The gendered relationship between cumulative exposure to lower community attachment and adolescent health

Parental perceptions of neighborhood safety and preschool children's outdoor play: An exploration of sex and safety type differences

Despite the growing evidence on the influence of neighborhood safety on physical activity, few studies have specifically focused on preschool-aged children and differentiated the various domains of neighborhood safety. This study investigates the relationship between parental perceptions of neighborhood safety and preschool children's time spent outdoors and explores potential sex differences in this relationship. This study analyzed nationally representative data from 1656 Korean children (848 boys and 808 girls) aged 3, 5, 6 years collected over the course of three waves of the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC). Outdoor playtime was measured by maternal reports of the time their children spent playing outdoors on a typical weekday. Parental perceptions of neighborhood safety were assessed using two items that inquired about neighborhood safety in terms of crime and accidents, respectively. Fixed effects estimates revealed that parental perceptions of social safety were associated with an increase in children's outdoor physical activity (b = 3.778, p < 0.05), whereas perceptions of physical safety were not. Sex-stratified models showed that the association between parental perceptions of social safety and children's outdoor play was driven largely by boys (b = 8.498, p < 0.001), with no association observed for girls. The findings of this study underscore the importance of addressing the social safety of neighborhood environments to promote outdoor play in preschool children. Moreover, sex differences should be considered when developing interventions aimed at increasing physical activity among young children.

A mixed methods comparison of adolescents' and researchers' observations of neighborhood characteristics in Latinx neighborhoods

We used a convergent mixed methods research design to compare and contrast researchers' neighborhood environmental assessments collected using systematic social observations with adolescents' neighborhood environmental assessments collected by semi-structured interviews with US Mexican adolescents. Using qualitative methods, we found that adolescents sometimes observed the same neighborhood environmental features as researchers. They also sometimes observed different environmental features altogether; in both cases they sometimes layered on additional meaning making. Using mixed methods, we found that there was a high degree of overlap between researchers and adolescents in terms of agreement on the presence of neighborhood environmental features, including physical disorder, physical decay, street safety, and sociocultural symbols. Adolescents expanded upon these neighborhood environmental features with references to positive and negative affect and neighborhood environmental resources. This work highlights the shared and unique aspects of researcher versus adolescent observations and how both data sources are critical to understanding Latinx neighborhood environments.

Children's bullying victimization and maternal suicidal ideation among multicultural families in South Korea: Heterogeneity by family socioeconomic status

RATIONALE

Children from multicultural families in Korea are vulnerable to bullying victimization. Despite growing evidence on the mental health consequences of bullying victimization for victims, little is known about the spillover effects on their immigrant mothers.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the association between children's bullying victimization and their immigrant mothers' suicidal ideation. The potential moderating role of family socioeconomic status was also investigated.

METHODS

Using nine waves of the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study spanning from 2011 to 2019 (N = 1466), this study estimated individual fixed effects models to control for unobserved individual-level heterogeneity. Interaction models were used to investigate potential heterogeneity by family socioeconomic status, including maternal education, household income, and maternal occupational status.

RESULTS

Fixed effects estimates revealed that children's bullying victimization is associated with an increased likelihood of suicidal ideation among marriage migrant mothers (b = 0.012, p < 0.05), even after controlling for unobserved time-invariant confounders as well as a set of time-varying covariates. Family socioeconomic status moderated this association. The association between children's bullying victimization and immigrant mothers' suicidal ideation was stronger for those with low levels of education and household income. No such moderating effects were observed for maternal occupation.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study suggest that efforts to address the mental health consequences of bullying victimization among multicultural family children should extend beyond the victim to their immigrant mothers. When developing interventions to reduce suicidal ideation among immigrant mothers whose children have been victimized, policymakers may wish to consider the moderating role of family socioeconomic status.

A longitudinal study of immigrant mothers' destination-language proficiency and their children's psychological well-being: Evidence and mechanisms from a study in South Korea

RATIONALE

Despite the well-established link between an immigrant's destination-language proficiency and psychological well-being, little is known about the relationship between an immigrant's destination-language proficiency and well-being of their children.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated whether and how immigrant mothers' Korean proficiency is associated with life satisfaction and depressive symptoms among their children in South Korea. A comprehensive set of potential underlying mechanisms was also examined.

METHODS

Using four waves of data from the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study (MAPS), this study estimated fixed effects regression models to reduce the possibility of bias due to individual-level heterogeneity. To test for mediation formally, Sobel mediation tests were conducted.

RESULTS

Fixed effects estimates suggested that immigrant mothers' Korean proficiency is positively associated with their children's psychological well-being. Specifically, a one-standard-deviation increase in Korean proficiency was associated with an increase in life satisfaction by 13% of a standard deviation and a decrease in depressive symptoms by 9% of a standard deviation. Mediation tests revealed that this association is explained by a combination of social-psychological factors. Friend support was the most salient mediator, followed by lower acculturation stress, positive perceptions of local community, and teacher support.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study suggest that efforts to improve immigrant mothers' destination-language proficiency would also benefit their children's psychological well-being. Furthermore, promoting children's relationships with peers at school may mitigate the negative psychological consequences of immigrant mothers' limited language proficiency.