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Descriptors:
Adolescents; Racial Discrimination; Neighborhoods; African Americans; Adjustment (to Environment); Correlation; Urban Areas; Behavior Problems; Prediction; Stress Variables; Community Characteristics

Abstract:
Racial discrimination has serious negative consequences for the adjustment of African American adolescents. Taking an ecological approach, this study examined the linkages between perceived racial discrimination within and outside of the neighborhood and urban adolescents' externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and tested whether neighborhood cohesion operated as a protective factor. Data came from 461 African American adolescents (mean age = 15.24 years, SD = 1.56; 50% female) participating in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Multilevel models revealed that perceived discrimination within youth's neighborhoods was positively related to externalizing, and discrimination both within and outside of youth's neighborhoods predicted greater internalizing problems. Neighborhood cohesion moderated the association between within-neighborhood discrimination and externalizing. Specifically, high neighborhood cohesion attenuated the association between within-neighborhood discrimination and externalizing. The discussion centers on the implications of proximal stressors and neighborhood cohesion for African American adolescents' adjustment. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Educational Finance; Evidence; Stakeholders; Expenditures; Voting; Tax Effort; Community Characteristics; School District Wealth; Operating Expenses; Political Attitudes; Consciousness Raising; Change Strategies; Multiple Regression Analysis; Data Analysis; Statistical Data; Input Output Analysis; Cost Effectiveness; Audits (Verification); School Budget Elections; Politics of Education; Schematic Studies

Abstract:
Using logistic regression, this study sought to understand the relationship between district characteristics, district finances, levy characteristics, and campaign expenditures with new operating levy outcomes. We found that employee benefits as a percentage of the district's budget were negatively associated with levy outcomes, while salaries were positively associated with levy outcomes, suggesting that voters may be more sensitive to retirement and healthcare benefits than salaries when voting. While campaign spending was related to levy success, types of expenditures were largely insignificant. School district personnel must be cognizant of the local conditions in crafting campaigns and recruiting community stakeholders. (Contains 4 tables, 1 figure, and 6 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Well Being; Older Adults; Foreign Countries; Income; Social Capital; Neighborhoods; Marital Status; Economically Disadvantaged; Case Studies; Ownership; Real Estate; Prediction; Poverty; Services; Community Characteristics; Correlation

Abstract:
Purpose of the Study: We aimed to investigate whether social capital (obtaining support through indirect ties such as from neighbors) and social cohesion (interdependencies among neighbors) within neighborhoods positively affect the well being of older adults. Design and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 945 of 1,440 (66% response rate) independently living older adults (aged [greater than or equal] 70 years) in Rotterdam. We fitted a hierarchical random effects model to account for the hierarchical structure of the study design: 945 older adults (Level 1) nested in 72 neighborhoods (Level 2). Results: Univariate analyses showed that being born in the Netherlands, house ownership, education, income, social capital of individuals, neighborhood security, neighborhood services, neighborhood social capital, and neighborhood social cohesion were significantly related to the well being of older adults. Multilevel analyses showed that social capital of individuals, neighborhood services, neighborhood social capital, and neighborhood social cohesion predicted the well being of older adults. Single and poor older adults reported lower well being than did better off and married older adults. However, the effects of marital status and income were mediated by neighborhood services, social capital, and social cohesion. Neighborhood services, social capital, and social cohesion may act as buffer against the adverse effects of being single and poor on the well being of older adults. Implications: The results of this study support the importance of social capital of individuals, as well as social capital within the neighborhood and social cohesion within the neighborhood for well being of older adults. The well being of older adults may also be enhanced through the improvement of quality of neighborhood services. (Contains 4 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Low Income; Social Capital; Neighborhoods; Ownership; Real Estate; Correlation; Scores; Regression (Statistics); Community Characteristics; Prediction

