Poor kids have harder time handling stress

Ithaca, N.Y. -- The longer U.S. children live in poverty, the less efficient their bodies become in handling environmental demands, a study found.

Gary Evans, a professor at Cornell University's College of Human Ecology and graduate student Pilyoung Kim assessed the neuroendocrine and cardiovascular markers of stress by measuring overnight levels of the stress hormone cortisol and blood pressure reactivity and recovery after an acute stressor -- being asked unexpectedly to do mental math problems.

The 217 low- and middle-income white adolescents from rural areas of New York were examined at age 9 and at 13. The researchers also assessed cumulative physical and social risk exposure by measuring crowding, noise, housing, reports of family turmoil, youth separation from family and exposure to violence.

"These muted responses of stress regulatory mechanisms, which are part of the cardiovascular system, not only compromise the ability of the adolescents' bodies to respond to such stressors as noise, poor housing and family turmoil, but also indicate they are suffering from more stress-induced physiological strain on their organs and tissues than other young people," Evans said in a statement.

The findings are published in the Psychological Science.

© 2007 United Press International.