Effects of Household Income Change on Children's Problem Behavior: Findings From a Longitudinal Study

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effect of changes in equivalized disposable household income (EHDI) on children's problem behavior. Methods: Data were collected from the Korean Welfare Panel Study (2006, 2009, 2012). A total of 1,005 school-aged children were included in the analysis. Children's problem behavior was measured using the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist. Using the generalized linear mixed model for repeated measures, we investigated the effect of actual household income changes on children's problem behavior, based on the family's EHDI. Results: Children who experienced high EHDI decrement exhibited a significant increase in problem behavior compared with those who did not experience sizable EHDI change (high decrement: β = .21, standard error = .09, p = .016). Furthermore, problem behavior was higher in girls who experienced a decrement in EHDI compared with boys. Conclusions: These findings suggest that changes in family's economic status might negatively affect the probability of children's problem behavior when there is a large decrease in EHDI.