PERCEPTIONS OF NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTERISTICS AND THE PERCEIVED PSYCHOSOCIAL AND ACADEMIC OUTCOMES OF U.S. CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

Data from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health were used to examine a model of the ways in which neighborhood structural characteristics and social processes (NSCSP) impact children’s (age = 6–11; <em>N</em> = 27,752) and adolescents’ (age = 12–17; <em>N</em> = 36,233) social adjustment and school engagement via parenting and family processes (i.e., parent–child interactions).The questions investigated were: how are distinct aspects of NSCSP associated with parental stress and well-being, and with youth social adjustment and school engagement? Are parental stress and well-being linked with family processes, and are family processes predictive of youth social adjustment and school engagement? Finally, does age moderate the associations linking NSCSP to developmental outcomes via parenting stress and well-being and family processes? Results from a multigroup structural equation model supported the general nature of hypothesized relationships: distinct aspects of NSCSP were differentially predictive of children and adolescents’ social adjustment and school engagement. Furthermore, the direct effects of NSCSP were mediated (some partially and others completely) by parenting stress and well-being and family processes. Finally, age moderated the effects of social cohesion on both social adjustment and school engagement; as well, age moderated the effects of parenting stress and well-being on family processes, and on the effects of family processes on social adjustment and school engagement.