1. Path modeling of children's life outcomes: the 1987 Finnish Birth Cohort.
- Author
-
Ristikari, Tiina, Merikukka, Marko, Savinetti, Nicol F., and Malloy, Thomas E.
- Subjects
BRAIN physiology ,QUALITY of life ,MENTAL health ,ACADEMIC achievement ,ADAPTABILITY (Personality) ,CHI-squared test ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,DATABASES ,INCOME ,LONGITUDINAL method ,MATHEMATICAL models ,MEDICAL research ,NOSOLOGY ,PARENTING ,PARENTS ,POVERTY ,RESEARCH funding ,SOCIAL isolation ,THEORY ,SOCIOECONOMIC factors ,WELL-being ,HEALTH equity ,DATA analysis software ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,ADVERSE childhood experiences ,CHILDREN - Abstract
Aim: Socioeconomic marginalization and inequalities in well-being and health in adults have been shown to be rooted in the early childhood experience. In particular, childhood poverty and parental income may influence children's well-being in multiple and diverse ways, as it is known that parental poverty impedes cognitive function. Subjects and methods: The 1987 Finnish Birth Cohort includes a complete census of children born in a single year. The children were followed up from birth until end of 2012 using official registers maintained by the Finnish authorities. Cohort members who survived till the end of follow-up were included in the study (N = 58,818). Path modelling was used to analyze relations of theoretical constructs; parental adaption (PA), parental psychiatric involvement (PPI), family socioeconomic status (SES) as mediator, and child life outcomes (CLO) as outcome. Three models were made; a full model, a mediational model (where PA and PPI only have a direct effect on CLO through SES), and a non-mediational model with only direct effects of PA and PPI on CLO. A multiple group analysis was undertaken by cohort members' different educational outcomes. Results: The best-fitting model suggested that as parental psychiatric involvement increases and parental adaptation failures increase, the socio-economic status of the family is compromised; in turn, poverty predicts increased adverse life outcomes for children. The restricted mediational model fits best on the data, and equally well for all educational outcomes. Childhood poverty remains the most significant determinant of early adult outcomes, regardless of school performance. Conclusion: More policy effort needs to be enacted to reduce childhood poverty and its consequences in Finland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF