Neighborhoods have profound impacts on children and families. Using structural equation modeling and data from 4,898 children in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, the current study examines the direct and indirect effects of neighborhood poverty on the likelihood of being maltreated at age 5. Two neighborhood social processes, social cohesion and informal social control, were examined as mediators. The study found that neighborhood poverty was indirectly related to physical assault and psychological aggression through its impact on social cohesion, and indirectly related to neglect through its impact on informal social control. The results highlight the need to reduce poverty across communities and increase social cohesion and social control as potential pathways for interrupting the impact of neighborhood poverty on maltreatment.

社区对儿童和家庭有着深远的影响。本研究使用结构方程模型和来自脆弱家庭和儿童福利研究中 4,898 名儿童的数据，检验了邻里贫困对 5 岁时受到虐待的可能性的直接和间接影响。两个邻里社会过程，社会凝聚力和非正式社会控制，被检查为中介。研究发现，邻里贫困通过影响社会凝聚力与身体攻击和心理攻击间接相关，通过影响非正式社会控制与忽视间接相关。结果强调了减少社区贫困和增加社会凝聚力和社会控制的必要性，作为中断邻里贫困对虐待影响的潜在途径。