Adult Perceptions of Neighborhood

Abstract

Context is important in facilitating healthy youth development. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between adult perception of neighborhood and youth engagement in organized activities. This study is a secondary data analysis of 64,076 parents and guardians of school-age youth and adolescents (6-17 years), participating in the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health. Linear and logistic regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between neighborhood characteristics, including constructs for social capital, physical condition, resource availability, and safety, and youth engagement through participation in sports, clubs, other creative events, and volunteer service. Neighborhood characteristics were significantly associated with the odds of multiple forms of youth engagement even with adjustment for individual and family-level demographic characteristics. Findings support assessment of neighborhood context during health education and behavior counseling in addition to capacity building for deliberate mechanisms of community development offering youth the ability to connect and engage.