and the family context of delinquency: A new look at structure and process in a classic study. Child Development, 65, 523-540.
50.
Sidel, R. (1996). The enemy within: A commentary on the demonization of difference. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 66, 490-495.
51.
Siefert, K., Bowman, P. J., Heflin, C. M., Danziger, S., & Williams, D. R. (2000). Social and environmental predictors of maternal depression in current and recent welfare recipients. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 510-522.
52.
Smith, J. R., Brooks-Gunn, J., Klebanov, P. K., & Lee, K. (2000). Welfare and work: Complementary strategies for low-income women?Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 808-821.
53.
Smith, J. R., Brooks-Gunn, J., Kohen, D., & McCarton, C. (2001). Transitions on and off AFDC: Implications for parenting and children's cognitive development. Child Development, 72, 1512-1533.
Tremblay, R. E., Loeber, R., Gagnon, C., Charlebois, P., Larivée S., & LeBlanc, M. (1991). Disruptive boys with stable and unstable high fighting behavior patterns during junior elementary school. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 19, 285-300.
56.
UNICEF. (2005). Child poverty in rich countries, 2005. Innocenti Report Card No.6. Florence, Italy: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. Retrieved April 2005, from www.unicef.org/sowc06/pdfs/repcard6e.pdf
57.
Weinger, S. (1998). Children living in poverty: Their perception of career opportunities. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 79, 320-330.
58.
Weintraub, K. J., & Gold, M. (1991). Monitoring and delinquency. Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, 1, 268-281.
59.
Weir, K., & Duveen, G. (1981). Further development and validation of the prosocial behavior questionnaire for use by teachers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22, 357-374.
60.
Williams, C. (2004). Poverty is not just about income- It's also about assets. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Policy Research Networks. Retrieved April 2005, from http://www.cprn.org/en/doc.cfm?doc=1167
61.
Wilson, W. J. (1991). Studying inner-city social dislocations: The challenge of public agenda research. 1990 Presidential Address. American Sociological Review, 56, 1-14.
62.
Wyman, P. A., Cowen, E. L., Work, W. C., Hoyt-Meyers, L., Magnus, K. B., & Fagen, D. B. (1999). Caregiving and developmental factors differentiating youth at-risk urban children showing resilient versus stress-affected outcomes: A replication and extension. Child Development, 70, 645-659.
63.
Zuckerman, D. M. (2000). Welfare reform in America: A clash of politics and research. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 587-600.
