This study aimed to investigate the effects of multidimensional child poverty on children’s mental health in Mainland China. The data were based on a survey of children in 2015 conducted by multi-stage cluster random sampling method in Xiushui, where levels of poverty are very high. Structural equation model was adopted to analyze the data and test the hypothesized model. Results showed that multidimensional child poverty had a significant effect on both negative mental health and positive mental health of children, and the seven indicators of multidimensional child poverty all had slightly different effects on children’s mental health.
AgnewR (1991) A longitudinal test of social control theory and delinquency. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency23(2): 47–61.
2.
AshiabiG (2005) Household food insecurity and children’s school engagement. Journal of Children and Poverty11(1): 3–17.
3.
BentlerSPM (1990) Model conditions for asymptotic robustness in the analysis of linear relations. Computational Statistics & Data Analysis10(3): 235–249.
4.
BollenKA (1991) Review: Structural equations with latent variables. American Journal of Sociology96(6): 1553–1555.
5.
BrowneMWCudeckRBollenKA, et al. (1993) Alternative ways of assessing model fit. Sage Focus Editions154: 136.
6.
ByrneBM (2001) Structural equation modeling with AMOS, EQS, and LISREL: Comparative approaches to testing for the factorial validity of a measuring instrument. International Journal of Testing1(1): 55–86.
7.
CarterASWagmillerRJGraySAO, et al. (2010) Prevalence of DSM-IV disorder in a representative, healthy birth cohort at school entry: Sociodemographic risks and social adaptation. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry497(7): 686–698.
8.
CaseyPHSimptonPMGossettJM, et al. (2006) The association of child and household food insecurity with childhood overweight status. Pediatrics11(8): 1406–1413.
9.
CongerRDCongerKJElderGH, et al. (1992) A family process model of economic hardship and adjustment of early adolescent boys. Child Development63(3): 526–
541.
10.
CongerRDGeXElderGH, et al. (1994) Economic stress, coercive family process, and developmental problems of adolescents. Child Development65(2): 541–561.
11.
DasJDoQTFriedmanJ, et al. (2007) Mental health and poverty in developing countries: Revisiting the relationship. Social Science & Medicine65(3): 467–480.
12.
DaviesD (2010) Child Development: A Practitioner’s Guide. New York: Guilford Press.
13.
DavisESawyerMGLoSK, et al. (2010) Socioeconomic risk factors for mental health problems in 4-5 year-old children: Australian population study. Academic Pediatrics101(1): 41–47.
14.
DearingE (2008) Psychological costs of growing up poor. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences1136(1): 324–332.
15.
DengHGaoXM (2008) A study on the mental health of rural left-behind children in western poverty-stricken areas—A case study of Yuzhong Country, Gansu Province. China’s Outside Education: Theory (S1): 1543–1544.
16.
DorritPMichaelR (2009) Women, income and poverty: Gendered access to resources in post-apartheid South Africa. Agenda23(81): 25–34.
17.
DuncanGJBrooksGJ (eds) (1997) Consequences of Growing Up Poor. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
18.
FendrichMWarnerVWeissmanMM (1990) Family risk factors, parental depression, and psychopathology in offspring. Developmental Psychology26(26): 40–50.
19.
FengXHYuD (2008) Urban poor children: Problems and solutions. Journal of Northeast Normal University6(6): 38–43.
20.
FitzsimonsEGoodmanAKellyE, et al. (2017) Poverty dynamics and parental mental health: Determinants of childhood mental health in the UK. Social Science & Medicine175: 43–51.
21.
GrecaAMLLopezN (1998) Social anxiety among adolescents: Linkages with peer relations and friendships. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology26(2): 83–94.
22.
GyamfiP (2004) Children with serious emotional disturbance: The impact of poverty and receipt of public assistance on behavior, functioning, and service use. Children and Youth Services Review26(12): 1129–1139.
23.
HeiervangEStormarkKMLundervoldAJ, et al. (2007) Psychiatric disorders in Norwegian 8 to 10-year-olds: An epidemiological survey of prevalence, risk factors, and service use. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry46(4): 438–447.
24.
HernandezVRMontanaSClarkeK (2010) Child health inequality: Framing a social work response. Health & Social Work35(4): 291–301.
25.
HuXLTianCFSunFJ (2014) Reliability and validity test of Chinese version of the general self-efficacy scale. Psychology Exploration34(1): 53–56.
26.
JiangMY (2012) Research on the Phenomenon of Poverty in Urban Children. Beijing: Guangming Daily Press.
27.
KeaneTM (1998) Psychological effects of combat exposure. In: DohrenwendBP (ed.) Adversity, Stress, and Psychopathology. London: Oxford University Press, pp. 52–65.
28.
KimJEMinWHLeeBJ, et al. (2015) A panel study to examine the impact of multidimensional poverty on Korean adolescents’ health. Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development25(3): 1–12.
29.
KimK (2008) The effects of economic deprivation, family structure and neighborhood environment on academic attainment. Studies on Korean Youth19: 115–138.
30.
KlineRB (2005) Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling (2nd edn). New York: Guilford Press.
31.
