BANGKOK, THAILAND - SEPTEMBER 12: A young Thai boy plays outside his home in a disused airplane on September 12, 2015, in Bangkok, Thailand. 3 impoverished Thai families have begun living in disused airplanes on a private field. The families, who collect and recycle garbage earning a few dollars a day, can't afford to rent and prefer to stay in the planes.
Children exposed to poverty also exposes them to different levels of stress- this, according to a new study, suggests the possibility of psychological problems in their adult life. A study in Cornell University reports data about children who grew up poor. Evidence show that these children may have reduced short-term spatial memory. Further, the study also suggested that these children may be prone to antisocial and aggressive behavior, such as bullying.
Being Born Poor Can Have Its Downsides
Children who grew up deprived of their basic need may feel powerless in the presence of children who come from middle-income families, the authors of the studies added. The results of the study, however, does not mean to speak for all cases. The data presented suggest mere risks as studied, according to the researchers.
"What this means is, if you're born poor, you're on a trajectory to have more of these kinds of psychological problems," Gary Evans confirmed. He is a professor of environmental and developmental psychology as well as one of the authors of the study.
According to the researchers, the children may incur psychological effects while growing up in poverty- as this may come from the stresses they encounter. "With poverty, you're exposed to lots of stress. Everybody has stress, but low-income families, low-income children, have a lot more of it," confirmed Evans. "And the parents are also under a lot of stress. So, for kids, there is a cumulative risk exposure."
The researchers observed 341 children- including young adults for 15 aged years old. The participants were assessed based on four intervals: age 9, 13, 17 and 24. The researchers evaluated the short-term spatial memory by asking the older participants to repeat a number of sequences of sounds and lights. The activity was done by pressing 4 pads with different colors and arranged in a specific order.
The group who have been exposed to poverty have been unable to complete the task in the same way as the middle-income group. "This is an important result because the ability to retain information in short-term memory is fundamental to a host of basic cognitive skills, including language and achievement," according to the authors of the study.
Aside from this, the group was also asked to solve an impossible possible in order to evaluate their sense of helplessness. The participants coming to the poor background gave up 8 percent more quickly than the ones who came from middle-income backgrounds. The adults coming from poor families also agreed with statements such as, "I argue a lot" and "I am too impatient."
Poverty And Adult Stress Link
Findings of the study confirmed that adults who grew up in poverty had higher levels of physical stress in their entire childhood, lingering until adulthood. The study further confirms that children who grew up poor tend to remain poor even in their adult life, as noted by Evans. 40 percent of sons have similar incomes as their fathers, the researchers added.
"People walk around with this idea in their head that if you work hard, play by the rules, you can get ahead," said Evans. "And that's just a myth. It's just not true."
To preempt psychological problems in the future, children who are born poor are encouraged to seek help as early as possible in their young years. "If you don't intervene early, it's going to be really difficult and is going to cost a lot to intervene later," Evans said.
Evans further suggested that reducing children's exposure to stress may reduce there is of psychological problems in the future. One way to do this is by boosting the family's financial strength. This can be accomplished by creating a safety net for families suffering from poverty, such as a Social Security income for the elderly and disabled members, added Evans.
"It's not true you can't do anything about poverty. It's just whether there's the political will, and are people willing to reframe the problem, instead of blaming the person who is poor and even more preposterous blaming their children. Could we get rid of poverty? Probably not," Evans said. "But I think we could change it dramatically," Evans said.
