Familial poverty jeopardizes the mental health of native-born children.
However, research among immigrant communities suggests a paradox. The results demonstrate that more than 30 percent of new immigrant families were poor in comparison with 13.2 percent of native-born Canadian families. Nevertheless, new immigrant children had lower rates of mental health problems than children in the national population. In both population groups, there was a clear association between poverty and an elevated risk of conduct and emotional disorder. Familial factors such as parental depression, family dysfunction, hostile parenting, and single parent family status increased the risk for all types of disorder.