Hendrickson: Childhood Poverty

Question 1

T/F: The brain, endocrine system, and immune system are literally shaped by early poverty, with lifelong consequences.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Two ways to define poverty?

Answer 2

income standard: you are poor because you make less than $X

relative standard: you are poor because you have less than other members of society

Question 3

The standard of poverty in the U.S is called the federal poverty level. Most families need about (blank)% of the FPL to meet basic needs.

Answer 3

200

Question 4

(blank) are the poorest demographic group.

Answer 4

children

**minority children have even higher rates

Question 5

(blank)% (>16 million) live below the FPL; half of these live in “extreme poverty.”

Answer 5

22

Question 6

Children of (blank) mothers have the highest poverty rate

Answer 6

single

Question 7

How does poverty endanger children?

Answer 7

Maternal depression
Insecure attachment
Abuse, neglect
Parental drug abuse
Domestic violence
Lead poisoning, environmental toxins
Premature birth
Poor nutrition
Learning and behavior problems
Increased injury, death

Question 8

Incidence of child maltreatment is much higher in poverty. What kinds of maltreatment are we talking about?

Answer 8

neglect, abuse

Question 9

(blank) affects children in poor families disproportionately

Answer 9

maternal depression

Question 10

Almost (blank) of American children live in food-insecure households

Answer 10

1/4

Question 11

T/F: The US is one of the worst in the developed world in terms of childhood poverty

Answer 11

True

Question 12

This had a great impact on increasing the number of newly poor children

Answer 12

the great recession

Question 13

How is Nevada doing in terms of childhood poverty & well-being?

Answer 13

Nevada’s child poverty rate is increasing

Nevada ranks 48th in child well-being

Question 14

This is a key factor in persistence of poverty

Answer 14

school readiness

**when kids start kindergarten, poor children less likely to be ready

Question 15

There is a (blank)% lower HS graduation rate among the poor

Answer 15

23%

Question 16

Discuss the differences in language between parents/children in poor vs other families?

Answer 16

poor families talk less to their children & use fewer different words - fewer nouns/modifiers and past-tense verbs, less affirmative tone, fewer questions, less responsive to child’s initiations
poor children use less words, add new words more slowly
poor children heard 30 mil fewer words than children from professional families

Question 17

Amount and quality of parents’ language predicts abilities and IQ at age (blank)

Answer 17

3

Question 18

Why are the first 3yrs of life so important?

Answer 18

“Critical periods” of development concentrated in first years of life.

These are windows of time in which the brain, stress response, and immune systems demonstrate remarkable plasticity in response to input from environment.

Question 19

Poverty creates toxic stress. Effects are reduced if children have a (blank) in their lives, but are intensified without a supportive adult. Toxic stress adversely affects (blank) development and the HPA axis.

Answer 19

caring adult; brain

Question 20

Toxic stress leaves its mark through two processes. What are they?

Answer 20

synaptic remodeling: brain’s neural circuitry is shaped by early learning experiences

epigenetics: gene expression is altered

Question 21

Synaptic remodeling happens in the (blank)

Answer 21

cerebral cortex

Question 22

What is synaptic proliferation and pruning?

Answer 22

Synapses proliferate rapidly, are pruned extensively in early years.

Maximizes plasticity in response to early environment.

Most of this occurs during “critical period”for each region of cortex.

Once critical period is over, synapses are less “plastic”

Question 23

What happens to the cortical thickness and surface area in the first few years of life?

Answer 23

Cortical thickness decreases rapidly in childhood and early adolescence, followed by more gradual thinning, plateau in early adulthood.

Cortical surface area expands through early adolescence, then shrinks through middle adulthood.

**By age 10, more intelligent children have thinner cortices, greater surface area

Question 24

How does poverty effect cortical surface area & thickness?

Answer 24

family income is significantly associated with brain surface area, & borderline associated w/ cortical thickness

low income families –> lower surface area of brain

Question 25

What impact does poverty have on total gray matter?

Answer 25

lower SES families have less gray matter in frontal & parietal areas

Question 26

What is the impact of the poverty on the hippocampus?

Answer 26

decreased hippocampal volumes in lower SES children and older adults who were poor as children!

Question 27

Can does poverty affect the epigenome?

Answer 27

early poverty determines which genes are turned on or silenced early in life

Question 28

How does poverty affect the HPA axis?

Answer 28

early childhood adversity reduces glucocorticoid receptor protein, which increases reactivity to stress :(

**high-licking pups produced more GR protein & calmed more readily, low-licking grooming pups had GR protein highly methylated, so more on edge and anxious

Question 29

What happens to the GR gene in highly groomed pups?

Answer 29

GR gene is demethylated

Question 30

What happens to methylation in promoter regions of adults who were poor as children? What happens to salivary cortisol?

Answer 30

increased DNA methylation

higher salivary cortisol

Question 31

Children in impoverished neighborhoods have altered serum (blank) levels

Answer 31

cortisol

Question 32

What is the stress response system like in adults who have survived significant childhood adversity?

Answer 32

overly reactive, slow to shut down

Question 33

Early childhood adversity results in poor coping with (blank) and worse (blank)

Answer 33

stress; health

Question 34

T/F: Children who have spent a greater proportion of their childhood in poverty are more likely to be in worse health

Answer 34

True

Question 35

(blank) from all causes higher if born into poverty

Answer 35

mortality

Question 36

Are the health effects of childhood poverty overcome by later wealth?

Answer 36

no!

Question 37

Adults who experienced (blank) are at higher risk for behavioral problems, depression, and chronic health problems

Answer 37

adverse childhood experiences