Citation

Evans GW. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2016; 113(52): 14949-14952.

Affiliation

Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, National Academy of Sciences)

DOI

10.1073/pnas.1604756114

PMID

27956615

Abstract

Childhood disadvantage has repeatedly been linked to adult physical morbidity and mortality. We show in a prospective, longitudinal design that childhood poverty predicts multimethodological indices of adult (24 y of age) psychological well-being while holding constant similar childhood outcomes assessed at age 9. Adults from low-income families manifest more allostatic load, an index of chronic physiological stress, higher levels of externalizing symptoms (e.g., aggression) but not internalizing symptoms (e.g., depression), and more helplessness behaviors. In addition, childhood poverty predicts deficits in adult short-term spatial memory.

Language: en