High Concentrations Of Poverty Research Articles

Governing stigmatised space: the case of the ‘slums’ of Berlin-Neukölln

ABSTRACTSpatial stigmatisation – naming spaces with high concentration of poverty as a slum or ghetto – has been well covered in the critical urban geography and sociological debates. Yet, these discussions have neglected to theorise the intersection between the production of stigmatised space and the governance of its inhabitants within the context of one of Germany’s most stigmatised boroughs. By situating Berlin-Neukölln within historical processes of capital accumulation, I show how the discursive, institutional and material practices of neoliberal social policies have played a central, albeit contradictory, role in (re-)producing stigmatise spaces and subjects along racialised, gendered and class lines. This is particularly evident with regard to neoliberal governance strategies that employ and apply the power of public money to repress and integrate impoverished workers into contemporary capitalist society, or what I refer to as the ‘monetisation of socio-spatial reproduction’.

Effects of Nutrition Promotion on Child Growth in El Alto, Bolivia: Results from a Geographical Discontinuity Design

Interventions that offer growth monitoring and nutrition counseling services to families with young children are one of the cornerstones of nutrition policy in developing countries. By raising caregivers’ awareness and encouraging recommended feeding, health, and hygiene practices, these programs seek to improve children’s growth, measured in terms of height and weight. We explore the effects of one such intervention that conducted home visits and community meetings with mothers of children under two years old in El Alto, a city of high poverty concentration in Bolivia. Project eligibility was limited to just over 400 households residing within a strictly defined geographical area. We exploit the resulting geographical discontinuity to identify impacts. Three years after the project started, we find that caregivers in the intervention area show substantial gains in health- and nutrition-related knowledge (0.327s) and practices (0.273s) relative to their peers just outside the project boundary. We find no detectable impacts on children’s height, but observe a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight children. For contexts such as El Alto, with high prevalence of stunting and increasing risk of overweight in the same population, these results suggest that nutrition promotion interventions should reassess both content and behavioral change strategies to reduce stunting while concurrently preventing excess weight gain in children.
 JEL codes: I15, J13, C93

If We Build it, Will They Come? The Housing Stock and the Socioeconomic Integration of Elementary Schools

Children from poor families achieve more academically if they are enrolled in schools that are socioeconomically integrated, but low-income students are increasingly attending schools characterized by high concentrations of poverty. Providing more housing opportunities for low-income families within the attendance zones of middle- and high-income schools has the potential to reverse this trend, but the link between the housing stock and the socioeconomic segregation of public schools has not been addressed in the existing literature. Using a panel of elementary schools in Florida, we show that increasing the stock of rental and affordable housing units in middle- and high-income neighborhoods has an important effect on the number of poor children attending these schools. Our results also reveal the types of housing units that have the largest impacts.

NEIGHBOURHOOD POVERTY, PERCEIVED DISCRIMINATION AND CENTRAL ADIPOSITY IN THE USA: INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATIONS IN A REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSIS.

This study examines the independent effects of neighbourhood context (i.e. neighbourhood poverty) and exposure to perceived discrimination in shaping risk of obesity over time. Weighted three-level hierarchical linear regression models for a continuous outcome were used to assess the independent effects of neighbourhood poverty and perceived discrimination on obesity over time in a sample of 157 non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White and Hispanic adults in Detroit, USA, in 2002/2003 and 2007/2008. Independent associations were found between neighbourhood poverty and perceived discrimination with central adiposity over time. Residents of neighbourhoods with high concentrations of poverty were more likely to show increases in central adiposity compared with those in neighbourhoods with lower concentrations of poverty. In models adjusted for BMI, neighbourhood poverty at baseline was associated with a greater change in central adiposity among participants who lived in neighbourhoods in the second (B=3.79, p=0.025) and third (B=3.73, p=0.024) poverty quartiles, compared with those in the lowest poverty neighbourhoods. The results from models that included both neighbourhood poverty and perceived discrimination showed that both were associated with increased risk of increased central adiposity over time. Residents of neighbourhoods in the second (B=9.58, p<0.001), third (B=8.25, p=0.004) and fourth (B=7.66, p=0.030) quartiles of poverty were more likely to show greater increases in central adiposity over time, compared with those in the lowest poverty quartile, with mean discrimination at baseline independently and positively associated with increases in central adiposity over time (B=2.36, p=0.020). The results suggest that neighbourhood poverty and perceived discrimination are independently associated with a heightened risk of increase in central adiposity over time. Efforts to address persistent disparities in central adiposity in the USA should include strategies to reduce high concentrations of neighbourhood poverty as well as discrimination.

