Table of contents
Childhood Poverty Harms Adult Brain Function - featured image
By
A A A

Childhood Poverty Harms Adult Brain Function

We all know how important childhood experiences are in shaping your beliefs as an adult.happy family child drawing

Of course, we're not born knowing how to do money - so we learn it from our parents, teachers, peers, cultural community, etc. and this shapes our views for the rest of our lives.

But I was fascinated to read how growing up in poverty also influences adult psychological problems.

Jeremy Dean author of PsyBlog explains:

 There’s no sugar-coating it: growing up relatively poor is bad for you.

Children from less affluent families are, on average, more likely to suffer both physical and psychological illnesses later in life.

This is hardly a surprise, but it’s a puzzle exactly how poverty influences psychological problems.

One idea is that exposure to stress at a young age–while the brain is still developing–causes permanent damage to the ability to deal with stress.

This theory has been lent support by a new study in which researchers tested the brain function of participants at 24-years-old, 15 years after their childhood situations had first been assessed (Kim et al., 2013).

The test itself involved controlling the emotions: participants were asked to look at pictures while trying to suppress negative emotions.

note houseBeing able to control your emotions is a key factor in coping with all the stresses and strains that life throws at people.

The results showed that those whose families were the poorest when they were 9-years-old performed the worst on the tests as 24-year-olds.

And, it didn’t matter if they had subsequently climbed out of poverty; it was coming from a poor background that was the overriding factor in how their brains functioned on this test.

One of the study’s authors, Professor K. Luan Phan, explained:

“Our findings suggest that the stress-burden of growing up poor may be an underlying mechanism that accounts for the relationship between poverty as a child and how well your brain works as an adult.”

Poor but well-balanced?

psychology3

It wasn’t only childhood poverty that was connected to lower control over the emotions, childhood stress was important too.

Some participants had been relatively poor as children but had been protected from childhood stress–they performed better on the emotional suppression task.

As if we needed any more encouragement to tackle inequality in society, especially among children.

Those who had been exposed to both childhood poverty and many stress–like noises, poor housing, violence, and family turmoil–did the worst on the test.

When you’re ready to build a business, not just a job, we’re here to help you

Future Businessman Prediction

  • Do you know you’re ready for more, but tired of wondering how you’re going to grow your business?
  • Are you looking to cure your frustrations and isolation with a Real Community?
  • Are you tired of feeling like you’re doomed to playing small?
  • Are you tired of spinning your wheels and getting no traction?

Then join our Business Accelerator Mastermind

This community is for you if you’re a business person, entrepreneur, or professional who wants to 10x your income, elevate your ability to give, and leave a massive impact on your community and the world by up-leveling your tribe, improving your business acumen, and removing your limiting beliefs around money and success.

Click here to learn more

About Mark Creedon is Director of Metropole's Business Accelerator Mastermind and business coach to some of Australia's leading entrepreneurs - each who call him their "unreasonable friend"
Visit Metropole's Business Accelerator Mastermind.
3 comments

Apparently good parenting, whatever that is, has an ameliorating effect on childhood poverty. However it may be that childhood poverty with bad parenting has a devastating effect on the individual. This might manifest in an adult, not only psycholo ...Read full version

0 replies

taking it one step further for children whose parent's may not literally be poor but express a poverty mindset, this also has implications on the emotions and attitudes that children take on for themselves in regards to their mindset toward wealth, d ...Read full version

1 reply

Guides

Copyright © 2024 Michael Yardney’s Property Investment Update Important Information
Content Marketing by GridConcepts