Poor mental health and poverty impacts the next generation

ICON core member Viviane S Straatmann is one of the authors of a UK study focusing the consequences of child poverty and poor caregiver mental health.

About the study

This study, published in Journal of Adolescent Health, is based on longitudinal data on more than 10,000 children from the UK Millennium Cohort study. It starts by identifying trajectories between ages 0-14 of exposure to poor parental mental health and poverty, and subsequently assesses the contribution of these trajectories to health-related problems in adolescence.

Highlights

The combination of child poverty and poor caregiver mental health creates synergy effects on socioemotional, mental, and cognitive outcomes among adolescents.

Around 40% of socioemotional behavioural problems in adolescence (age 17) can be attributed to persistent exposure to child poverty and poor caregiver mental health.

Publication details

Adjei, N. K., Schlüter, D. K., Melis, G., Straatmann, V. S., Fleming, K. M., Wickham, S., … & Taylor-Robinson, D. C. (2024). Impact of Parental Mental Health and Poverty on the Health of the Next Generation: A Multi-Trajectory Analysis Using the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 74(1), 60-70.

Featured author