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Childhood Chaos and Socioeconomic Status

Supplementary Results Summary Tables. Evans, G.W., Eckenrode, J., & Marcynyszyn, L. (2009). Poverty and chaos. In G.W. Evans & T.D. Wachs (Eds.). Chaos and children's development: Levels of analysis and mechanisms. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Chapter Contents

1. Table 1 Crowding
2. Table 2 Noise
3. Table 3 Routines and Rituals
4. Table 4 Residential Relocation
5. Table 5 School Relocation
6. Table 6 Maternal Partner Changes
7. Table 7 Composite Measures of Chaos
8. References

Table 1 Crowding

Author	Sample	SES Index	Chaos Measure	Findings
Mitchell (1971)	1500 Hong Kong households with children, heterogeneous	Income quartile	square ft.	22|10% of low|high income families have < 20 sq ft/per.
Davie et al. (1972)	10,000 UK representative sample families with 7-year-old	Occupation	> 1.5 person/room	37|1% lowest|highest class
Light (1973)	1520 US households with children	Income	share home with non-family members	r = -.32
Rutter et al. (1974)	239 London households with 10 year old, half in poor and half in working class area	SES	> 1 person/room or ≥ 4 children	50|20% in poor|working class areas
Booth & Edwards (1976)	560 Toronto households with children, high density households over sampled	Occupation Education	person/room	r = -.25 r = -.23
Gove & Huges (1983)	1582 Chicago households (776 with one or more children)	Income Education	person/room	r = -.15 r = -.10
Wachs & Chan (1986)	48, 12 month olds, heterogeneous	SES	person/room	r = -.26
Mayer & Jencks (1989)	1617 non-Hispanic Chicago households heterogeneous	< 1 ≥ income to needs	> 1 person/room	25%|11%
Goduka et al. (1992)	300, 5-6 year old rural black children in South Africa, heterogeneous	Occupation Education	person/room	r = -.63 r = -.55
Fuller et al. (1993)	2017 low and middle class with children in Bangkok	Income Education	person/room	r = -.34 r = -.25
Liaw & Brooks-Gunn (1994)	704, 36 month olds, premature & low birth weight babies, heterogeneous	≤ 1.5 > income to needs	> 2 child/adult ratio	26%|7%
Children's Defense Fund (1995)	National sample of households with children	≤ 1 > income to needs	> 1 person/room	30%|9%
Federman et al. (1996)	˜ 50,000 representative US households	≤ 1 > income to needs	> 1 person/room	19%|4%
Myers et al. (1996)	1% representative sample of US census	Household income/median for state	> 1 person/room	low income 8% mid income 5% high income 1%
Mayer (1997)	˜ 40,000 representative sample of US households, 1985-1989	Income	> 1 person/room	lowest decile 19% 2nd decile 23% third quintile 11% fifth quintile 5%
Evans et al. (1998)	281 low and middle income 10-12 years, urban India	Income	person/room	r = -.53
National Center for Education Statistics (2000)	903 representative sample of US elementary and secondary schools	% eligible free/subsidized lunch	> 125% building capacity	> 70% eligible 6%
Conley (2001)	2686 representative sample of US households with children	Income	≥ 1 < person/room	Odds Ratio = -.95
Evans et al. (2002)	1154 working and middle class 9-10 years in Austria	Education	person/room	r = -.14
Evans & English (2002)	270, 8-10 years, half below poverty line, half 2-4 times poverty line	Poverty/Middle-income	person/room	r = -.35
Kantrowitz & Evans (2004)	21 preschool children, heterogeneous	Income/Education	children/activity area in daycare ctr.	r = -.39 r = -.39
Evans et al. (2008)	80, 36 months, low and middle income	Income	person/room	r = -.42
	˜ 10,000 36 months, UK representative sample	Income	person/room	r = -.41

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Note. Income-to-needs is the ratio of household income to the federal poverty line which is based on family size and composition. An income-to-needs ratio of 1.0 is the Federal Poverty Line, adjusted annually for the cost of living index.

