Latent Transitions of Census-level Deprivation and Network Analysis of Conduct Problem Behaviours

Conduct problems are more prevalent in neighbourhoods that have a vulnerable structure (e.g., high neighbourhood-level deprivation) and disarranged interpersonal characteristics (e.g., low social cohesion and informal social control at the neighbourhood level). However, as an indicator of neighbourhood structure, neighbourhood deprivation has typically not been assessed longitudinally and solely based on neighbourhood-level socioeconomic status rather than a wide variety of census-level deprivation indicators. Also, few studies have examined which CD behaviours (e.g., stealing) interplay with neighbourhood risks (e.g., low social cohesion). In this study, latent transitions of neighbourhood-level deprivation patterns, based on census-level information, were estimated between age 12.5 and 15.5 using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). In network models, we employed multi-informant variables and estimated interplays between mother-reported CD behaviours and child-reported social cohesion, informal social control and deviant peer affiliations within different patterns of the latent neighbourhood-level deprivation transitions. We identified three constant deprivation patterns: deprived, intermediate and low pattern. In the deprived pattern, the CD behaviour "bullying" had the highest interplay with lack of social cohesions, social control, and high deviant peer affiliation. In contrast, non-violent CD behaviours: "lying" and "staying after dark ", showed importance in the intermediate and low patterns, respectively. Regardless of deprivation patterns, social cohesion played a protective role, whereas affiliation with deviant peers involved in property crime was a risk factor for CD behaviours. The identified CD behaviours can serve as a screening tool, and interventions increasing social cohesion might mitigate CD development.

Caregivers' perceptions of informal social control practices to reduce child neglect: A qualitative study in Ghana

BACKGROUND

Rational choice deterrence theory suggests that caregiving behavior, which includes abusive and neglectful behavior, can be influenced or manipulated via informal social control strategies enacted by neighbors, family members and friends in the social network. The literature identifies two forms of informal social control that have the potential to influence maltreating caregiver behavior, protective vs punitive, with the latter having more contrasting evidence related to its influence on maltreating caregiving practices.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the perceptions and meanings female caregivers associate with protective and punitive informal social control strategies that have been enacted against them.

METHODS

17 female caregivers from Ghana, who self-reported their involvement in neglectful acts, were purposively selected to engage in river of life oral history narrative interviews. Narrative accounts from the caregivers were analyzed thematically using Taguette software package.

RESULTS

The findings showed that protective informal social control in child neglect are interpreted via values and norms of childcare that have been institutionalized in the community. Caregivers perceived protective informal social control to have impact on their level of respect/influence, authority in the family or community, and to elicit internal consequences: shame, guilty feelings and embarrassment. Punitive informal social control approaches were considered as misplaced interventions that had ulterior motives of satisfying the neighbors' hatred/dislike of the perpetrator and quest for revenge.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that the development of a fruitful theoretical framework to explain the effectiveness of informal social control should prioritize the social values and legitimate norms of the community. Implications for practice and theory development are discussed.

Parent-perceived neighbourhood environment, parenting practices and preschool-aged children physical activity and screen time: a cross-sectional study of two culturally and geographically diverse cities

BACKGROUND

Preschool-aged children's physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) are important health-related behaviours likely influenced by PA opportunities, parental perceptions of neighbourhood safety and parenting practices pertaining to PA and ST. How these factors interact to impact on young children's PA and ST, and whether their effects are generalisable across cultures and geographical location is not known. This study addressed these knowledge gaps by conducting pooled analyses of comparable data from two culturally and geographically diverse samples - Chinese parent-child dyads from an ultra-dense city (Hong Kong, China) and Latino parent-child dyads from a low-density city (Houston, USA).