KohnRDohrenwendBPMirotznikJ (1998) Epidemiological findings on selected psychiatric disorders in the general population. In: DohrenwendBP (ed.) Adversity, stress, and psychopathology. London: Oxford University Press, pp. 235–284.
32.
LevavIKohnRSchwartzS (1998) The psychiatric after-effects of the holocaust on the second generation. Psychological Medicine28(4): 755–760.
33.
LeventhalTBrooksGJ (2000) The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin126(2): 309–337.
34.
LiFSuLYJinY (2006) Social anxiety scale for children applied in Chinese city. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care14(4): 335–337.
35.
LiaoCHanLYangH, et al. (2014) Mental health of staying-at-home children in rural areas under the background of urbanization: From the angle of poverty. Journal of Nanjing Agricultural University14: 21–27.
36.
McLaughlinKABreslauJGreenJG, et al. (2011) Childhood socio-economic status and the onset, persistence, and severity of DSM-IV mental disorders in a US national sample. Social Science & Medicine73(7): 1088–1096.
37.
McLaughlinKAGreenJGAlegrı áM, et al. (2012) Food insecurity and mental disorders in a national sample of U.S. adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry51: 1293–1303.
38.
MelchiorMChastangJFWalburgV, et al. (2010) Family income and youths’ symptoms of depression and anxiety: A longitudinal study of the French GAZEL Youth cohort. Depression and Anxiety27(12): 1095–
1103.
39.
MoSKimYKimH, et al. (2009) Living Conditions of the Child, Adolescent Study in Economic Crisis. Korea: National Youth Policy Institute.
40.
MollicaRFMcInnesKPooleC, et al. (1998) Dose–effect relationships of trauma to symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder among Cambodian survivors of mass violence. British Journal of Psychiatry173: 482–488.
41.
NajmanJMClavarinoAMcGeeTR, et al. (2010) Timing and chronicity of family poverty and development of unhealthy behaviors in children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Adolescent Health46(6): 538–544.
42.
PernaLBolteGMayrhoferH, et al. (2010) The impact of the social environment on children’s mental health in a prosperous city: An analysis with data from the city of Munich. BMC Public Health10(1): 199.
43.
RaiDZitkoPJonesK, et al. (2013) Country and individual-level socioeconomic determinants of depression: Multilevel cross-national comparison. British Journal of Psychiatry20(3): 195.
44.
RenY (2005) Rescue children with cracked intergenerational poverty. Social Observation3(3): 19–19.
45.
RenZHYYeYT (2009) Revised Chinese version of the children self-esteem scale. Chinese Journal of Fujian Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition)2009(4): 157–163.
46.
RigdonEE (1995) A necessary and sufficient identification rule for structural models estimated in practice. Multivariate Behavioral Research30(3): 359–383.
47.
RobertsRERobertsCRXingY (2007) Rates of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders among adolescents in a large metropolitan area. Journal of Psychiatric Research41(11): 959–967.
48.
RoseJRBlackMMCaseyPH, et al. (2008) Household food insecurity: Associations with at risk infant and toddler development. Pediatrics121: 65–72.
49.
RosenbergM (1965) Self-esteem and the adolescent. (economics and the social sciences: society and the adolescent self-image). New England Quarterly148(2): 177–196.
50.
SampsonRJMorenoffJDGannon-RowleyT (2002) Assessing “neighborhood effects”: Social processes and new directions in research. Annual Review of Sociology28(1): 443–478.
51.
SchwarzerR (1997) Measurement of Perceived Self-Efficacy: Psychometric Scales for Cross-cultural Research. Berlin: Freien Universitat.
52.
SellKZlotnikSNoonanK, et al. (2010) The Effect of Recession on Child Well-Being. Philadelphia, PA: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
53.
ShenJLTangD (2004) The use of the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) in elderly. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology12(4): 342–344.
54.
StrohscheinL (2005) Household income histories and child mental health trajectories. Journal of Health and Social Behavior46(4): 359–375.
55.
TuckerEM (1970) Social status and psychological disorder: A causal inquiry. American Sociological Review22(2): 191–192.
56.
TurnerJB (1995) Economic context and the health effects of unemployment. Journal of Health and Social Behavior36: 213–229.
57.
WangCKHuZFLiuY (2001) Study on the reliability and validity of general self-efficacy scale. Applied Psychology7(1): 37–40.
58.
WangJZhangHBHuHL, et al. (2010) Reliability and validity evaluation of children’s depression scale. Modern Preventive Medicine37(9): 1642–1645.
59.
WuWFLuYBTanFR, et al. (2010) The reliability and validity of Chinese version of children depression scale in primary and middle school students. Chinese Journal of Mental Health24(10): 775–779.
60.
YoshikawaHAberJLBeardsleeWR (2012) The effects of poverty on the mental, emotional, and behavioral health of children and youth: Implications for prevention. American Psychologist67(67): 272–284.
61.
YuDWLiX (2000) The initial use of Children’s Depression Scale (CDI) in Chinese children. Chinese Mental Health Journal14(4): 225–227.
62.
YuHHXiaBY (2016) Mental health status of rural left-behind children in Western Poverty areas. Chinese Journal of Health Psychology24(4): 610–613.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