County Poverty Concentration and Disparities in Unintentional Injury Deaths: A Fourteen-Year Analysis of 1.6 Million U.S. Fatalities.

Unintentional injury is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, and mortality due to injury has risen over the past decade. The social determinants behind these rising trends have not been well documented. This study examines the relationship between county-level poverty and unintentional injury mortality in the United States from 1999–2012. Complete annual compressed mortality and population data for 1999–2012 were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics and linked with census yearly county poverty measures. The outcomes examined were unintentional injury fatalities, overall and by six specific mechanisms: motor vehicle collisions, falls, accidental discharge of firearms, drowning, exposure to smoke or fire, and unintentional poisoning. Age-adjusted mortality rates and time trends for county poverty categories were calculated, and multivariate negative binomial regression was used to determine changes over time in both the relative risk of living in high poverty concentration areas and the population attributable fraction. Age-adjusted mortality rates for counties with > 20% poverty were 66% higher mortality in 1999 compared with counties with < 5% poverty (45.25 vs. 27.24 per 100,000; 95% CI for rate difference 15.57,20.46), and that gap widened in 2012 to 79% (44.54 vs. 24.93; 95% CI for rate difference 17.13,22.09). The relative risk of living in the highest poverty counties has increased for all injury mechanisms with the exception of accidental discharge of firearms. The population attributable fraction for all unintentional injuries rose from 0.22 (95% CI 0.13,0.30) in 1999 to 0.35 (95% CI 0.22,0.45) in 2012. This is the first study that uses comprehensive mortality data to document the associations between county poverty and injury mortality rates for the entire US population over a 14 year period. This study suggests that injury reduction interventions should focus on areas of high or increasing poverty.

Poverty is Not Just an Indicator: The Relationship Between Income, Poverty, and Child Well-Being

In this article, we review the evidence on the effects of poverty and low income on children's development and well-being. We argue that poverty is an important indicator of societal and child well-being, but that poverty is more than just an indicator. Poverty and low income are causally related to worse child development outcomes, particularly cognitive developmental and educational outcomes. Mechanisms through which poverty affects these outcomes include material hardship, family stress, parental and cognitive inputs, and the developmental context to which children are exposed. The timing, duration, and community context of poverty also appear to matter for children's outcomes—with early experiences of poverty, longer durations of poverty, and higher concentrations of poverty in the community leading to worse child outcomes.

Effects of Nutrition Promotion on Child Growth in El Alto, Bolivia: Results from a Geographical Discontinuity Design

Interventions that offer growth monitoring and nutrition counseling services to families with young children are one of the cornerstones of nutrition policy in developing countries. By raising caregivers’ awareness and encouraging recommended feeding, health, and hygiene practices, these programs seek to improve children’s growth, measured in terms of height and weight. We explore the effects of one such intervention that conducted home visits and community meetings with mothers of children under two years old in El Alto, a city of high poverty concentration in Bolivia. Project eligibility was limited to just over 400 households residing within a strictly defined geographical area. We exploit the resulting geographical discontinuity to identify impacts. Three years after the project started, we find that caregivers in the intervention area show substantial gains in health- and nutrition-related knowledge (0.327σ) and practices (0.273σ) relative to their peers just outside the project boundary. We find no detectable impacts on children’s height, but observe a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight children. For contexts such as El Alto, with high prevalence of stunting and increasing risk of overweight in the same population, these results suggest that nutrition promotion interventions should reassess both content and behavioral change strategies to reduce stunting while concurrently preventing excess weight gain in children.

Ferguson and Beyond: A Descriptive Epidemiological Study Using Geospatial Analysis

