Studies funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have found that states with more robust social safety nets have reduced socioeconomic gaps in young children’s brain development and mental health, the National Institutes of Health said in a recent report.
According to a May 2 report by NIH, this refers to the brain development and mental health of children aged 9 through 11. The brain structure between children from high- versus low-income households was reportedly at least a third lower in states that had greater assistance. Mental health symptoms were cut in half.
“Multiple studies have found associations between the brain changes shown in this research and meaningful impacts such as low test scores, lack of school readiness and risk factors for mood disorders,” NIDA Director Nora Volkow said. “Investigating the policy factors that are associated with brain development and mental health is an important part of better understanding health inequities that impact people throughout their lives, starting in critical periods of development.”
The study, which was published in Nature Communications, emphasizes how socioeconomic disparities can affect a child's brain development. It also shows how these differences can be closed by utilizing state anti-poverty programs like Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Data from the extensive, multi-site Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study), directed by NIDA, are used in the findings. Researchers from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, examined data from the ABCD Study that included more than 10,000 kids from 17 states with various anti-poverty laws and cost-of-living structures.
New research has revealed that children from families with lower incomes have smaller hippocampal volumes than children from families with higher incomes. An important part of memory and emotional learning is played by the hippocampus.
The research team first confirmed that among the 9- to 11-year-old participants, lower family income coincides with smaller hippocampal volume and also shows additional symptoms of mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, aggression, impulsivity and inattention. They anticipated that in more expensive states, where the high cost of living is even more burdensome on low-income families, these gaps between high-income and low-income families would be amplified.
