Peer-reviewed article
Reading Books Helps Children in Poverty Become More Resilient: Results From a Population-based Longitudinal Study in Japan.
Tani Y, Isumi A, Yamaoka Y, Fujiwara T ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study followed over 3,000 Japanese children from fourth to sixth grade to see if reading books helps build resilience, especially for children living in poverty. Children who read more books became significantly more resilient by sixth grade compared to those who read fewer or no books. The benefit of reading was strongest for children in poverty, suggesting that book access could help protect vulnerable children from the harmful effects of poverty.
Key points
- 20% of fourth-grade children read no books; 15% read 4 or more books per week
- Children reading more books showed greater resilience growth from fourth to sixth grade, independent of their baseline resilience
- Poverty was associated with lower resilience in both fourth and sixth grade
- Among children in poverty, reading 4+ books weekly was associated with resilience scores 5.13 points higher than reading no books (95% CI: 1.20-9.06)
- The positive effect of reading books on resilience was only statistically significant for children experiencing poverty, not for all children
Limitations
The study is observational and cannot prove that reading causes resilience; other factors associated with both reading and resilience may explain the relationship. The study is specific to Japan and may not apply to children in other contexts with different educational or poverty conditions.
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 the number of books read 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 books read was significantly associated with higher resilience only among children in poverty (eg, coefficient 5.13; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.20-9.06 for ≥4 books vs none). Conclusion 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.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
Problem
Children living in poverty experience reduced resilience, which increases subsequent health risks
- Intervention
- Reading books during elementary school (fourth grade)
- Population
- Japanese elementary school children (n=3,136; ages 9-10 at baseline), including subgroup living in poverty
Key finding
Children reading ≥4 books per week versus none showed significant resilience improvement in sixth grade (coefficient 5.13; 95% CI: 1.20-9.06) when stratified by poverty status