The Acute Effects of Community Violence on Young Children’s Regulatory, Behavioral, and Developmental Outcomes in São Paulo, Brazil

• In Event: Heterogeneity in Neighborhood Effects on Child Development: An International Perspective

Abstract

Background
Existing research on the impacts of adversity on children’s well-being has largely focused on household-level risk factors using observational methods in high-income countries. Community violence – or neighborhood-based acts of interpersonal violence such as homicide or assault – is an especially prevalent and impactful form of adversity for many children. This study leverages a quasi-experimental design to estimate the acute effect of community homicides on the regulatory, behavioral, and developmental outcomes of Brazilian three-year-olds.

Data
Child-level data were taken from an ongoing longitudinal study of early life adversity and child development in low-income neighborhoods in São Paulo, Brazil. The study enrolled a cohort of children born between 2012 and 2014 at the University Hospital of the University of São Paulo. Data for the present study come from the three-year follow-up. Child-level data were merged with a public dataset containing police-reported information on violent crimes (including date and address of the crime) in the city of São Paulo.

Methods
Using a sample of 3,241 three-year-olds (M age = 41.05 months; 53% female; Table 1), we leveraged natural, arguably random variation in the timing of homicides relative to children’s assessments to estimate the impacts of recent exposure to community violence on children’s immediate outcomes. Specifically, we compared the outcomes of children who were assessed soon after a recent local homicide to children from the same residential neighborhoods who had not recently experienced community violence. We also explored possible variability in the effect of community violence exposure by child, family, and community characteristics (e.g., availability of social assistance).
Child outcome measures included parent reports of effortful control and behavior problems, as well as direct assessments of children’s developmental (cognitive, language, motor) skills. Community homicides were measured using police records.

Results
Recent exposure to community homicides was associated with statistically significantly lower effortful control, higher behavior problems, and lower overall developmental performance for children (d = 0.05 – 0.20 SDs; Figure 1). Effects were consistent across subgroups based on sociodemographic characteristics and environmental supports, but generally largest when community violence exposure was geographically proximal (within 600m of home) and recent (within two weeks prior to assessment).

Conclusions
Results highlight the pervasive effects that community violence can have on young children living in low-income communities, as well as the need to expand supports to mitigate these effects and prevent inequities early in life.

Authors

• Dana Charles McCoy, Harvard University

• Marta Dormal, Harvard University
  Presenting Author

• Jorge Cuartas, Harvard University

• Angélica Carreira dos Santos, University of São Paulo

• Günther Fink, Swiss Tropical Public Health Institute

• Alexandra Brentani, University of São Paulo Medical School