Human Development &Family Sciences, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2019 Oct;63(10):1273-1284. doi: 10.1111/jir.12666. Epub 2019 Jul 12.
Caring for a child with a neurodisability (ND) impacts the financial decisions, relationships and well-being of family members, but evidence on the economic trajectories of families throughout the life course is missing.
Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we tracked the families of 3317 children starting 5 years before childbirth until the child reached 20 years of age. We used regression and latent growth curve modelling to estimate trajectories of poverty and economic hardship over time.
Families with a child with an ND had higher rates of poverty and economic hardship prior to childbirth and persistently over time. Analysis uncovered five latent trajectories for each indicator. After controlling for family and caregiver characteristics that preceded the birth of the child, raising a child with an ND was not associated with a unique trajectory of poverty. Families raising a child with an ND were however more likely to experience persistent economic hardship.
The study establishes descriptive evidence for how having a child with an ND relates to changes in family economic conditions. The social and economic conditions that precede the child's birth seem to be driving the economic inequalities observed later throughout the life course.
照顾患有神经发育障碍（ND）的儿童会影响家庭成员的财务决策、人际关系和幸福感，但缺乏关于整个生命周期内家庭经济轨迹的证据。
本研究使用收入动态面板研究的数据，追踪了 3317 名儿童的家庭，从孩子出生前 5 年开始，一直追踪到孩子 20 岁。我们使用回归和潜在增长曲线模型来估计贫困和经济困难随时间的轨迹。
在孩子出生前以及此后的很长一段时间内，有 ND 儿童的家庭贫困率和经济困难率都更高。对于每个指标，分析都揭示了五个潜在的轨迹。在控制了儿童出生前的家庭和照顾者特征后，抚养 ND 儿童与贫困的独特轨迹没有关联。然而，抚养 ND 儿童的家庭更有可能经历持续的经济困难。
本研究为 ND 儿童与家庭经济状况变化的关系提供了描述性证据。在孩子出生之前的社会和经济条件似乎是导致整个生命周期后期观察到的经济不平等的原因。