METHODS

The analytical sample consisted of 164 Hong Kong Chinese and 84 US Latino parent-child dyads with data on socio-demographic characteristics, parent-perceived neighbourhood destinations and facilities for children's PA, physical and social safety-related neighbourhood attributes, PA-related parenting practices and child's ST and accelerometer-assessed PA. Generalised linear models with robust standard errors accounting for neighbourhood-level clustering were used to estimate associations and interaction effects.

RESULTS

Hong Kong Chinese children accumulated less PA than US Latino children, although the latter had more ST. Hong Kong Chinese parents reported more parenting practices promoting inactivity. Neighbourhood PA opportunities were positively related to children's PA only if parental perceptions of neighbourhood safety were favourable, and the associations of physical neighbourhood environment characteristics with children's PA and ST depended on PA-related parenting practices. Community cohesion was positively related to children's PA and negatively related to ST, while parental promotion of ST was positively associated with children's ST. Correlates of children's PA and ST did not differ by city.

CONCLUSIONS

The substantial differences in activity patterns between Hong Kong Chinese and US Latino preschool-aged children observed in this study are likely due to a combination of cultural and built environmental factors. However, the fact that no between-city differences in correlates of PA and ST were detected indicates that both populations of children are equally affected by parent-perceived neighbourhood environmental characteristics and parenting practices. Overall, this study highlights the importance of considering how various individual-, home- and neighbourhood physical and social factors interact to influence young children's health-promoting activity levels.

Preventing Neighborhood Disorder: Comparing Alternative Models of Collective Efficacy Theory Using Structural Equation Modeling

Collective efficacy is a widely studied theoretical framework. Originally operationalized as the combination of social cohesion and informal social control, collective efficacy theory is a predictor of multiple positive outcomes. Conceptual and empirical critiques of collective efficacy theory suggest that social cohesion and informal social control should be modeled as unique constructs. Further, the current model of collective efficacy theory does not include an explicit measure of efficacy. Mutual efficacy, defined as community members' beliefs that collective action will be successful at attaining group goals, will be developed in this manuscript. The purpose of mutual efficacy was to make efficacy an explicit component within collective efficacy theory. Three models of collective efficacy theory are compared in this study: (a) a one-factor model of collective efficacy that combines social cohesion and informal social control, (b) a two-factor model of collective efficacy that models social cohesion as a predictor of informal social control, and (c) a mutual efficacy model where the relationship between social cohesion and informal social control is mediated by mutual efficacy. Results suggest that the two-factor model and the mutual efficacy model both fit the data better than the current model of collective efficacy.

Neighborhood Concentrated Disadvantage and Dating Violence among Urban Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Neighborhood Social Processes

The link between relationship violence and aspects of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage (e.g., percent of unemployed adults, percent of families below poverty level), has been established. However, the literature examining neighborhood social processes, including informal social control and social cohesion, in relation to adolescent dating violence has shown mixed results with a limited theoretical foundation and methodology. Using a social disorganization theoretical framework, this study examined the mediating role of these neighborhood social processes in the relation between concentrated disadvantage and adolescent dating violence within an urban context. Participants included 605 adult residents in 30 census tracts and 203 adolescents from neighborhoods on the West and South sides of Chicago. Neighborhood-level concentrated disadvantage was measured via Census data, adult residents reported on neighborhood social processes, and youth reported on dating violence. Informal social control was negatively associated with dating violence, and social cohesion was positively associated with dating violence. A multilevel mediation model showed that concentrated disadvantage was related to higher levels of dating violence via lower levels of informal social control. These results extend social disorganization theory to dating violence within an urban context, while also highlighting the important role of neighborhood processes on relationship violence. Implications for research and intervention programming are discussed.