Ferguson, Missouri, has emerged as a cultural reference for structural inequality in the United States; however, beyond journalistic descriptions of the community, there is very little in the scholarly literature about the interdependence of health, education, and the well-being of members of this community and its surrounding areas. The current study is important because its focus on the interdependence of health, education, and place has largely been lost in discussions of the geography of opportunity in Ferguson and in similar isolated, at-risk municipalities across the United States (Rusk, 2013). Good health positively influences cognition, learning, achievement, and educational attainment. Similarly, a quality education is associated with better health outcomes. A key risk and protective factor in both education and health is the nature and extent of residential segregation and the associated geographic continuum of poverty and affluence (Purnell, Camberos, & Fields, 2014). In this study, the authors will examine the nature and extent of residential segregation and of health and education disparities in Ferguson and the surrounding region.In The Truly Disadvantaged, Wilson (1987) is credited with providing a paradigm-changing explanation of the deterioration of segregated African American neighborhoods in the urban context. He argued that, until the mid-1970s, largely African American communities consisted of both poor and middle-class residents. Wilson documented the decline in industrial-age employment opportunities, including factory work, coupled with the out-migration of middle-class African Americans to surrounding suburbs in Chicago. Therefore, many African American communities were left with high concentrations of poverty and of social isolation. Wilson argued that these conditions fostered social instability and related negative developmental outcomes.Some scholars assumed that the conditions in Chicago represented those in most urban communities in the United States. In the essay, No Two Ghettos Are Alike, sociologist Mario Small (2014) stated, Poor neighborhoods are difficult places to live, but not all are difficult in the same way (para. 9). Small argued that Wilson's theory linked a substantial and fine-grained set of hypotheses, including many that were confirmed. However, over the course of the past two decades, Wilson's work has inappropriately dominated the picture of urban poverty because for some thought leaders, the work left little room for important questions about its universal applicability across urban metropolitan regions in the United States. Small challenged researchers not to ignore heterogeneity in their discussions of urban poverty and to avoid the related risk of stereotyping. Some scholars have endeavored to avoid this type of mischaracterization of urban poverty through their research, including relatively recent studies of Detroit, Chicago, and Boston (Galster, 2012a; Sampson, 2012; Tach, 2014). The authors accept this challenge as well and seek to better understand the uniqueness of Ferguson, Missouri, and its neighboring communities.The purpose of this article is to describe an epidemiological study of Ferguson and its surrounding region using geospatial methodology. The aim is to demonstrate the salience of social epidemiological modeling in efforts to better understand how race matters in educational debates and discourse. The following questions will frame this article: What is social epidemiology, and how might this discipline inform the understanding of race and related educational and developmental outcomes in Ferguson and neighboring communities? The authors will discuss how research and policy interests involving racial health disparities and education disparities are interdependent. This will be accomplished by providing an evidentiary base using a variety of underutilized information sources from education and health.URBAN SEGREGATION AND OPPORTUNITYOver the past 20 years, there has been a renewed focus on the effects of geospatial arrangements and social contexts as opportunity factors in models of child and adolescent development broadly defined (e. …

La construcción del otro y el discurso de la pobreza Narrativas y experiencias desde la periferia de la ciudad de México

Besides the material sources of poverty, it is necessary to understand the symbolic and relational dimensions that contribute to create, maintain, and reproduce deprivation. Based on the ethnographic work carried out in an area of high concentration of poverty in Mexico City’s suburbs, this article aims at dismantling the myths, stereotypes and stigmas of the poor and their locations uttered by the official discourse on poverty. This work examines from a sociological perspective how the most disadvantaged segments coexist, resist and adapt to a dominant discourse that stigmatizes them in a daily and systematic way. Te processes and social mechanisms through which the poor are constructed as the others (the otherness) are explored, as well as their implications for the experience of poverty, social policies and social coexistence. It is also examined how the dominant discourse on poverty, which blames and demonizes the poor, contributes to legitimize, consolidate and reproduce social distances, thus hiding the political and economic nature of inequality, in a context were the latter is basically tolerated.

Contextual risk factors for low birth weight: a multilevel analysis.

BackgroundLow birth weight (LBW) remains to be a leading cause of neonatal death and a major contributor to infant and under-five mortality. Its prevalence has not declined in the last decade in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Asia. Some individual level factors have been identified as risk factors for LBW but knowledge is limited on contextual risk factors for LBW especially in SSA.MethodsContextual risk factors for LBW in Ghana were identified by performing multivariable multilevel logistic regression analysis of 6,900 mothers dwelling in 412 communities that participated in the 2003 and 2008 Demographic and Health Surveys in Ghana.ResultsContextual-level factors were significantly associated with LBW: Being a rural dweller increased the likelihood of having a LBW infant by 43% (OR 1.43; 95% CI 1.01–2.01; P-value <0.05) while living in poverty-concentrated communities increased the risk of having a LBW infant twofold (OR 2.16; 95% CI 1.29–3.61; P-value <0.01). In neighbourhoods with a high coverage of safe water supply the odds of having a LBW infant reduced by 28% (OR 0.74; 95% CI 0.57–0.96; P-value <0.05).ConclusionThis study showed contextual risk factors to have independent effects on the prevalence of LBW infants. Being a rural dweller, living in a community with a high concentration of poverty and a low coverage of safe water supply were found to increase the prevalence of LBW infants. Implementing appropriate community-based intervention programmes will likely reduce the occurrence of LBW infants.

