LATEBREAKER
Social
Positive Development by Adversity: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Evidence using LONGSCAN study Takeo Fujiwara* Takeo Fujiwara
It is well known that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can lead to poor health. However, some children with less toxic ACEs showed positive development in adolescence under specific conditions, such as having supportive adults other than parents (i.e., outside adults). Here, we propose a new concept of child development, “positive development by adversity (PDA).”
The LONGSCAN, a nationwide longitudinal study based on child protection services, was used to test the concept of PDA. A combination of two inverse probability weighting for the allocation of hardships (i.e., poverty and neglect) at 6 years old and having a supportive adult during 12-16 years old using the covariates was applied. Social skills assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) from age 6 to 16 were used as the outcome variable. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed comparing four groups, 1) children with hardship and supportive adults, 2) children with hardship but not having supportive adults, 3) children without hardship but having supportive adults, and 4) children without hardship and supportive adults.
In the results, it was found that children who experienced poverty and neglect and had outside adults showed greater social skills than children without poverty but with outside adults (coefficient: 2.28, 95% confidence interval: 0.14 to 4.42 to -0.14). These findings suggest that poverty and neglect in childhood may contribute to the positive development by adversity (PDA) of social skills, under specific conditions such as having outside adults.