Low Socioeconomic Status Sample Research Articles

The relationship between cause of death and skeletal markers of physiological stress in the Hamann-Todd collection.

Socioeconomic status, past stress events, and other factors may contribute to the cumulative burden of physiological stress, which influences an individual's susceptibility to mortality and cause of death (COD). Here, we explore the association between skeletal evidence of stress and COD in the Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection (HTOC), a predominantly low socioeconomic status sample from the late 19th and early 20th century. Skeletal markers of stress including linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH), stature, and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL) were analyzed in 298 individuals in the HTOC. Recorded CODs were grouped into six broad categories and contrasted with stress indicators, ages-at-death, and demographic variables, using various parametric and non-parametric statistical tests. COD varied by socially ascribed race and sex within the sample. Overall, infectious diseases were more prevalent than degenerative diseases. Individuals that died of infectious diseases had significantly lower ages-at-death compared to degenerative diseases (p < 0.001). There was no association between LEH and COD (χ2 = 4.449, p = 0.487). Stature varied significantly across COD categories for males (F = 2.534, p = 0.032), but not females (F = 1.733, p = 0.132). Controlling for age-at-death, AMTL prevalence was associated with COD (H = 18.53, p = 0.002), with cardiovascular disease being associated with higher prevalence of AMTL. These findings show that some skeletal stress indicators are associated with COD in the HTOC, but the causal pathways of these relationships are not clear. This study adds to growing bodies of literature exploring relationships between past stress events and susceptibility to mortality and long-term consequences of poor living conditions for past individuals.

Associations of prenatal stress with 5-year-old children's executive function in a low socioeconomic status population.

Prenatal stress has a significant, but small, negative effect on children's executive function (EF) in middle and high socioeconomic status (SES) households. Importantly, rates and severity of prenatal stress are higher and protective factors are reduced in lower SES households, suggesting prenatal stress may be particularly detrimental for children's EF in this population. This study examined whether prenatal stress was linked to 5-year-old's EF in a predominantly low SES sample and child sex moderated this association, as males may be more vulnerable to adverse prenatal experiences. Participants were 132 mother-child dyads drawn from a prospective prenatal cohort. Mothers reported on their depression symptoms, trait anxiety, perceived stress, everyday discrimination, and sleep quality at enrollment and once each trimester, to form a composite prenatal stress measure. Children's EF was assessed at age 5 years using the parent-report Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Preschool (BRIEF-P) Global Executive Composite subscale and neuropsychological tasks completed by the children. Mixed models revealed higher prenatal stress was associated with lower BRIEF-P scores, indicating better EF, for females only. Higher prenatal stress was associated with lower performance on neuropsychological EF measures for both males and females. Results add to the limited evidence about prenatal stress effects on children's EF in low SES households.

Associations between cumulative risk, childhood sleep duration, and body mass index across childhood

BackgroundAlthough associations between cumulative risk, sleep, and overweight/obesity have been demonstrated, few studies have examined relationships between these constructs longitudinally across childhood. This study investigated how cumulative risk and sleep duration are related to current and later child overweight/obesity in families across the United States sampled for high sociodemographic risk.MethodsWe conducted secondary analyses on 3690 families with recorded child height and weight within the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. A cumulative risk composite (using nine variables indicating household/environmental, family, and sociodemographic risk) was calculated for each participant from ages 3-9 years. Path analyses were used to investigate associations between cumulative risk, parent-reported child sleep duration, and z-scored child body mass index (BMI) percentile at ages 3 through 9.ResultsHigher cumulative risk experienced at age 5 was associated with shorter sleep duration at year 9, b = − 0.35, p = .01, 95% CI [− 0.57, − 0.11]. At 5 years, longer sleep duration was associated with lower BMI, b = − 0.03, p = .03, 95% CI [− 0.06, − 0.01]. Higher cumulative risk at 9 years, b = − 0.34, p = .02, 95% CI [− 0.57, − 0.10], was concurrently associated with shorter sleep duration. Findings additionally differed by child sex, such that only male children showed an association between sleep duration and BMI.ConclusionsResults partially supported hypothesized associations between child sleep duration, cumulative risk, and BMI emerging across childhood within a large, primarily low socioeconomic status sample. Findings suggest that reducing cumulative risk for families experiencing low income may support longer child sleep duration. Additionally, child sleep duration and BMI are concurrently related in early childhood for male children.

