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OBJECTIVES: Early childhood poverty is associated with adult chronic diseases. The objectives of this study were to examine patterns of exposure to poverty during the first 10 years of life in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD) cohort according to three measures of poverty and to explore family characteristics associated with different poverty exposures. METHOD: Data from 1,334 participants from the QLSCD were collected annually at home from ages 5 months through 10 years. Household income (previous 12 months) and sources of income were recorded at each data round. Poverty status was operationalized as 1) living below the low income cut-off of Statistics Canada, 2) receiving social welfare and 3) being in the lowest quintile of socio-economic status. We plotted trends in the prevalence of child poverty over time. We used latent class growth modelling to identify subgroups with similar poverty trajectories. Duration of poverty according to each measure was computed separately for early childhood, middle childhood, and the entire 10 years of life. RESULTS: Four trajectories of poverty were identified: stable poor, decreasing likelihood, increasing likelihood, and never poor. The three measures of poverty do not cover the same population, yet the characteristics of those identified as poor are similar. Children of non-European, immigrant mothers were most likely to be poor, and there was a higher likelihood of children from single-parent families to live in chronic poverty during the first 10 years. CONCLUSION: A large proportion of children are exposed to poverty before 10 years of age. More effective public policies could reduce child poverty.

Objectives.: To assess willingness to participate (WTP) in hypothetical Phase III preventive HIV vaccine trials, and the impact of trial attributes on WTP, among low socioeconomic, ethnically diverse adults from communities at elevated risk for HIV infection. Method.: Participants (n = 123; median age = 38; 69% male; 37% Latino; 14% African-American) were recruited in Los Angeles in 2003 using multi-site, venue-based sampling. WTP was assessed for eight hypothetical HIV vaccine trials that varied across seven dichotomous attributes, using a 27-4fractional factorial experimental design. Individual-specific impact of vaccine trial attributes on WTP was estimated using within-individual ANOVA and then meta-analyzed across individuals. Results.: Mean WTP for eight hypothetical vaccine trials ranged from 1.74 to 3.81 (1 = highly unlikely, 5 = highly likely). Lower WTP was associated with vaccine-induced infection risk (impact = 0.88, p < 0.0001), false HIV-positives (0.53, p < 0.0001), no provision of free HIV medications (0.52, p < 0.0001), and longer trial duration (0.27; p = 0.0002). Conclusion.: HIV vaccine trial attributes may strongly influence WTP. Although existing candidate vaccines cannot cause HIV infection, perceptions of risk may impede WTP. Eliciting trial preferences and concerns prior to trial implementation may enable accommodation of participant preferences and support tailored interventions to address concerns and misconceptions to facilitate enrollment in safe and ethical trials among vulnerable communities. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.