1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This study had two aims. First, to generate trajectories of welfare receipt […] in a sample of boys from low-income backgrounds. Second, to examine the longitudinal association between five prevalent kindergarten behaviors – inattention, hyperactivity, aggression, opposition, and prosociality – and trajectories of welfare receipt, after adjustment for IQ [intelligence quotient] and family adversity.» (p. 2)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Participants in this study were part of a longitudinal study of male antisocial behavior started in 1984 (Nagin and Tremblay, 2001). The boys (n=1040) were recruited from Caucasian French-speaking families and assessed by kindergarten teachers when they were aged 5–6 years while attending one of 53 schools in the poorest neighborhoods of Montreal, Canada. Participants with at least three tax returns between age 19–36 years were included in the study (n=1000; 96.2%).» (p. 2)

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

Results show that «[w]hile more than two thirds received little or no welfare support through early adulthood, nearly one in 10 followed a trajectory of chronic receipt with the probability of receiving support rising from around 80% at age 19 years to almost 100% by 36 years. Chronic welfare receipt was predicted by teacher-ratings of inattention at age 6 years, after adjustment for the child’s IQ and family adversity. Hyperactivity, opposition, aggression, and prosociality were not independently associated with trajectories of higher welfare receipt. Overall, the relative risk ratio effect sizes were the largest for family adversity followed by child IQ and inattention.» (p. 4) Indeed, «[f]amily adversity at age 6 years was by far the strongest predictor of a child’s future welfare receipt. This finding is consistent with a rich literature documenting the association between childhood poverty and poor social and economic outcomes in adulthood […], and as such is unsurprising. But the finding underscores, once again, the importance of reducing childhood adversity as a means of enhancing the life prospects of children and strengthening social and economic participation.» (p. 7)