Daily stressors and food choices: A lab experiment with low-SES mothers

We investigate experimentally the effects of daily-like stressors on immediate and planned food choices, in a sample of low socioeconomic status (SES) mothers. We design a novel stress protocol that aims to mimic everyday stressors experienced by low socioeconomic status individuals. The protocol consists of budget and time allocation tasks to be performed under time and financial pressure. Immediate consumption is measured with in-laboratory consumption of low calorie and high calorie snacks; planned consumption is measured with an incentivized food shopping task. We find no evidence of a significant effect of the stressor on planned food consumption. We do find a notable increase in high-calorie snacking following the stress protocol but it is not precisely estimated. Overall, we find little support for the hypothesis that daily-life stressors induce unhealthy food choices.

The maintenance of gender inequality in South African tertiary educated heterosexual couples

ABSTRACT Gender equality has been found to benefit individual and couple well-being. However, much of what is known about the uptake of gender equality ideas in intimate heterosexual relationships is based on individual data from tertiary educated groups in the global North. South African research has also relied on individual data, but has predominantly utilized low socio-economic status samples. Locally, research is therefore needed that employs dyadic data, and specifically targets higher socio-economic and tertiary educated couples who are more likely to have been exposed to and adopt gender equality ideas. Subsequently, using a feminist social constructionist framework, we explored gender constructions by interviewing 14 heterosexual university student couples about gender ideas and practices in their relationships. We used an inductive thematic analysis method to analyze the dyadic interview data. We found that the couples were aware and supportive of gender equality, and portrayed themselves as having transcended gender inequality. However, we identified restrictive traditional gender constructions which were unseen, or deemed chosen or harmless by the participants. We conclude that more needs to be done to create awareness of, and challenge these unproblematised gender ideas amongst higher socio-economic groups that may believe that they have transcended gender inequality in relationships.

Psychological Security in At-Risk Youth: Attachment, Emotion Regulation, and PTSD Symptom Severity

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be influenced by attachment insecurities and dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies in children at risk for mental health difficulties, such as children in foster care or in low socioeconomic status (SES) homes. Yet relatively little research exists on attachment and emotion regulation in at-risk adolescents, including in youth with foster care experience. We examined attachment dimensions (attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety) and emotion regulation strategies (expressive emotion suppression and cognitive reappraisal) as predictors of PTSD symptom severity in a sample of 17-year-olds in foster care (n = 146) compared to a low SES sample of 17-year-olds with no foster care experience (n = 83). Greater attachment avoidance and greater attachment anxiety were associated with higher PTSD symptom severity scores regardless of foster care status. Cognitive reappraisal was associated with less severe PTSD symptoms for foster and non-foster youth. Policy and practice implications for at-risk youth’s rights to psychological security are discussed.

Resilience attenuates the association between neurocognitive functioning and everyday functioning in individuals aging with HIV in the Deep South.

