Heterogeneity in Neighborhood Effects on Child Development: An International Perspective

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

While neighborhoods as developmental contexts have been widely recognized (e.g., Leventhal, 2018), a critical challenge for the field remains in understanding the nuances of for whom, when, and where neighborhoods matter (Levy, 2022; Sharkey & Faber, 2014; Leventhal et al., 2015). This is, in part, informed by a basic tenant in developmental science that children’s individual differences shape development within the wider ecological context (Overton & Molenaar, 2015). Yet, few studies examine whether neighborhoods affect children’s development differently, despite strong reasons for expecting such heterogeneity.

In this symposium, we take an international perspective on how neighborhood and community characteristics interact with children’s predispositions and family characteristics in shaping child outcomes. Using data from São Paulo, Brazil, the first paper finds significant impact of recent exposure to neighborhood violence, in particular homicides, on cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes. These effects do not vary across various subgroups examined. The second paper addresses children from Mexican immigrant families in the US, finding associations between neighborhood-level educational resources and math achievement in 5th grade. These effects are moderated by family context characteristics. The third paper uses representative US data, finding racial and ethnic differences in the extent to which family socioeconomic resources are associated with educational opportunities across neighborhoods. The fourth paper uses population-level data from Norway, finding effects of neighborhood socioeconomic composition on 5th-grade test scores to vary across gender and family sociodemographic characteristics, but not across genetic propensity for education.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chair

• Henrik D. Zachrisson, University of Oslo

Individual Presentations

• The Acute Effects of Community Violence on Young Children’s Regulatory, Behavioral, and Developmental Outcomes in São Paulo, Brazil - Dana Charles McCoy, Harvard University; Presenting Author: Marta Dormal, Harvard University; 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

• Mexican Immigrant Children’s Math Achievement: The Role of Neighborhood Institutional Resources and Family Context - Presenting Author: Fei Tan, Tufts University; Tama Leventhal, Tufts University

• Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Children’s Access to Educational Opportunity in Their Neighborhoods - Presenting Author: Naoka Carey, Boston College; Rebekah Levine Coley, Boston College

• For Whom Neighborhoods Matter: Heterogeneous Effects of Socioeconomic Neighborhood Composition on Child Achievement - Presenting Author: Nicolai Topstad Borgen, Universitetet i Oslo; Henrik D. Zachrisson, University of Oslo; Torkild Hovde Lyngstad, University of Oslo; Rosa Cheesman, King's College London; Eivind Ystrøm, University of Oslo