PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON POVERTY - The stress and scarcity of resources associated with living in poverty

Empirical psychological research allows better understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty, and provides insights into how to improve the effectiveness of economically focused interventions and policy-making. [...] The review emphasised the potential relevance of the research for policy-making and intervention design, and also considered poverty researchers’ scientific methodology and rationale. [...] These results highlight the crucial importance of early interventions to offset the stressful environment of poverty, as the long-term consequences of early deprivation are severe, irrevocable and potentially fatal. [...] This would contribute to the corpus of psychological research and allow fine-tuning of policy and interventions for the social context in which they are to be implemented. [...] The aim was to provide an overview of the various theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches to poverty within the psychological community, and to emphasise areas where the results of such research have relevance for those involved in policy-making or intervention design.