Adults aging with HIV are at risk for poorer neurocognitive and daily functioning. Identifying factors to protect such outcomes is a significant research priority. The aim of this study was to explore the role of resilience in cognitive and everyday functioning in a largely African American and low socioeconomic status sample of adults and older adults with HIV in the Deep South. In this cross-sectional study 100 HIV+ middle-aged and older adults (range 40-73; 61% aged 50+) completed a comprehensive neurocognitive battery along with self-reported measures of resilience and everyday functioning. Higher resilience was associated with better global neurocognitive functioning (rho=0.31, P<0.01), as well as better functioning in all domains (verbal fluency, executive functioning, speed of information processing, learning, working memory) except recall and motor skills. Resilience was also significantly associated with instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) dependence, with lower resilience observed in those with IADL dependence compared with those who were IADL independent (P<0.01). In a multiple regression adjusting for data-driven covariates (verbal IQ, income, depression), and global neurocognitive impairment, resilience was the only significant (P=0.02) correlate of IADL dependence. A follow-up mediation showed that the direct relationship between neurocognitive functioning and IADL declines was fully attenuated after accounting for shared variance with resilience. Resilience is associated with better cognitive and functional outcomes in people aging with HIV. While further work is needed to understand these associations over time, results suggest interventions to build resilience may promote successful aging in this vulnerable population.

Nutritional knowledge amongst an adult South African sample of low socioeconomic status

The aim of this study was to determine the socioeconomic predictors of nutritional knowledge (NK) based on total household income, educational level and employment status. A secondary aim was to determine the relationship between NK and the body mass indexes (BMI) of children. Using a cross-sectional study, 39 participants enrolled in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study were purposively sampled for data on their children’s age, gender, height and weight. A semi-structured researcher-generated questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic information and assess NK. Pearson correlation assessed the relationship between the parent’s NK and their child’s BMI. Linear regression analysis was used to test predictive relationships. The Alpha level was set at p < 0.05. Regression analysis showed that 2.5% of the variance (R 2 = 0.25) was based on NK and was significant ( p < 0.05). Employment status was a significant predictor ( p = -0.038) of NK, when controlling for total household income and education level. Parents of underweight children had the lowest NK. In conclusion, there was a positive correlation between the children’s BMI and their parents NK, but this was not significant. Employment status was a significant predictor of NK. Public health practitioners should develop interventions based on NK, which might benefit black parents, especially those of low socioeconomic status. Keywords: Nutritional knowledge, socioeconomic status, South Africa, educational level, employment status

Examining the socioeconomic effects on third molar maturation in a Portuguese sample of children, adolescents and young adults.

The impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on tooth mineralization has seldom been evaluated. This is important because SES can be used as a proxy for quantifying factors in the environmental that can impact mineralization but that can be difficult to measure directly, such as nutrition. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of SES on third molar mineralization, using a sample of children, adolescents and young adults from Porto, Portugal. Panoramic x-rays from 1747 patients (842 males and 904 females) were used in this study. Eight hundred and fifteen individuals were patients attending a private practice and were classified as high SES (384 males and 458 females), whereas the remaining 932 subjects (458 males and 474 females) were patients attending the dental clinic at the Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Porto and were classified as low SES. Inclusion of individuals on the each SES group was also based on parental and own occupation. The mandibular third molar was assessed for its maturation using Demirjian's stages. The median age of attainment of root stages was calculated for stages D to H, using logistic regression and compared between the high and low SES samples. Boys from the higher SES group show an earlier median age of attainment for stages D, E, and F. Girls from the higher SES group also show an earlier median age of attainment, but for stages D and E. Stages G and H did not show SES differences in both sexes. Patients from the higher SES group showed a consistent advancement in maturation of the third molar, although SES differences diminish and eventually disappear in the last stages of root maturation. An accelerated effect related to overweight and obesity is suggested as the primary explanation.