Targeted health department expenditures benefit birth outcomes at the county level.

Public health leaders lack evidence for making decisions about the optimal allocation of resources across local health department (LHD) services, even as limited funding has forced cuts to public health services while local needs grow. A lack of data has also limited examination of the outcomes of targeted LHD investments in specific service areas. This study used unique, detailed LHD expenditure data gathered from state health departments to examine the influence of maternal and child health (MCH) service investments by LHDs on health outcomes. A multivariate panel time-series design was used in 2013 to estimate ecologic relationships between 2000-2010 LHD expenditures on MCH and county-level rates of low birth weight and infant mortality. The unit of analysis was 102 LHD jurisdictions in Washington and Florida. Results indicate that LHD expenditures on MCH services have a beneficial relationship with county-level low birth weight rates, particularly in counties with high concentrations of poverty. This relationship is stronger for more targeted expenditure categories, with expenditures in each of the three specific examined MCH service areas demonstrating the strongest effects. Findings indicate that specific LHD investments in MCH have an important effect on related health outcomes for populations in poverty and likely help reduce the costly burden of poor birth outcomes for families and communities. These findings underscore the importance of monitoring the impact of these evolving investments and ensuring that targeted, beneficial investments are not lost but expanded upon across care delivery systems.

60 Years after &lt;em&gt;Brown v. Board of Education&lt;/em&gt;: Educational Advancement or Decline?

On May 17, 2014, the United States of America commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954), the Supreme Court's landmark decision that outlawed segregation according to race in public spaces throughout the nation (Zirkel & Cantor, 2004). The ruling became arguably the most influential legal decision of the 20th century (Benjamin & Crouse, 2002). It generated new momentum for the pursuit of racial justice and civil rights. It also represented the turning point for many African Americans throughout the nation. The Brown decision clearly reinforced the importance of education and its significance in advancing the larger society. The Supreme Court ruling also conveyed that access to an education is paramount and should be afforded to all American citizenry. Stated differently, Zirkel and Cantor (2004) wrote that the decision:highlighted the human suffering caused by racism and its correspondent racial segregation; it clarified that state sponsored segregation (and racism) were inherently more harmful than segregation that occurred without the force of law; it articulated the central role that education had come to play in modem life and concluded that opportunity for all required an end to racial segregation in education; and [it] provided the fuel and the encouragement necessary to further the civil rights work of the 1960s (p. 4).In essence, the Brown decision abolished the separate but equal doctrine previously upheld by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 (Groves, 1951), which maintained the constitutionality of racial segregation in public spaces. Without any doubt, advancement has been made 60 years after the Supreme Court ruled on Brown; however, much improvement is still needed throughout the American educational enterprise (Russo, Harris, & Sandidge, 1994). Access to a quality education remains a topic of concern (Moore & Lewis, 2012, 2014; Orfield & Eaton, 1996). Although some educational progress has been made, the same social and economic conditions outlined in Brown still persist for many African Americans (Cartledge, Gibson, & Keyes, 2012; Ford & Moore, 2013; Zirkel & Cantor, 2004). Too many African American students find themselves in failing educational systems (Kozol, 2005; Moore & Lewis, 2012), where they are unable to obtain the needed education to advance through society (Johnson, 2014; Lewis & Moore, 2008a, 2008b).Across the nation, African American students experience extreme levels of residential and school segregation (Acevedo-Garcia, Rosenfield, McArdle, & Osypuk, 2010). In such communities, they tend to endure high levels of poverty, where they encounter immense difficulty accessing meaningful opportunities in their neighborhoods (Kozol, 2005). Extant social science research highlights the blatant inequities found in communities with high-concentrations of poverty and African Americans (Acevedo-Garcia et al., 2010; Moore & Lewis, 2012). This body of research also draws attention to the huge disparities in the schools as well (Kozol, 2005; Lewis, Venzant Chambers, & Butler Ray, 2012; Miller, Wilkinson, Cummings, & Moore, 2014). With increasing residential segregation in the United States, African American students often find themselves trapped in struggling schools with meager resources (Moore & Lewis, 2008a, 2008b), high student-teacher ratios (Moore & Lewis, 2012), and less experienced teachers, school counselors, and administrators (Eaton, 2010; Kozol, 2005).Over the last 60 years, a plethora of publications have been devoted to examining the status of African American students at every juncture of their formal education (e.g., elementary, secondary, and postsecondary). Much of the literature base highlights the educational experiences and outcomes of African American students. Therefore, it is startling that many of the educational concerns presented prior to Brown still exist today. …

