Poverty and adolescent developmental outcomes: a critical review

Abstract

This paper reviews the impact of poverty on adolescent developmental outcomes. Based on a review of the literature, the impact of poverty on the psychological development of adolescents, the pathways through which poverty operates, and the protective factors of adolescents from the impact of poverty are outlined. The review showed conceptual problems in the literature, including the neglect of attention paid to cultural diversity and intervening processes between poverty and child developmental outcomes. This review also highlights methodological challenges, including the lack of longitudinal and qualitative studies in the field and the problems of using single informant perspective to study dynamic family processes. Recommendations for directions of future research are offered.