Parents Attitude toward Education among Muslim

Education is one of the major instruments of social change and it is the force, which brings changes in the traditional outlook of the people, and it develops insight for judging things in their context. It is assume that more the percentage of educated people more will be the rate of development. As all we say that Education of a girl is like educating a family while educating a boy is merely educating a person. The importance of female education in a society and its spreading to all section of the life is well appreciated and documented to solve existing and emerging problems of the society. There is ample evidence that children from better educated parents more often go to school and tend to drop out less (UNESCO, 2010). Parents who have reached a certain educational level might want their children to achieve at least that level (Breen &amp; Goldthorpe, 1997). For educational enrolment of girls, education of the mother might be especially important (Emerson &amp; Portela Souza, 2007; Shu, 2004; Kambhampati &amp; Pal, 2001; Fuller, Singer and Keiley, 1995). Mothers who have succeeded in completing a certain level of education have experienced its value and know that it is within the reach of girls to complete that level. The present research was aimed at assessing attitude of parents toward education among Muslim. Sample consists of 100; in which 50 male respondents and 50 female respondents were participated in the present research. Parents’ attitude was measured through Questionnaire consisting 23 items which is developed by Patnaik &amp; Samal (2012). The respondents were required to indicate their agreement or disagreement with each of the statements about children’s education in a four-point Likert type scale, where 1 denotes strong disagreement and 4 denotes strong agreement. Mean scores were calculated separately for male and female respondents and high socio economic status and low socio economic status samples. The t test was used to examine the significance of difference between male and female respondents as well as high socio economic status and low socio economic status with regard to their attitude towards children’s education. The findings showed that the overall attitude of the respondents was moderately favourable and positive towards education of their children. This result was discussed in the light of existing findings and with other demographic variable i.e. education of the parents, income of the parents and number of children.

Young Brazilian Children’s Emotion Understanding: A Comparison within and across Cultures

&lt;p&gt;Research on children’s Emotion Understanding (EU) has been dominated by middle-class samples from Western societies. We studied cultural and Socioeconomic Status (SES) variation in young children’s EU in a high SES sample (n = 50) and a low SES sample (n = 50) of Brazilian preschoolers using the Test of Emotion Comprehension. We found that the high SES sample performed better at both the overall and component levels than the low SES sample on EU. The differences were especially substantial for the recognition of basic emotions, with the low SES children recognizing negative emotions better than positive and neutral emotions. In addition, we compared the two SES samples of Brazilian children to same-age samples from Norway, Italy and Peru. Between the Brazilian and the European samples and the Brazilian and other non-European samples, the variation in EU was observed to be more related to SES than to culture.&lt;/p&gt;

Bowel Prep Quality in Patients of Low Socioeconomic Status Undergoing Screening Colonoscopy With Patient Navigation.

The effectiveness of colonoscopy is directly affected by the quality of the patient's bowel preparation. Patients with lower socioeconomic status (SES) are at increased risk of having suboptimal bowel prep quality. Patient navigators can play a key role in clarifying bowel prep instructions. The aim of the present study was to examine the quality of bowel prep and its predictors among individuals of low SES undergoing screening colonoscopy with patient navigation. Participants (N = 607) were individuals of low SES who completed a screening colonoscopy with patient navigation. Demographic information was collected after the participants received a primary care referral for a screening colonoscopy. After the colonoscopy was completed, medical charts were reviewed to document the colonoscopists' bowel prep quality ratings. A total of 6.8% (41/607) of the sample had poor bowel prep, which significantly correlated with having a colonoscopy that did not reach the cecum. If fair preps were included, approximately 19.3% (117/607) of our cohort would be considered to have suboptimal bowel prep. Our suboptimal bowel prep rates were better than those reported from other low SES samples.

Wealth, health and frailty in industrial-era London

Background: Socioeconomic status is a powerful predictor of mortality in living populations, as status affects exposure or access to a variety of factors that impact health and survival, such as diet, healthcare, infectious disease and pollution.Aim: This study examines the effect of socioeconomic status on mortality and survival in London during a period spanning the early 18th through mid-19th centuries. During this period, London experienced rapid industrialization and heightened class distinctions. This study examines whether low-socioeconomic status was associated with reduced survival at a time when the distinctions between social strata were peaking.Subjects and methods: The samples for this study are drawn from three skeletal assemblages in London that represent lower and higher social strata. The upper socioeconomic status sample (n = 394) is from Chelsea Old Church and St Bride’s Fleet Street (crypt assemblage). The low socioeconomic status sample (n = 474) is from St. Bride’s Lower Churchyard (also known as St Bride’s Farringdon Street). The effect of status on mortality and survival is assessed using hazard analysis and Kaplan–Meier analysis.Results: The results reveal elevated mortality and reduced survival for lower socioeconomic status children, but no strong effect of status on adult mortality or survival.Conclusion: These results might indicate strong selective mortality operating during childhood or the effects of migration in the industrial-era population of London.