Intergenerational transmission of neighbourhood poverty: an analysis of neighbourhood histories of individuals.

The extent to which socioeconomic (dis)advantage is transmitted between generations is receiving increasing attention from academics and policymakers. However, few studies have investigated whether there is a spatial dimension to this intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantage. Drawing on the concept of neighbourhood biographies, this study contends that there are links between the places individuals live with their parents and their subsequent neighbourhood experiences as independent adults. Using individual-level register data tracking the whole Stockholm population from 1990 to 2008, and bespoke neighbourhoods, this study is the first to use sequencing techniques to construct individual neighbourhood histories. Through visualisation methods and ordered logit models, we demonstrate that the socioeconomic composition of the neighbourhood children lived in before they left the parental home is strongly related to the status of the neighbourhood they live in 5, 12 and 18 years later. Children living with their parents in high poverty concentration neighbourhoods are very likely to end up in similar neighbourhoods much later in life. The parental neighbourhood is also important in predicting the cumulative exposure to poverty concentration neighbourhoods over a long period of early adulthood. Ethnic minorities were found to have the longest cumulative exposure to poverty concentration neighbourhoods. These findings imply that for some groups, disadvantage is both inherited and highly persistent.

Unintended Consequences of Neighbourhood Restructuring: Uncertainty, Disrupted Social Networks and Increased Fear of Violent Victimization Among Young Adults

Concerns about high concentrations of poverty, social isolation and neighbourhood safety have made social housing developments the target of various interventions in recent decades. A current housing policy trend in many Western nations aims to de-concentrate poverty and other forms of disadvantage by engineering more socio-economically mixed residential environments. Based on 40 in-depth interviews, this paper examines the impact of neighbourhood ‘revitalization’ on young adult residents of Regent Park, Canada’s largest and oldest social housing project. We find that the large-scale displacement that attends this process has destabilizing effects on the neighbourhood, both in terms of social networks and supports, but also with respect to young people’s perceptions of their risk of violent victimization.

Why All States Should Adopt a State-Level Earned Income Tax Credit: A Policy Argument

This article argues that states that do not currently have a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) would benefit by adopting such a program. Relying on extensive literature, the article concludes that a state-level ETIC can effectively reduce poverty, especially among children; enhance employment by attracting new entrants into the labor market; reduce the regressive nature of the tax system; and bolster the economies of areas with high concentrations of poverty. This article estimates the costs for each state without a current program for fiscal year 2013. Overall, it argues that this program, which is widely supported by many interests, can benefit states greatly in simultaneously achieving several social policies with relative administrative ease.

Social inequalities in neighborhood conditions: spatial relationships between sociodemographic and food environments in Alameda County, California

Previous research suggests that neighborhoods in the United States with high concentrations of poverty or of racial/ethnic minorities have lower access to healthy foods and greater access to unhealthy foods, compared with higher income or predominantly White, non-Hispanic neighborhoods. Lower access is thought to influence dietary habits and resulting health consequences, such as obesity. While most studies have focused on either neighborhood SES or features of the built environment, few have explicitly examined both. Using data from the Geographic Research on Wellbeing study, we map the spatial relationships between sociodemographic characteristics (poverty trajectories, racial/ethnic/nativity composition) and food environments in Alameda County, California. Our map presents poverty trajectories and racial/ethnic/nativity composition at the tract level, as well as maps depicting accessibility to healthy, unhealthy, and a composite of both, based on rasterized maps and a network analysis of food types within a quarter-mile walking distance. We found that neighborhoods that have experienced long-term poverty have the greatest access to both healthy and unhealthy food outlets compared with more economically advantaged neighborhoods. We also found that predominantly Black/Latino neighborhoods had the greatest access to healthy foods compared with other neighborhoods with a different race/ethnicity/nativity composition. Neighborhoods experiencing long-term affluence, as well as predominantly White neighborhoods, had the lowest access to any of the food types, which likely reflects their surburban locations. Results suggest that spatial relationships between sociodemographic characteristics and food access at the neighborhood level depend upon place and urbanization.

