School of Social Work, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Florida International University, Westchester, Florida, U.S.
Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, Westchester, Florida, U.S.
Matern Child Health J. 2022 Oct;26(10):2070-2078. doi: 10.1007/s10995-022-03490-7. Epub 2022 Aug 8.
Negative perceptions of one's neighborhood are linked to poor mental and physical health. However, it is unclear how caregiver's neighborhood perception affects health outcomes in children. This study assessed the mediating effect of maternal wellbeing on the association between neighborhood perception and child wellbeing at different time points and overall.
A structural equation model (SEM) was used to evaluate whether maternal wellbeing mediates the influence of neighborhood perception on child wellbeing at different ages. The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study data from years 3, 5, and 9 was analyzed. The delta method evaluated the mediation effect of maternal wellbeing, controlling for mothers' age. Direct and indirect effects of neighborhood perception at year 3 on child wellbeing at year 9 via maternal wellbeing at year 5 were analyzed via a longitudinal mediation with a two time points lag.
Maternal wellbeing partially mediated the effect of neighborhood perception on child wellbeing at different ages. Longitudinal mediation analyses revealed that better neighborhood perception at year 3 improved maternal wellbeing at year 5 and child wellbeing at year 9; maternal wellbeing at year 5 partially mediated the effect of neighborhood perception at year 3 on child wellbeing at year 5.
Our findings suggest that it may be beneficial for mental health practitioners to discuss relationships between neighborhood environment and wellbeing with caregivers, with a focus on reframing negative self-perceptions. Future research should evaluate longitudinal relationships between changes in neighborhood infrastructure and corresponding wellbeing in caregivers and children.
对居住地的负面看法与身心健康状况不佳有关。然而，尚不清楚照顾者对居住地的看法如何影响儿童的健康结果。本研究评估了在不同时间点和整体上，母亲幸福感在居住地感知与儿童幸福感之间的关联中的中介作用。
使用结构方程模型（SEM）评估了在不同年龄时，母亲幸福感是否在居住地感知对儿童幸福感的影响中起中介作用。分析了来自第 3、5 和 9 年的脆弱家庭和儿童福利研究数据。使用 delta 方法评估了母亲幸福感的中介效应，同时控制了母亲的年龄。通过具有两个时间点滞后的纵向中介作用，分析了居住地感知在第 3 年对第 9 年儿童幸福感的直接和间接影响，以及通过母亲幸福感在第 5 年的影响。
母亲幸福感部分中介了居住地感知对不同年龄儿童幸福感的影响。纵向中介分析表明，第 3 年更好的居住地感知提高了第 5 年的母亲幸福感和第 9 年的儿童幸福感；第 5 年的母亲幸福感部分中介了第 3 年的居住地感知对第 5 年儿童幸福感的影响。
我们的研究结果表明，心理健康从业者可能需要与照顾者讨论居住地环境与幸福感之间的关系，重点是重新构建对自我的负面看法。未来的研究应评估居住地基础设施变化与照顾者和儿童幸福感的相应变化之间的纵向关系。