Neighborhood disorder, spiritual well-being, and parenting stress in African American women.

Using a culturally informed risk-protective framework, the purpose of this study was to examine spiritual well-being (existential, religious) as a moderator (protective factor) in the relation between neighborhood disorder (risk factor) and parenting stress in a high-risk sample of low-socioeconomic status (SES) African American women (N = 144). These women, who were primary caregivers of children between 8 and 12 years old, reported on disorder in their existential and religious well-being, neighborhoods, and 3 types of parenting stress. Women who perceived more disorder in their neighborhood had more parenting stress, and women who reported more existential and religious well-being had less parenting stress. Existential (characterized by a sense of purpose in life), but not religious (characterized by a sense of life in relation with God) well-being moderated the relation between neighborhood disorder and all types of parenting stress, such that women with medium or high levels of existential well-being had low levels of parenting stress at low levels of neighborhood disorder, but higher levels of parenting stress at higher levels of neighborhood disorder. No moderation effects were found at low levels of existential well-being. Results are framed in a context that emphasizes their relevance to incorporating family interventions that bolster culturally relevant resilience factors, such as spirituality, pertinent to low-SES African American families.

Use of synthetic drugs among people who inject drugs in San Diego, CA

s / Drug and Alcohol Dependence 140 (2014) e169–e251 e235 Methods: Data are from a large, well-retained urban, low socioeconomic status sample of 378 full-term African American infants (195 PCE, 183 non-PCE) who were enrolled prospectively at birth in the longitudinal Miami Prenatal Cocaine Study (MPCS) and were currently residing in Florida at the 18/19 year followup visit. PCE was assessed via maternal self-report and toxicology assays in maternal urine and infant urine and meconium. ACE was assessed by toxicology assays only. Arrests for violent offenses in early adulthood were based on search of official Florida arrest records. Estimates are presented, with and without consideration of other sources of variation such as prenatal exposure to alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco, and caregiver arrest record. Results: Estimates fromstratified analyses found arrests for violent offenses in early adulthood for an estimated 22% ofmales with neither PCE nor ACE versus 46% for males with both PCE and ACE (p 0.05). The male risk ratio for combined PCE and ACE associated occurrence of arrest for violent offenses of approximately 2.0 (p<0.05) did not change appreciably with covariate adjustments for other prenatal drug exposures and caregiver arrest record. Conclusions: PCE combined with ACE was robustly predictive of arrests for violent offenses, especially in young adult males. Limitations of adolescent self-report are constrained via focus on toxicological assays and official arrest statistics. Financial support: NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse and Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH): R01DA006556 (ESB); P50DA024584 (ESB); P50DA024584-S4 (ESB; DCV); K01DA016720 (VHA); K05DA15799 (JCA). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.02.649 Use of synthetic drugs among people who inject drugs in San Diego, CA Karla D. Wagner, J. Cuevas-Mota, R.F. Armenta, Steffanie Strathdee, R.S. Garfein University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA,

The Impact of Maternal Smoking during Pregnancy on Early Child Neurodevelopment.

Early child neurodevelopment has major impacts on future human capital and health. However, not much is known about the impacts of prenatal risk factors on child neurodevelopment. This study evaluates the effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on child neurodevelopment between 3 and 24 months of age and interactions with socioeconomic status (SES). Data from a unique sample of children from South America are employed. Smoking has large adverse effects on neurodevelopment, with larger effects in the low SES sample. The study results highlight the importance of early interventions beginning before and during pregnancy for enhancing child development and future human capital attainment.

