Diverging Trajectories of Child Externalizing Behavior By Family Economic Status at Birth: The Mediating Role of Neighborhood

Background/Purpose: Given the detrimental effects of family economic disadvantages and neighborhood poverty on children’s development, being born into a poor family and/or living in a poor neighborhood might be associated with child externalizing behavior. Child externalizing behavior—a cluster of aggressive, impulsive, and harmful behaviors—is related to low educational attainment, unemployment, and low-paying jobs, and ultimately a low socioeconomic status in adulthood. Little is known a collective influence of economic disparities at birth and neighborhood on child externalizing behavior. Accordingly, the study raises two questions: (1) Does a child born into a poor family exhibit a more adverse externalizing behavior trajectory than one born under more favorable circumstances? (2) How does family economic status at birth interact with neighborhood poverty to shape a child’s externalizing behavior trajectory?

Methods: Data come from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study; the sample for this study includes 1,968 families—operationalized as a child and the child’s biological parent(s)—who were interviewed when their child was born and at ages 3, 5, 9, and 15. This study involves three analytic stages. To answer Question 1, it utilizes a Difference-in-Differences model to compare patterns of externalizing behavior between children born into poverty (“POOR children”; 200% or below Federal Poverty Line) and those who were not (“NON-POOR children”). To answer Question 2, the study demonstrates differential exposure to poor neighborhoods between POOR and NON-POOR children using a Difference-in-Differences model. It then examines how neighborhood poverty impacts externalizing behavior differently between POOR and NON-POOR children using a population average model. Family background information, such as mother’s education, parents’ marital status, family income, and child’s sex, is controlled for in all analyses.

Results: Trajectories of externalizing behavior illustrate that POOR children’s externalizing behavior was higher at age 3 but decreased at a faster rate, reaching comparable levels to NON-POOR children’s externalizing behavior by ages 5 and 9. However, during the transition to adolescence, it increased at a faster rate, ultimately becoming higher than NON-POOR children’s at age 15. Trajectories of neighborhoods demonstrate that POOR children consistently lived in poorer neighborhoods than NON-POOR children throughout their childhood and adolescence. There is an interaction effect between family economic status at a child’s birth and neighborhood poverty. Both POOR and NON-POOR children exhibited higher externalizing behavior when living in poorer neighborhoods. Although NON-POOR children had lower externalizing behavior than POOR children in less poor neighborhoods, these differences became negligible in higher-poverty neighborhoods. These interactions were evident at ages 3 and 15 while there was no significant difference in externalizing behavior at ages 5 and 9 across all levels of neighborhood poverty.

Conclusions/Implications: Findings suggest that the earlier practice and policy interventions occur for economically disadvantaged populations, the more likely they will reduce the gaps related to differential disadvantages at birth. Given the effect of neighborhood poverty on both poor and non-poor children’s externalizing behavior, interventions for alleviating neighborhood poverty are needed for all children’s healthy development. Such interventions could ultimately promote positive development and reduce socioeconomic disparities in adulthood.