Abstract:
This study examined the relationship between homeownership and social capital among low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. Using data from the Community Advantage Panel Study, the authors used propensity score weighting and regression analyses to explore the relationship between LMI homeownership, neighborhood conditions, and social capital. After controlling for several important individual- and neighborhood-level characteristics, the authors found that homeownership is related to greater access to social resources in general but not to social resources within the neighborhood. Instead, resource generation within the neighborhood is largely predicted by neighborhood stability and perceived neighborhood size. Policy implications are discussed. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Adolescents; Aggression; Grade 6; Grade 7; Grade 8; Structural Equation Models; Violence; Community Characteristics; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Academic Achievement; African Americans; At Risk Persons; Emotional Disturbances; Behavior Problems; Urban Areas; Anxiety; Depression (Psychology); Emotional Adjustment

Abstract:
African American adolescents are exposed disproportionately to community violence, increasing their risk for emotional and behavioral symptoms that can detract from learning and undermine academic outcomes. The present study examined whether aggressive behavior and depressive and anxious symptoms mediated the association between exposure to community violence and academic functioning, and if the indirect effects of community violence on academic functioning differed for boys and girls, in a community sample of urban African American adolescents ("N" = 491; 46.6% female). Structural equation modeling was used to examine the indirect effect of exposure to community violence in grade 6 on grade 8 academic functioning. Results revealed that aggression in grade 7 mediated the association between grade 6 exposure to community violence and grade 8 academic functioning. There were no indirect effects through depressive and anxious symptoms, and gender did not moderate the indirect effect. Findings highlight the importance of targeting aggressive behavior for youth exposed to community violence to not only improve their behavioral adjustment but also their academic functioning. Implications for future research are discussed. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Safety; Self Efficacy; Physical Activities; Foreign Countries; Intention; Citizenship Education; Neighborhoods; Social Networks; Social Influences; Schemata (Cognition); Community Characteristics; Correlation; Leisure Time

Abstract:
Although physical activity is often believed to be influenced by both environmental and individual factors, little is known about their interaction. This study explores interactions of perceived safety and social neighborhood factors with psychosocial cognitions for leisure-time walking. Cross-sectional data were obtained from residents (age 25-75 years) of 212 neighborhoods in the South-East of the Netherlands, who participated in the Dutch GLOBE study in 2004 (N = 4395, survey response 64.4%). Direct associations of, and interactions between perceived neighborhood safety, social neighborhood factors (social cohesion, social network and feeling at home) and psychosocial cognitions (attitude, self-efficacy, social influence and intention) on two outcomes of leisure-time walking [yes versus no (binary), and among walkers: minutes per week (continuous)] were analyzed in multilevel regression models. The association between attitude and participating in leisure-time walking was stronger in those who felt less at home in their neighborhood. Social influence and attitude were stronger associated with participation in leisure-time walking in those who sometimes felt unsafe in their neighborhood. A positive intention was associated with more minutes walked in those who perceived their neighborhood as unsafe among those who walked. Only limited support was found for interactions between neighborhood perceptions and psychosocial cognitions for leisure-time walking. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Prevention; Risk; Behavior Problems; Well Being; Adolescents; Late Adolescents; Drinking; Neighborhoods; Dating (Social); Urban Youth; Incidence; Interpersonal Relationship; Community Characteristics; Violence; Predictor Variables; Drug Use; Parenting Styles; Parent Child Relationship; Low Achievement; Antisocial Behavior; Peer Influence; Race; Gender Differences; African Americans; Hispanic Americans

Abstract:
Given prevalence rates and negative consequences that adolescents' perpetration of dating violence may have on an individual's well-being and future relationships, it is imperative to explore factors that may increase or reduce its occurrence. Thus, we aimed to identify how multiple contextual risk factors (individual, family, schools, and neighborhoods) were related to adolescents' perpetration of dating violence over a 6 year period. Then, we assessed how neighborhood collective efficacy, an important predictor of urban youths' well-being, buffered the relationship between each of the risk factors and adolescents' perpetration of dating violence. Three waves of data from the "Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study" were used (N = 765; Ages 16-20 at Wave 3). The sample is 53 % female, 42 % African-American, and 53 % Hispanic. For the total sample, drug and alcohol use, low parental monitoring, academic difficulties, and involvement with antisocial peers were significant early risk factors for perpetration of dating violence in late adolescence. Risk factors also varied by adolescents' race and sex. Finally, perceived neighborhood collective efficacy buffered the relationship between early academic difficulties and later perpetration of dating violence for Hispanic males. These results imply that multiple systems should be addressed in dating violence prevention programs. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Classroom Environment; Observation; Classroom Research; Kindergarten; Speech Communication; Video Technology; Early Childhood Education; Young Children; Teacher Student Relationship; Interpersonal Communication; Classroom Communication; Language Acquisition; Cooperative Learning; Preschool Teachers; Teaching Methods; Community Characteristics; Municipalities

