Vulnerability to Childhood Problems and Family Social Background

Abstract

The relationship between family social background and risks of problems in the areas of health, education, behaviour and offending was examined in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 11 years. The analysis showed the presence of small consistent correlations between family social background and individual outcomes on a range of childhood measures. These correlations ranged from 0.12 to 0.31 with a median value of 0.18. The association between family social background and childhood outcomes was modelled using LISREL modelling methods which assumed that this association was mediated by common non-observed vulnerability processes. This analysis suggested that while variations in family social background act as relatively weak determinants of specific problem outcomes, these factors had a relatively strong influence on the child's generalized vulnerability to a wide range of childhood problems. The implications of these results for research into social background and childhood are discussed.