Peer-reviewed article
Neighborhood, neighborliness, and family and child well-being.
James R. McDonell, Natallia Sianko ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This article reviews selected studies that link neighborhood factors to child and family well-being. It looks at four areas: parenting, safety, health, and educational outcomes. The authors focus on neighborliness, a form of neighboring, rather than broad measures of neighborhood context. They hope the review will help others turn these findings into policies and programs. The abstract does not report specific results.
Key points
- Neighborhood context is a well-recognized factor in child and family well-being.
- Little systematic research exists to guide inquiry into how neighborhood social processes relate to child and family well-being.
- The review covers selected studies on parenting, safety, health, and educational outcomes.
- The focus is on neighborliness rather than macrolevel indicators of neighborhood context.
- Questions remain about how to align neighborhood effects research findings with the tangible experiences of children and families.
Limitations
Only the abstract is available, so no findings, numbers, or study selection methods are given. The review covers selected studies, so it may not represent all the research, and it does not evaluate a specific intervention.
Abstract
Although neighborhood context is a well-recognized factor in the well-being of children and families, little systematic research exists to guide inquiries into the intersection of neighborhood social processes and child and family well-being. Moreover, despite the increased popularity of neighborhood effects research over the last several decades, crucial questions around the debate on how to align research findings with tangible experiences for children and families remain open. This article reviews selected studies that linked neighborhood factors to specific domains of child and family well-being: parenting, safety, health, and educational outcomes. By focusing on neighborliness, a particular form of neighboring, the study aims to shift the focus from macrolevel indicators of neighborhood context, to a more dynamic set of attributes that characterize neighborhood life, with the hope of inspiring others to build upon the findings and begin to translate the conclusions to meaningful policies and programs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).