ABSTRACT

Children involved in the child welfare system (CWS) are exposed to various negative neighborhood and family-level factors contributing to their poor developmental outcomes, including poor social-behavioral health. Considering the importance of social-behavioral functioning for children’s cognitive growth and academic success, it is important that the interplay of neighborhood and family-level factors and their effects on the social-behavioral outcomes of at-risk children are well understood. By utilizing the first two waves of nationally representative data from the National Survey of Child Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II), the study examines the potential direct and indirect effects of mothers’ perceived neighborhood factors on the social-behavioral outcomes of young children involved in the CWS. Hypothesized direct and indirect pathways operating through mediating mechanisms such as maternal mental health, parental responsiveness, and harsh discipline were tested by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results suggest that perceived neighborhood danger is significantly related to mothers’ depressive symptoms, increasing the likelihood of harsh and negative parenting being used by depressed mothers, ultimately resulting in negative social-behavioral outcomes of young children in the CWS.

摘要

参与儿童福利系统 (CWS) 的儿童面临各种负面的邻里和家庭层面的因素，导致他们的发展结果不佳，包括不良的社会行为健康。考虑到社会行为功能对儿童认知成长和学业成功的重要性，重要的是要充分了解邻里和家庭层面因素的相互作用及其对高危儿童社会行为结果的影响。通过利用来自全国儿童青少年福祉调查 (NSCAW II) 的前两波具有全国代表性的数据，该研究检验了母亲感知的邻里因素对所涉幼儿的社会行为结果的潜在直接和间接影响在 CWS 中。通过使用结构方程模型 (SEM) 测试了通过中介机制运作的假设直接和间接途径，例如母体心理健康、父母的反应和严厉的纪律。结果表明，感知到的邻里危险与母亲的抑郁症状显着相关，增加了抑郁母亲使用严厉和消极育儿的可能性，最终导致 CWS 中幼儿的负面社会行为结果。