Abstract:
The intention of this study is to examine how early childhood education (ECE) teachers can promote children's language learning and the construction of knowledge about their environment in everyday conversations. Young children primarily learn through interactions with adults and peers, with conversations representing important arenas for language learning, as well as for learning about the environment. The research question is: "How can teachers encourage a learning environment to promote children's learning to use language and collaborate on the construction of knowledge in everyday conversations?" This study has a special focus on the collaboration between teachers and children, and the study was accomplished through video observations carried out in a small-town kindergarten consisting of four classes. The results revealed that the children were mostly invited to answer closed questions, and that the teachers did not invite them to work together to develop their understandings. Through the study, the ECE teacher became focused on what is taking place in everyday conversations. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Adolescents; Age; Coping; Neighborhoods; Economically Disadvantaged; Community Characteristics; Stress Variables; Correlation; Physiology; At Risk Persons; African Americans; Urban Areas; Substance Abuse; Social Support Groups

Abstract:
Evidence suggests that the consequences of chronic exposure to stressors extend beyond psychological effects, and that adolescents living in socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods may experience an accumulation of exposure to stressors that wears down the physical systems in the body, resulting in hyper-activation of the stress response. This research examines the relationship between exposure to neighborhood stressors and salivary cortisol reactivity in a sample of 163 at-risk African American adolescents (average age 21; 50% female) living in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods. More specifically, the relationship between neighborhood stressors and physiological stress, measured by baseline cortisol and cortisol reactivity is assessed. This research also examines several moderating pathways between exposure to neighborhood disadvantage and cortisol reactivity including substance use, high effort coping, psychological stress and social support. Results indicate that both individual and neighborhood-level factors influence adolescent cortisol. High effort coping and psychological stress were associated with cortisol in the sample, and exposure to neighborhood socio-economic disadvantage resulted in an atypical cortisol response. In addition, neighborhood disadvantage interacted with intra- and interpersonal factors to affect cortisol indirectly. Thus, living in disadvantaged neighborhoods may take a psychological and physiological toll on adolescents, and it also may exert synergistic effects through individual coping and vulnerabilities. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Risk; Racial Discrimination; African Americans; Child Rearing; Parenting Styles; Young Adults; Structural Equation Models; Family Environment; Community Characteristics; Intimacy; Stress Variables; Schemata (Cognition); Predictor Variables; Intervention

Abstract:
Accumulating evidence suggests that African American men and women experience unique challenges in developing and maintaining stable, satisfying romantic relationships. Extant studies have linked relationship quality among African American couples to contemporaneous risk factors such as economic hardship and racial discrimination. Little research, however, has examined the contextual and intrapersonal processes in late childhood and adolescence that influence romantic relationship health among African American adults. We investigated competence-promoting parenting practices and exposure to community-related stressors in late childhood, and negative relational schemas in adolescence, as predictors of young adult romantic relationship health. Participants were 318 African American young adults (59.4 % female) who had provided data at four time points from ages 10-22 years. Structural equation modeling indicated that exposure to community-related stressors and low levels of competence-promoting parenting contributed to negative relational schemas, which were proximal predictors of young adult relationship health. Relational schemas mediated the associations of competence-promoting parenting practices and exposure to community stressors in late childhood with romantic relationship health during young adulthood. Results suggest that enhancing caregiving practices, limiting youths' exposure to community stressors, and modifying relational schemas are important processes to be targeted for interventions designed to enhance African American adults' romantic relationships. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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