Child Poverty & Brain Development (Reading)

Question 1

Main points - Brain Development and Poverty Environment

(SSE Influences on Neighborhood and
Family)

Answer 1

Low SSE leads to living in less safe and less structured neighborhoods

These neighborhoods expose children to pathogens that impact children’s brain structure and function
- Exposure to pollutants during the prenatal stage and
childhood can affect motor and cognitive development
- Can lead to developing externalizing symptoms & ADHD

Poverty Environment is often associated with higher exposure to violence
- This can cause chronic stress to develop

Question 2

Main points - Brain Development and Poverty Environment

(SSE Influences on Family
Environment)

Answer 2

Financial difficulties can cause low income parents to develop psychiatric disorders like anxiety and depression
- This can create a stressful environment for the child.
- It can lead to poor parenting practices such as neglect, violence, and repression
These situations can stimulate emotional and behavioral disorders in children

Question 3

Main Points - Disparities in Socioeconomic Status (Food Insecurity)

Answer 3

Food insecurity and malnutrition affect neurodevelopment in children
- This affects academic performance because food insecurity is associated with low cognitive performance, low IQ, attention deficits etc

Question 4

Main Points - Academic Impact and Poverty

Answer 4

Low SSE can lead to the atypical development of
brain structures, such as the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and hippocampus
- These are associated with academic performance as it relates to emotional regulation, memory retention, information processing etc

It is unknown if poverty’s impact on academic achievement is due to the child’s low income home environment or social selections in which genetics play a role in low academic performance, leading to low SSE

Question 5

Main Points - Poverty Stress and Brain development

Answer 5

Poverty effects nutrition, physical activity possibilities, and maternal psychological state.
- These factors raise cortisol levels, a hormone associated with changes in the neural network connectivity in fetus neurodevelopment

Children living with socioeconomic disadvantage have a slower growth of the hippocampal region