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Effect of socioeconomic status on behavioral problems from preschool to early elementary school – A Japanese longitudinal study

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  • Rikuya Hosokawa
  • Toshiki Katsura

Abstract

Purpose: Social inequalities are widely accepted to have a deleterious effect on children’s mental health, and those with lower socioeconomic status generally experience more mental health issues. In this study, we examine the impact of socioeconomic situations of children’s families during their early childhood on the children’s social adaptation in Japanese elementary school. Methods: The current investigation consisted of two sets of data relating to two separate years (with a one-year interval). The participants included preschoolers aged five years at Time 1 (the first year) and first graders aged six years at Time 2 (the second year); 1,712 met the inclusion criteria for both years. Parents of the participants completed a self-reported questionnaire regarding their SES (i.e., family economy and mother’s education) and their children’s mental health. Mental health was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist/4–18, Parent Report. Results: For each SES indicator, we found an inverse relationship across all the symptom dimensions. Specifically, bivariate analyses revealed that lower family income, maternal education level, and paternal education level predict all three domains of behavioral problems (i.e., internalized problems, externalized problems, and total behavioral problems). Further, multivariate analyses revealed that lower family income consistently predicts all domains of behavioral problems, lower maternal education level predicted externalized problems and total behavioral problems, and paternal education level did not predict any clinically significant behavioral problems. Conclusion: In this sample, we found that, for children, family income and parental education when entering preschool were significant predictors of mental health problems after elementary school enrollment; in particular, low income and low maternal educational achievement predicted a high probability of the development of a psychiatric disorder. A greater understanding of the mechanisms of these associations could contribute to improvements in interventions aimed at preventing child maladjustment.

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  • Rikuya Hosokawa & Toshiki Katsura, 2018. "Effect of socioeconomic status on behavioral problems from preschool to early elementary school – A Japanese longitudinal study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-23, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0197961
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197961
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Rikuya Hosokawa & Toshiki Katsura, 2018. "Role of Parenting Style in Children’s Behavioral Problems through the Transition from Preschool to Elementary School According to Gender in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Rosa S. Wong & Keith T. S. Tung & Nirmala Rao & Frederick K. W. Ho & Ko Ling Chan & King-Wa Fu & Winnie W. Y. Tso & Fan Jiang & Jason C. S. Yam & David Coghill & Ian C. K. Wong & Patrick Ip, 2021. "A Longitudinal Study of the Relation between Childhood Activities and Psychosocial Adjustment in Early Adolescence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-11, May.
    3. Rafaquat Ali & Furrukh Bashir & Rashid Ahmad, 2021. "Imprints of Lower Socioeconomic Class in English Speaking Anxieties and Academic Performance of Rural and Urban Students," iRASD Journal of Economics, International Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 3(3), pages 412-425, December.

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