title: Familial transient financial difficulties during infancy and long-term developmental concerns.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Socioeconomic difficulties affect the cognitive and emotional development of children. However, the focus of prior studies has largely been on poverty and material hardship. This study expands on the existing literature by examining the impact of familial transient financial difficulties during infancy on long-term cognitive and behavioral outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  The National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (79) were used to assess the association between a transient drop in family income by 50% or more (called transient income decline or TID) during the first 3 years of life and later-life Peabody Individual Achievement Math and Reading scores and behavior problem index (BPI) scores (N = 8272-17 348; median assessment age = 9 years). A subsample of matched siblings (N = 2049-4238) was examined to tease out maternal and intra-familial effects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Exposure to TID predicted increased total and externalizing BPI scores (std. coefficients of 0.10 and 0.09, respectively, p < 0.01) in the overall sample. Among matched siblings, exposure to TID predicted increased total, externalizing, and internalizing BPI scores (std. coefficients of 0.27, 0.25, and 0.23, respectively, p < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Familial transient financial difficulties can have long-lasting behavioral effects for infants. The study identifies an early risk factor and at-risk children, thus providing insight into developing early intervention measures for infants to avoid long-term behavioral problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,SUNY Upstate Medical University,Syracuse,NY,USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramanathan
authors.affiliation: Department of Management,Syracuse University,Syracuse,NY,USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Balasubramanian
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,SUNY Upstate Medical University,Syracuse,NY,USA.
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Faraone
mesh_terms: D000073978:Academic Performance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000066553:Problem Behavior; D035781:Siblings; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014825:Vocabulary
keywords: Behavior problems; financial difficulties; infancy; transient