Specific family and environmental factors can make a child more vulnerable to social, emotional and behavioral problems

Neighborhood characteristics and family income can be risk factors that impact young children’s social-emotional health and development.
Young children in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to experience behavioral problems than children living in moderate or affluent neighborhoods.
Young children from households with lower levels of family income are more likely to experience behavioral problems that negatively impact their development.
Research suggests that up to 50 percent of the impact of income on children’s development can be mediated by interventions that target parenting.

Parents and caregivers play an important role in supporting children’s healthy development. Research shows that family risk factors, particularly maternal risk factors such as substance use, mental health conditions and domestic violence exposure, can impact parents’ ability to support children’s development, and may contribute to behavioral problems among young children as early as age 3.
Source: NCCP, Social-emotional Development in Early Childhood  What Every Policymaker Should Know
Authors: Janice L. Cooper, Rachel Masi, and Jessica Vick
Publication Date: August 2009