Reading Books Helps Children in Poverty Become More Resilient: Results from a Population-based Longitudinal Study in Japan

Abstract

Background: Resilience is an important ability in reducing subsequent health risks from poverty. This study aimed to examine whether reading books in fourth grade boosts resilience in sixth grade and whether poverty status modifies the association.

Methods: We used a part of longitudinal data from 2018 to 2020 from the Adachi Child Health Impact of Living Difficulty (A-CHILD) study. In this analysis, we used all fourth-grade elementary school students and their caregivers’ follow-up data (n = 3,136, 9- to 10-year-olds, 49.6% boys, follow-up rate =87%). Poverty and child reading books in fourth grade were assessed at baseline. Child resilience in fourth and sixth grade was assessed by caregivers using the Children’s Resilient Coping Scale.

Results: In fourth grade, 20% of children read no books, while 15% read 4 or more books per week. Children who read more books at baseline became more resilient in sixth grade, even after adjustment of resilience in fourth grade. Poverty in fourth grade was associated with lower resilience in both fourth and sixth grade; however, when stratified by poverty status, the number of reading books was significantly associated with higher resilience only among children in poverty (e.g., coefficient=5.13, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20 to 9.06 for ≥4 books vs. none).

Conclusions: For elementary school children in Japan, reading books boosts resilience, especially among children in poverty. Educational policy on reading books during elementary school may be important to address child poverty.