Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2020 Oct;49(10):2160-2173. doi: 10.1007/s10964-020-01305-y. Epub 2020 Aug 17.
Past research suggests that neighborhood structural and social environments are important contextual factors associated with children's development; however, investigations of the long-term effects of neighborhood environments in early childhood on subsequent adolescents' social and behavioral outcomes remain limited. Further, it is unclear whether and how the home environment as a mediating mechanism links neighborhood conditions and adolescents' outcomes. Using national surveys from multi-stressed families and census datasets, the present study aims to examine the longitudinal associations between neighborhood concentrated poverty and collective efficacy, mothers' parenting stress, exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and later adolescent outcomes. Participants included 4898 children (52% boys) and their mothers (48% black, 25 years of age, on average, 64% living in poverty); children born in unmarried families (75% unmarried) were oversampled. The results suggest that neighborhood collective efficacy is associated directly and indirectly (via parenting stress and ACEs) with adolescents' behavior problems and social skills, and indirectly with their delinquency. Neighborhood concentrated poverty was indirectly related to adolescents' behavior problems, delinquency, and social skills transmitted through collective efficacy and family processes. Both mothers' parenting stress and exposure to ACEs were identified as significant mediators. This study highlights the importance of early intervention for high-risk children, programs to build community resilience and reinforce social support for vulnerable families, and policy efforts to create safe and nurturing relationships and environments.
过去的研究表明，邻里结构和社会环境是与儿童发展相关的重要背景因素；然而，关于邻里环境在儿童早期对随后青少年社会和行为结果的长期影响的研究仍然有限。此外，家庭环境作为中介机制将邻里条件与青少年的结果联系起来的方式和程度尚不清楚。本研究使用来自多压力家庭的全国性调查和人口普查数据集，旨在检验邻里集中贫困与集体效能、母亲养育压力、儿童期逆境经历（ACEs）暴露之间的纵向关联，以及对后期青少年结果的影响。参与者包括 4898 名儿童（52%为男孩）及其母亲（48%为黑人，平均年龄为 25 岁，64%生活在贫困中）；来自未婚家庭的儿童（75%未婚）被过度抽样。结果表明，邻里集体效能与青少年的行为问题和社交技能直接和间接（通过养育压力和 ACEs）相关，与青少年的违法行为间接相关。邻里集中贫困通过集体效能和家庭过程与青少年的行为问题、违法行为和社交技能间接相关。母亲的养育压力和 ACEs 的暴露都被确定为重要的中介因素。这项研究强调了为高风险儿童进行早期干预、为弱势家庭建立社区恢复力和加强社会支持的计划，以及为创造安全和培养关系和环境的政策努力的重要性。