Table 2 Noise

Author	Sample	SES Index	Chaos Measure	Findings
Cohen et al. (1973)	73, 2nd-5th graders in one apartment building over a major thruway, middle and upper middle class	Education	Noise Level (floor level)	r = -.41
EPA (1977)	˜ 2000 adults in 7 major metropolitan areas, heterogeneous	Income	Community Noise levels in decibels	r = -.61
Heft (1979)	94 kindergarten, lower and middle income	Income	Trained Rater of sound levels	r = -.14
Homel & Burns (1987)	321, 9-11 years in 18 neighborhoods varying in SES	Neighborhood SES	Child ratings of noise, dirt, pollution	Low risk .15 High risk .40
Evans et al. (2001)	115, 4th graders, Austria homogeneous	Education	Community Noise (< 50 decibels > 60)	2.50|2.44 (1= < HS - 5=Grad school)
Evans & English (2002)	270 8-10 year olds; half below poverty line, half middle income	Income	Indoor Noise Levels in decibels	r = -.24

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Table 3 Routines and Rituals

Author	Sample	SES Index	Chaos Measure	Findings
Boyce et al. (1977)	58 preschool and elementary school children	Income	Family Routine Inventory (self-report of household activities such as meals, bed time)	r = -.47
Jensen et al. (1983)	307 families with child in home, income and education heterogeneous	Income Education	Family Routine Inventory	r = .14 r = .03
Sprunger et al. (1985)	285 families of infants, income and education heterogeneous	Income Education	Family Routine Inventory	r = .16 r = .09
Fiese (1992)	241 undergraduates, middle and upper middle class	Social Class	Family Rituals Questionnaire (self-reports of family rituals and frequency occurrence)	r = ns
Fiese & Kline (1993)	214 undergraduates, middle and upper middle class	Social Class	Family Rituals Questionnaire	r < .10
Fiese et al. (1993)	115 infants & preschoolers, middle and upper middle class	Social Class	Family Rituals Questionnaire	r < .10
Henry & Lovelace (1995)	95 high school students with remarried parent middle and upper middle class	Education Occupation	Family Time & Routines (self reports of household activities) Family Celebration Index (self reports of celebration rituals)	r = .07 r = .01 r = .26 r = .10
Brody & Flor (1997)	156 African American 6-9 year-olds predominantly low income	Perceived Financial Resources	Family Routine Inventory	r = .20
Kleiwer & Kung (1998)	99 African American 8-12 year-olds predominantly low income	Education	Family Routine Inventory	r = .37
Bradley et al. (2001)	29,000 3-15 year-olds, US representative sample	Below/Above Poverty Line	≥ 1 Daily meal with parents	3-6 yrs   54/70% 6-10   46/63% 10-15   42/57%
Lareau (2002)	88 3rd grade, heterogeneous	Occupation	Organized Leisure Activities/Week	Middle Class   4.9 Working Class   2.5 Poor   1.5
Britto et al. (2002)	1,270, 12-36 month-olds, heterogeneous	Education Employment	Regularity of meal, nap, bed time	HS Grad/Not HS 8|44% Employed/Unemployed 53|43%
Seaton & Taylor (2003)	164, predominantly low-income African American mothers of adolescents	Perceived Financial Resources	Family Routine Inventory	r = .14
Crouter et al. (2004)	192 dual earner families with adolescent and siblings, working and middle class	Education Income	Total Family Time Together Meal Times Together	r = -.04 r = -.15 r = -.03 r = -.11
Fiese et al. (2005)	133 asthmatic children, heterogeneous	Social Class	Medication Routines Burden of Maintaining Routines	r = ns r = -.33
Gershoff et al. (2007)	˜ 20,000 kindergarten, nationally representative, heterogeneous	Income	Meal and bedtime routines, Rules re: TV watching	r = .07

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Note. NS = not statistically significant (value not given).

