ERIC Number: EJ1041150
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Oct
Pages: 30
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0272-4316
EISSN: N/A
Early Adolescent Perceptions of Neighborhood: Strengths, Structural Disadvantage, and Relations to Outcomes
Witherspoon, Dawn P.; Hughes, Diane L.
Journal of Early Adolescence, v34 n7 p866-895 Oct 2014
Considerable evidence shows the detriments of neighborhood social disorganization for urban youth. Researchers have focused less on potential neighborhood strengths or on the interplay of neighborhood perceptions and objective neighborhood characteristics. The authors examined the presence and perception of positive and negative neighborhood characteristics among urban ethnically diverse families, the similarity in early adolescents' and mothers' perceptions, and the association between sociodemographic characteristics, perceptions, and youth outcomes. The sample consisted of 608 ethnically diverse early adolescents and 128 mother-adolescent dyads. Adolescents' reports of positive and negative neighborhood characteristics were empirically distinct and moderately correlated. Mothers and adolescents viewed their neighborhoods differently. Census measures of neighborhood disadvantage were positively associated with adolescents' and mothers' perceptions of negative neighborhood characteristics but differently associated with positive neighborhood characteristics. Neighborhood characteristics were differentially associated with youth outcomes. The authors discuss the importance of the neighborhood context, particularly positive neighborhood characteristics, for urban families.
Descriptors: Early Adolescents, Neighborhoods, Environmental Influences, Urban Youth, Urban Areas, Ethnic Diversity, Mothers, Attitudes, Socioeconomic Influences, Demography, Census Figures, Disadvantaged, Correlation, Grade 6, Middle School Students, Semi Structured Interviews, Student Surveys, Grades (Scholastic), Self Esteem, Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Disadvantaged Youth, Hypothesis Testing
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2814
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 6; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Elementary Education; Grade 7; Junior High Schools; Secondary Education; Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Childrens Depression Inventory; Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale
Grant or Contract Numbers: NSF 0218159; NSF 0721383