Neighborhood informal social control and child maltreatment: A comparison of protective and punitive approaches

This paper introduces a new measure of informal social control of child maltreatment (henceforth ISC_CM) by neighbors. Research literature typically uses collective efficacy (Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997) to examine neighborhood informal social control. We argue that double standards about the application of informal social control to family versus street crime requires a measure of informal social control specific to child maltreatment. We also argue that how neighbors intervene may matter as much as whether they intervene. Neighbors may engage in ISC_CM aimed at protecting the child and calming the parent, or more punitive ISC_CM aimed at deterring future abuse. We tested the relationship of both with very severe physical abuse and with abuse related child behavior problems. We used a random, 2-stage cluster design of Hanoi to collect the sample. Thirty Hanoi wards were randomly selected using probability proportional to size sampling. A simple random sample of families in each ward was then drawn using local government lists of ward residents. Based on power analysis, the target sample size was 300. Of 315 residents contacted, 293 participated, yielding a response rate of 93%. Random effects regression models (which estimate a random effect for each ward) were run in Stata11. We found that protective ISC_CM is associated with lower odds of very severe physical abuse and lower reported externalizing problems when abuse is present. Perceived collective efficacy and punitive ISC_CM is not associated with lower odds of very severe physical abuse. Implications for research, policy and practice are discussed. We conclude that further investigation of neighbor ISC_CM is needed to replicate the findings in other cultural contexts, ultimately followed by experimental manipulation of ISC_CM in a neighborhood context to examine the effects on child maltreatment. If further research corroborates the current findings, the development of neighborhood intervention programs to enhance protective ISC_CM may assist materially in reducing very severe child abuse and negative consequences stemming from such abuse.

Do family order and neighbor intervention against intimate partner violence protect children from abuse? Findings from Kathmandu

Drawing on previous research on intimate partner violence, child maltreatment, and informal social control, we hypothesized relationships between child abuse severity and (1) protective informal social control of intimate partner violence (ISC_IPV) by neighbors, (2) intimate terrorism, (3) family order, and (4) the power of mothers in intimate relationships. In what we believe may be a first study of physical child abuse by parents in Nepal, we used a three stage cluster approach to draw a random sample of 300 families in Kathmandu. Random effects regression models were used to test the study hypotheses. The analyses found support for hypotheses one and two, but with an important caveat. Although observed (actual) protective ISC_IPV had the hypothesized negative association with child abuse severity, in one of our models perceived protective ISC_IPV was positively associated with child abuse severity. The models clarify that the overall direction of protective ISC_IPV appears to be negative (protective), but the positive finding is important to consider for both research and practice. A significant relationship between family order and child abuse severity was found, but the direction was negative rather than positive as in hypothesis three. Implications for neighborhood research and typological research on IPV and child maltreatment are discussed.

Are social organizational factors independently associated with a current bacterial sexually transmitted infection among urban adolescents and young adults?

This study explored the relationship between the social organization of neighborhoods including informal social control and social cohesion and a current bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) among adolescents and young adults in one U.S. urban setting. Data for the current study were collected from April 2004 to April 2007 in a cross-sectional household study. The target population included English-speaking, sexually-active persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years who resided in 486 neighborhoods. The study sample included 599 participants from 63 neighborhoods. A current bacterial STI was defined as diagnosis of a chlamydia and/or gonorrhea infection at the time of study participation. Participants reported on informal social control (i.e. scale comprised of 9 items) and social cohesion (i.e. scale comprised of 5 items) in their neighborhood. In a series of weighted multilevel logistic regression models stratified by gender, greater informal social control was significantly associated with a decreased odds of a current bacterial STI among females (AOR 0.53, 95% CI 0.34, 0.84) after controlling for individual social support and other factors. The association, while in a similar direction, was not significant for males (AOR 0.73, 95% CI 0.48, 1.12). Social cohesion was not significantly associated with a current bacterial STI among females (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.61, 1.19) and separately, males (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.67, 1.44). Greater individual social support was associated with an almost seven-fold increase in the odds of a bacterial STI among males (AOR 6.85, 95% CI 1.99, 23.53), a finding which is in contrast to our hypotheses. The findings suggest that neighborhood social organizational factors such as informal social control have an independent relationship with sexual health among U.S. urban youth. The causality of the relationship remains to be determined.