PROTOCOL: Dropout Prevention and Intervention Programs: Effects on School Completion and Dropout Among School‐aged Children and Youth

PROTOCOL: Dropout Prevention and Intervention Programs: Effects on School Completion and Dropout Among School‐aged Children and Youth

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised in an African American Community Sample

The current study used confirmatory factor analysis techniques to investigate the construct validity of the child version of the School Refusal Assessment Scale - Revised (SRAS-R) in a community sample of low socioeconomic status, urban, African American fifth and sixth graders (n = 174). The SRAS-R is the best-researched measure of school refusal behavior in youth and typically yields four functional dimensions. Results of the investigation suggested that a modified version of the four-factor model, in which three items from the tangible reinforcement dimension are removed, may have construct validity in the current sample of youth. In addition, youth endorsement of the dimension measuring avoidance of social and/or evaluative situations was positively associated with unexcused absences. Implications for further psychometric research and early identification and prevention of problematic absenteeism in low-SES, ethnic minority community samples are highlighted.

Representations of the caregiver-child relationship and of the self, and emotion regulation in the narratives of young children whose mothers have borderline personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) represents a severe distortion in the development of attachment, self, and emotion regulation. Study of children at high risk of developing BPD may inform precursors to BPD. In a low socioeconomic status sample of 30 children aged 4-7 whose mothers have BPD and 30 normative comparisons, representations of the caregiver-child relationship and of the self, and emotion regulation were assessed with a story-stem completion measure. In contrast to comparisons and controlling for major depressive disorder, children whose mothers have BPD told stories with the following: (a) more parent-child role reversal, more fear of abandonment, and more negative mother-child and father-child relationship expectations; (b) more incongruent and shameful representations of the self; and (c) poorer emotion regulation indicated by more confusion of boundaries between fantasy and reality and between self and fantasy, more fantasy proneness, less narrative coherence, and marginally more intrusion of traumatic themes. In the sample as a whole, (a) a maladaptive caregiver-child relationship composite was associated with maternal identity disturbance and self-harm; (b) a maladaptive self-composite was associated with maternal self-harm; and (c) a maladaptive emotion regulation composite was associated with maternal identity disturbance, negative relationships, and self-harm. Results are discussed in terms of putative precursors to BPD and preventive interventions.

Stanford GEMS phase 2 obesity prevention trial for low-income African-American girls: Design and sample baseline characteristics

Objective African-American girls and women are at high risk of obesity and its associated morbidities. Few studies have tested obesity prevention strategies specifically designed for African-American girls. This report describes the design and baseline findings of the Stanford GEMS (Girls health Enrichment Multi-site Studies) trial to test the effect of a two-year community- and family-based intervention to reduce weight gain in low-income, pre-adolescent African-American girls. Design Randomized controlled trial with measurements scheduled in girls' homes at baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 month post-randomization. Setting Low-income areas of Oakland, CA. Participants Eight, nine and ten year old African-American girls and their parents/caregivers. Interventions Girls are randomized to a culturally-tailored after-school dance program and a home/family-based intervention to reduce screen media use versus an information-based community health education Active-Placebo Comparison intervention. Interventions last for 2 years for each participant. Main outcome measure Change in body mass index over the two-year study. Results Recruitment and enrollment successfully produced a predominately low-socioeconomic status sample. Two-hundred sixty one (261) families were randomized. One girl per family is randomly chosen for the analysis sample. Randomization produced comparable experimental groups with only a few statistically significant differences. The sample had a mean body mass index (BMI) at the 74th percentile on the 2000 CDC BMI reference, and one-third of the analysis sample had a BMI at the 95th percentile or above. Average fasting total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were above NCEP thresholds for borderline high classifications. Girls averaged low levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity, more than 3 h per day of screen media use, and diets high in energy from fat. Conclusions The Stanford GEMS trial is testing the benefits of culturally-tailored after-school dance and screen-time reduction interventions for obesity prevention in low-income, pre-adolescent African-American girls.