Social disparities in mental and physical health are among the most universal, enduring, and costly problems of human societies. Despite pervasive, graded health effects at every level of the socioeconomic scale, little is understood of the mechanisms by which such effects occur or how human development influences their character and magnitude. The health consequences of SES may be due not to differentials in living conditions, lifestyle or health care, but rather to experiences of social ordering per se, that is, the subjective human experience of occupying a lesser or greater position on a scale of social influence. If so, children's experiences with social ordering in early childhood groups may represent a first, formative encounter with the hierarchical social relations affecting health over the human lifespan. To investigate these possibilities, the researchers will: 1) study predictive associations between social ordering and children's mental and physical health during the kindergarten and first grade years; 2) examine relations among social processes-including social ordering, peer rejection, and victimization-and their relative contributions to health; and 3) investigate antecedents of social position among background child factors, family sociocultural factors, and baseline health status. A prospective, multiple cohort design will be employed, in which 300 kindergarten children, 100 each in three academic year cohorts, will be followed from the August preceding kindergarten entry through the end of first grade. Social position will be ascertained using repeated naturalistic observations, a measure of the child's subjective social status, and an experimental protocol designed to elicit hierarchical behavior. Other peer processes (peer rejection and victimization) will be ascertained with peer nomination, child interviews, and parent and teacher reports. Antecedent independent variables (child's gender, birth order, physical size and strength, temperament, family SES and sociocultural values) will be evaluated with direct measurement, psychometric instruments and parent questionnaires. Finally, outcome measures-comprising indicators of mental and physical health-will be assessed with a combination of standardized stress reactivity procedures, parent- and teacher-report questionnaires, child self-report protocols, and frequent, objective physical examinations of the child.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH062320-05
Application #
7097274
Study Section
Risk, Prevention and Health Behavior Integrated Review Group (RPHB)
Program Officer
Price, Leshawndra N
Project Start
2002-09-01
Project End
2009-06-30
Budget Start
2006-07-01
Budget End
2009-06-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$423,056
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Berkeley
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Other Domestic Higher Education
DUNS #
124726725
City
Berkeley
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94704
Roubinov, Danielle S; Bush, Nicole R; Adler, Nancy E et al. (2018) Differences in Febrile and Respiratory Illnesses in Minority Children: The Sociodemographic Context of Restrictive Parenting. Acad Pediatr :
Roubinov, Danielle S; Hagan, Melissa J; Boyce, W Thomas et al. (2018) Family Socioeconomic Status, Cortisol, and Physical Health in Early Childhood: The Role of Advantageous Neighborhood Characteristics. Psychosom Med 80:492-501
Roubinov, Danielle S; Boyce, W Thomas (2017) Parenting and SES: relative values or enduring principles? Curr Opin Psychol 15:162-167
Hagan, Melissa J; Roubinov, Danielle S; Adler, Nancy E et al. (2016) Socioeconomic Adversity, Negativity in the Parent Child-Relationship, and Physiological Reactivity: An Examination of Pathways and Interactive Processes Affecting Young Children's Physical Health. Psychosom Med 78:998-1007
Halpern, Jodi; Jutte, Douglas; Colby, Jackie et al. (2015) Social dominance, school bullying, and child health: what are our ethical obligations to the very young? Pediatrics 135 Suppl 2:S24-30
Quas, Jodi A; Yim, Ilona S; Oberlander, Tim F et al. (2014) The symphonic structure of childhood stress reactivity: patterns of sympathetic, parasympathetic, and adrenocortical responses to psychological challenge. Dev Psychopathol 26:963-82
Boyce, W Thomas (2014) The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatr Dent 36:102-8
Portilla, Ximena A; Ballard, Parissa J; Adler, Nancy E et al. (2014) An integrative view of school functioning: transactions between self-regulation, school engagement, and teacher-child relationship quality. Child Dev 85:1915-31
Boyce, W Thomas; Obradovic, Jelena; Bush, Nicole R et al. (2012) Social stratification, classroom climate, and the behavioral adaptation of kindergarten children. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109 Suppl 2:17168-73
Bush, Nicole R; Alkon, Abbey; Obradovic, Jelena et al. (2011) Differentiating challenge reactivity from psychomotor activity in studies of children's psychophysiology: considerations for theory and measurement. J Exp Child Psychol 110:62-79

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