Abstract
Children in poverty must contend with systems that do not meet their needs. We explored what, at a neural level, helps explain children’s resilience in these contexts. Lower coupling between lateral frontoparietal network (LFPN) and default mode network (DMN)—linked, respectively, to externally- and internally-directed thought—has previously been associated with better cognitive performance. However, we recently found the opposite pattern for children living in poverty. Here, we investigated trajectories of network coupling over ages 9-13, and their relation to academic achievement and attention problems. Critically, we explored if these relations differed meaningfully between children above and below poverty. In a pre-registered study, we analyzed longitudinal data from the first three yearly timepoints of the ABCD Study (N = 8366 children at baseline; 1303 below poverty). As predicted, higher LFPN-DMN connectivity was linked to worse grades and more attentional problems for children living above poverty, while children below poverty showed the opposite tendencies. Moreover, this interaction between LFPN-DMN connectivity and poverty status at baseline was associated with children’s grades one year later, even controlling for baseline grades. Together, these findings suggest that network connectivity is differentially predictive of academic performance and attention problems for children above and below poverty.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