Table 4 Residential Relocation

Author	Sample	SES Index	Chaos Measure	Findings
Mayer & Jencks (1989)	1617 non-Hispanic Chicago households heterogeneous	< 1 ≥ 1 income to needs	evicted past 2 years	2%|.6%
Long (1992)	˜ 17,000 3-17 year-olds, national US sample, heterogeneous	< poverty line < high school	life time moves < = > the mean for age	10%|18%|24% 18%|21%|26%
Wood et al. (1993)	˜ 10,000 6-17 year olds, national US sample, heterogeneous	≤ 1 > income to needs Education Unemployed|Employed	≥ 6 moves in lifetime	15%|9% < High School   13% Some College   9% 16%|10%
Simpson & Fowler (1994)	˜ 10,000 1-12th graders, national US sample, heterogeneous	< poverty line > < high school > high school	life time moves	48%|37% 46% 38%
Astone & Mclanahan (1994)	˜ 10,000 10th graders, national US sample, heterogeneous	SES	0,1, 2 ≥ 3 moves 5th-10th grade	b = -.11 ≥ 3 moves vs. 0
Fergusson et al. (1994)	longitudinal study of ˜ 1000 children birth to age 15, heterogeneous	family income occupation (prof - unskilled/unemployed)	life time moves	r = -.18 r = .22
Federman et al. (1996)	˜ 50,000 representative US households heterogeneous	≤ 1 > income to needs	evicted in past year	2%|.4%
Ennett et al. (1997)	36 elementary schools, heterogeneous	census income & % < 1 income to needs & % hs drop	neighborhood mobility (% change in 5 years & out % renter households)	r = .16
Kohen et al. (1998)	11,378 Canadian 5-11 year-olds, heterogeneous	Income < high school > high school	0, 1-2, ≥ 3 life time moves	53,520|52,261| 41,497 4%|16%|20% 67%|65%|61%
Rumberger & Larson (1998)	11,671 eighth graders, US representative sample	SES (bottom/top 25%)	move within 4 year period	49%|28%
Ackerman et al. (2002)	139 1st and 3rd grade, predominantly low-income, African American	Income Education	life time moves	r = .18 r = .11
Adam & Chase Lansdale (2002)	267 African American female 15-18 years, predominantly low income	Welfare Income Education	moves last 5 years	r = .11 r = -.07 r = -.08
Herrenkohl et al. (2003)	212 adolescents, heterogeneous	SES	life time moves	r = -.35
US Census (2004)	US national data, heterogeneous	Income ≤ 1 > income to needs	moved within last year	< 25K   19% 25-49K   15% 50-99K   12% ≥ 100K   10% 4%|13%
Hoglund & Leadbetter (2004)	423 six year-olds, heterogeneous	proportion of students in school receiving free or subsidized lunches Education	life time moves	r = .19 r = -.15
Gilman (2007)	2913 seven year-olds, Rhode Island families, heterogeneous	SES	birth - age 7	r = -.21
Gershoff et al. (2007)	˜ 20,000 kindergarten, nationally representative, heterogeneous	Income	life time moves Rules re: TV watching	r = -.18

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Table 5 School Relocation

Author	Sample	SES Index	Chaos Measure	Findings
Rutter et al. (1974)	127 low-income; 132 working class	London borough | inner city	Proportion children changing one year Proportion teachers changing one year	3%|26% 7%|11%
GAO (1994) Office (1994)	˜ 15,000 3rd graders, US representative sample	Income	≥ 3 changes in schools	< 10K   30% > 25K   10% Inner city   25% Sub|rural   15%
Fergusson et al. (1994)	longitudinal study of ˜ 1000 children birth to age 15, heterogeneous	family income occupation (prof - unskilled/unemployed)	total number of schools	r = -.13 r = .11
Eckenrode et al. (1995)	726 5-15 year-olds, half of sample were documented abuse cases, 67% of all families welfare recipients at some point	Combined index of residential and non-normative school changes	total number of schools	r = .22
Mehna & Reynolds (1995)	988 urban, African-American 6th graders, low-income sample	Subsidized lunch 1=full, 2=partial, 3=none	Moves K - 5th grade	B = -.15
Kerbow (1996)	˜ 14,000 sixth graders, Chicago schools, heterogeneous	Median income Subsidized lunch	School changes in 2 year period (0|> 4)	26,898|$22,565 78%|65%
National Center for Education Statistics (1996)	˜ 25,000 eighth graders, US representative sample	0-5 % vs. 40% of school eligible for govt. subsidized lunch	Two or more school changes since first grade other than from elementary to middle school.	31%|38%
Alexander et al. (2001)	767 first graders, Baltimore, heretogeneous	% subsidized meals	Within district moves over 5 year period 0|1|> 2 moves	65%|77%|88%
Nelson et al. (2001)	˜ 2,500 predominantly poor, urban African-American and Latino K and first graders	Single/two parent ≥ 90% in school eligible for free lunch|other schools	changed school in 3 years	65%|41% 39%|33%
Kohen et al. (1998)	11,378 Canadian 5-11 year olds, heterogeneous	Income < high school > high school	c0, 1-2, ≥ 3 school changes	51,444|47,251|38,192 15%|19%|25% 65%|64%|62%
Rumberger & Larson (1998)	11,671 eighth graders, US representative sample	SES (bottom/top 25%)	Non-normative school changes in 4 year period	32%|24%
Wright (1999)	˜ 3,000 3rd-4th graders, US midwest, heterogeneous	Free or reduced lunch eligibility/No eligibility	One or more changes in one year	0%|31%
Rumberger & Thomas (2000)	7,642 tenth graders, US rep sample	SES	Change in 2 year period	High SES 13% less than Middle & 26% less than Low SES
Herrenkohl et al. (2003)	212 adolescents, heterogeneous	SES	Lifetime school changes	r = -.34
Public Policy Research Institute of California (2003)	17 high schools, San Diego, CA	Hi/Lo quintile free or reduced lunch eligbility	High school	6%|2%
Schafft (2005)	277 elementary school districts upstate NY, heterogeneous	Bottom and top third based on school lunch subsidies	Student transfers New admissions	7.2%|4.5% 7.8%|4.3%

