March 9: Candice Odgers

Income Inequality and the Developing Child

Low-income children growing up in economically mixed neighborhoods are expected to benefit from higher quality schools, more prosocial peer groups and greater access to amenities and opportunities. Contrary to this belief, new research from the Environmental-Risk Longitudinal Twin Study finds that low-income children fare worse when they grow up in the ‘shadow of wealth’ as compared to their low-income peers living in concentrated poverty. The importance of examining both local area poverty and inequality on children’s behavior is highlighted, alongside a description of new methods for capturing neighborhood and momentary effects in studies of child development.

Brief Bio: Candice Odgers is an Associate Professor of Public Policy, Psychology and Neuroscience and Associate Director of the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University. She received her PhD from the University of Virginia and completed her postdoctoral training at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre in London, England. Her research focuses on how social inequalities and early adversity influence children’s future health and well-being, with an emphasis on how new technologies, including mobile phones and web-based tools, can be used to understand and improve the lives of young people. Odgers was a William T. Grant Scholar and the recipient of early career awards from the American Psychological Association, the Society for Research in Child Development and the Royal Society of Canada. Most recently, she received the Janet Taylor Spence Award from the Association for Psychological Science for transformative early career contributions to psychological science. More information about her current work can be found on the following website: adaptlab.org

This talk will be held in 3105 Tolman Hall, 12:00-1:30pm.