Academic Success and Mental Health: The Paradox of Frontoparietal-Default Mode Network Coupling among Children Facing Poverty

Childhood family income is a powerful predictor of academic achievement and mental health. Here, we ask whether children living in poverty who succeed academically are subsequently protected from, or at risk for, internalizing symptoms. Prior research indicates that children in poverty with better academic performance tend to have higher temporal coupling between the Lateral Frontoparietal Network (LFPN) and Default Mode Network (DMN) than lower-performing children in poverty. An open question is whether higher LFPN-DMN coupling has maladaptive long-term consequences for mental health for this population. In this pre-registered longitudinal study, we analyzed data from 10,829 children (1,931 in poverty) in the ABCD study across four time points (ages 9-13). Higher grades correlated with fewer internalizing symptoms; this association was more pronounced for children below poverty. Longitudinally, LFPN-DMN connectivity correlated positively with internalizing symptoms across both groups and timepoints. Thus, although higher academic performance was associated with better mental health outcomes for all children, the specific pattern of LFPN-DMN connectivity that supports academic resilience among children in poverty may be a risk factor for developing internalizing symptoms. These findings highlight the complex nature of academic resilience in the context of structural inequity.