Exploring the neighborhood: a web-based survey on the prevalence and determinants of fear among young adolescent girls and boys

Abstract

Children's independent everyday mobility can be hindered by fears experienced in their neighborhood. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and determinants of such fears among boys and girls in early adolescence, a period when individual freedom is expected to be on the increase. A sample of 7th grade students (age-13 years) in Stockholm County, Sweden, during 2005/06 answered a survey in class (n = 1,008). The relation that gender, housing, family characteristics, individual and peer negative experiences in the neighborhood, parental licensing, and length of stay in the neighborhood have with fear disclosure was assessed through multivariate logistic regression. A total of 60% of the girls and 40% of the boys reported experiencing fears in their neighborhood. Gender differences were significant for all of the most common fears, in particular darkness. When respondents or their friends had been chased, hit, or had something taken from them in their neighborhood, they were more likely to report fear (OR girls 2.3; 95% CI 1.6-4.5; boys 2.8; 95% CI 1.9-4.2). For girls, having one or more parents born outside Sweden was associated with fear. Boys nearly three times more often reported fear if (a) they thought their parents were negative toward adolescent independent mobility in the evening, or (b) they had lived longer than one year in their area. Many young adolescents admitted to experiencing fear in their neighborhood. Fears were more common among girls, and the types and determinants of fear seem to be gender specific.