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Table 6 Maternal Partner Changes

Author	Sample	SES Index	Chaos Measure	Findings
Guidubaldi et al. (1986)	699 first-fifth graders, heterogeneous half from divorced families	Median Income	Divorced|Not Divorced	10-15K|25-30K
Reid (1989)	UK census data, heterogeneous	SES	Divorce/1000 husbands	Unskilled 30 Professional 7
Capaldi & Patterson (1991)	206 4th grade boys, predominantly low-income	Per capita income Low SES	> 2 < maternal partner changes	$2700|$5351 28.5/34.2
Sandefur et al. (1992)	˜ 5,000 14-17 year olds, heterogeneous	Per capita income	Intact vs. Single Remarried	-$5,000 -$2,000
Fergusson et al. (1994)	longitudinal study of ˜ 1000 children birth to age 15, heterogeneous	family income occupation (prof - unskilled/unemployed)	total number of parental changes	r = -. 29 r = .26
Aquilino (1996)	540 19-34 year olds, single family households	Education	≥ 3 partner changes	< High School 30% High School 49% Some College 21%
National Statistics (1997)	˜ 9,000 British adults, heterogeneous	Per capita income change 1991-1995 ≥ 2 decile drop stable decile ≥ 2 decile gain	Maternal partner change	47% 39% 14%
Kiernan & Mueller (1999)	˜ 26,000 British households, heterogeneous¹	Hourly wages (£) Unemploy|Employ Welfare|No welfare	Divorce|Married	5.86|6.57 12%|5% 34%|5%
Evans (2004)	US Census of families with children, heterogeneous	Income Quintiles	Divorce	Lowest Quint.   25.4% Highest Quint.   5.7%
Cavanagh & Huston (2006)	982 third graders, heterogeneous	< Poverty Line >	Maternal partner changes ≥ 3 (birth-third grade)	25%|5%
Osborne & Mclanahan (2007)	2000 3 year-olds, heterogeneous	< Poverty Line >	Maternal partner changes 0 in child's lifetime ≥ 3 (birth-third grade)	39%|59% 20%|9%

¹Subsample of parents ages 25-39 with children. Similar data on parents ages 40-59.

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Table 7 Composite Measures of Chaos

Author	Sample	SES Index	Chaos Measure	Findings
Matheny et al. (1995)	123 middle class infants & toddlers, homogenous	Occupation Education	CHAOS Scale (crowding, noise, confusion)	r = -.24 r = -.11
Moore et al. (2000)	˜ 40,000 families of 6-17 year-olds representative US	Income to needs	Turbulence (> 2 of following in 1 year: residential chg., move to new state, move to new fam., ≥ 2 parent jobs, ≥ 2 school chg, sig. fam hlth prob.)	≤ 1   13% 1.5-2   7% > 3   3%
Asbury et al. (2005)	1,900 4 year-old twins, representative UK sample	SES	CHAOS Scale	r = -.27
Dumas et al. (2005)	106 kindergarten, heterogeneous 676 third graders, homogeneous	Education Education Income	CHAOS Scale	r = -.28 r = -.16 r = .09
Evans et al. (2005)	223, 12-14 years, heterogeneous	Income to needs	CHAOS Scale	r = -.30
Pike et al. (2006)	5765 families of twins, UK	SES	CHAOS Scale	r = -.28
Hart et al. (2007)	211 twin pairs, K-second grade	Education	CHAOS Scale	r = -.21
Marcynyszyn et al. (in press)	141 fifteen year-olds, predominantly low & lower middle class mothers of 225 12-14 year-olds, heterogeneous	Income to needs Education Income to needs Education	Instability (residential chg., school chg., partner chg., work hr. chg). Instability	r = -.25 r = .02 r = -.40 r = .18

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