The impact of low socioeconomic status in child development could be more devastating for their health as they age, new research released in BMC Medicine has found.
According to a research group at the University of Helsinki, children raised with low socioeconomic status are at a higher likelihood of developing mental illness later in life.
The findings were the result of a comprehensive analysis involving data of close to one million Danish children. The mental health of the children was measured from age 15 up until their diagnosis for their mental condition. Follow-ups occurred while they were in early-adulthood.
The results of their study showed that the longer the children were raised in families with low socioeconomic status, the higher the likelihood of developing a mental illness.
“A quarter (25.2%; 95% CI 24.8–25.6%) of children born in the lowest income quintile families will have a secondary care-diagnosed mental disorder by age 37, versus 13.5% (13.2–13.9%) of those born in the highest income quintile,” the study’s authors suggested in their report.
“Longer time spent living in low-income families was associated with higher risks of developing mental disorders.”
“Early interventions to mitigate the disadvantages linked with low income, and better opportunities for upward socioeconomic mobility could reduce social and mental health inequalities,” they concluded in their findings.