Intergenerational Transmission of Neighbourhood Poverty in Sweden: An Innovative Analysis of Individual Neighbourhood Histories

The extent to which socioeconomic (dis)advantage is transmitted between generations is receiving increasing attention from academics and policymakers. However, few studies have investigated whether there is a spatial dimension to this intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantage. Drawing upon the concept of a neighbourhood biography, this study contends that there are links between the places individuals live in with their parents and their subsequent neighbourhood experiences as independent adults. Using individual level register data tracking the whole Swedish population from 1990 to 2008, and bespoke neighbourhoods, this study is the first to use innovative sequencing techniques to construct individual neighbourhood histories. Through visualisation methods and ordered logit models, we demonstrate that the socioeconomic composition of the neighbourhood children lived in before they left the parental home is strongly related to the status of the neighbourhood they live in 5, 12 and 18 years later. Children living with their parents in high poverty concentration neighbourhoods are very likely to end up in similar neighbourhoods much later in life. The parental neighbourhood is also important in predicting the cumulative exposure to poverty concentration neighbourhoods over a long period of early adulthood. Ethnic minorities were found to have the longest cumulative exposure to poverty concentration neighbourhoods. These findings imply that for some groups, disadvantage is both inherited and highly persistent.

Neighborhood Social Disorganization and the Acquisition of Trichomoniasis Among Young Adults in the United States

Objectives. We examined relationships between neighborhood social disorganization and trichomoniasis among young US adults. Methods. We employed multilevel logistic regression modeling with secondary data from wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (2001–2002). The dependent variable—trichomoniasis—was measured via urine testing. The measures for neighborhood social disorganization were derived from the 2000 US Census—racial and ethnic composition, concentrated poverty, and residential instability. The sample comprised 11 370 individuals across 4912 neighborhoods. Results. Trichomoniasis was more likely in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of Black residents (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03, 1.30). However, this association was mediated by neighborhood concentrated poverty. Furthermore, young adults who lived in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of poverty were significantly more likely to have trichomoniasis (AOR = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.07, 1.46). Neither immigrant concentration nor residential instability was significantly associated with trichomoniasis. Conclusions. These findings strengthen the evidence that neighborhood structural conditions are associated with individual sexually transmitted infection (STI) acquisition. Research is needed to explore the mechanisms through which these conditions influence STI. In addition, STI-prevention programs that include structural interventions targeting neighborhood disadvantage are needed.

Neighborhood Social Disorganization and the Acquisition of Trichomoniasis Among Young Adults in the United States

We examined relationships between neighborhood social disorganization and trichomoniasis among young US adults. We employed multilevel logistic regression modeling with secondary data from wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (2001-2002). The dependent variable-trichomoniasis-was measured via urine testing. The measures for neighborhood social disorganization were derived from the 2000 US Census-racial and ethnic composition, concentrated poverty, and residential instability. The sample comprised 11 370 individuals across 4912 neighborhoods. Trichomoniasis was more likely in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of Black residents (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03, 1.30). However, this association was mediated by neighborhood concentrated poverty. Furthermore, young adults who lived in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of poverty were significantly more likely to have trichomoniasis (AOR = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.07, 1.46). Neither immigrant concentration nor residential instability was significantly associated with trichomoniasis. These findings strengthen the evidence that neighborhood structural conditions are associated with individual sexually transmitted infection (STI) acquisition. Research is needed to explore the mechanisms through which these conditions influence STI. In addition, STI-prevention programs that include structural interventions targeting neighborhood disadvantage are needed.

The differential effects of preschool: Evidence from Virginia

Abstract This study investigated the differential and persistent effects of a state-funded pre-K program, the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI). We analyzed data from a cohort of over 60,000 students nested in approximately 1000 schools from the beginning of kindergarten to the end of first grade using two-level hierarchical logistic regression models. While controlling for student- and school-level variables, we found that attending a VPI-funded program was beneficially associated with a lower likelihood of repeating kindergarten and improved probabilities of meeting or exceeding minimum literacy competencies. The benefits of attending pre-K were greatest upon kindergarten entry and persisted until the end of the first grade for Hispanic and Black students, as well as for students with disabilities, despite VPI-funded program attendees going to schools with higher concentrations of poverty.