Article
Neighborhood Context and Children's Development: When Do Neighborhoods Matter Most?
Tama Leventhal,
Corresponding Author
Tama Leventhal
Tufts University
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Tama Leventhal, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, Tufts University, 105 College Avenue, Medford, MA 02155; e-mail: [email protected].Search for more papers by this authorTama Leventhal,
Corresponding Author
Tama Leventhal
Tufts University
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Tama Leventhal, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, Tufts University, 105 College Avenue, Medford, MA 02155; e-mail: [email protected].Search for more papers by this authorI acknowledge the William T. Grant Foundation, which supported much of the research described in this article. In addition, Sara Anderson and Julius Anastasio provided helpful comments on an early draft of the article. I am also grateful to my collaborators, Sara Anderson, again, and Veronique Dupéré, on research described in this article.
Abstract
In this article, I examine when neighborhoods matter for children's development. I review conceptual and empirical work on developmental timing, highlighting the dynamic interactions between neighborhood context and children's development in the first two decades of life, and incorporating the issue of residential mobility (children moving across or within neighborhoods). This research suggests that childhood may be a time when individuals’ achievement is sensitive to neighborhoods’ socioeconomic conditions, while moving in middle childhood or early adolescence may be most consequential for children's development, both in terms of achievement and socioemotional functioning. In both cases, cumulative exposure to neighborhood socioeconomic conditions or residential mobility in the first two decades of life may be more important for children's development than exposure during either childhood or adolescence, but it likely depends on their co-occurrence and the outcome. I conclude by addressing methodological considerations for further study.
References
- 1Jencks, C., & Mayer, S. (1990). The social consequences of growing up in a poor neighborhood. In L. E. Lynn & M. F. H. McGeary (Eds.), Inner-city poverty in the United States (pp. 111–186). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
- 2Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 309–337. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.309
- 3Leventhal, T., Dupéré, V., & Shuey, A. E. (2015). Children in neighborhoods. In M. H. Bornstein, T. Leventhal (Eds.), & R. M. Lerner (Editor-in-Chief), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science. Vol. 4: Ecological settings and processes in developmental systems ( 7th ed., pp. 493–533). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy413
10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy413 Google Scholar
- 4Reardon, S. F., & Bischoff, K. (2011). Growth in the residential segregation of families by income, 1970–2009. US 2010 Project. U.S. 2010. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
- 5Wacquant, L. (2008). Urban outcasts: A comparative sociology of advanced marginality. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
- 6Sharkey, P., & Faber, J. W. (2014). Where, when, why, and for whom do residential contexts matter? Moving away from the dichotomous understanding of neighborhood effects. Annual Review of Sociology, 40, 559–579. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-071913-043350
- 7Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (2007). The bioecological model of human development. In R. M. Lerner & W. Damon (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 1, 6th ed., pp. 793–828). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0114
10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0114 Google Scholar
- 8Overton, W. F. (2015). Processes, relations and relational-developmental-systems. In W. F. Overton, P. C. M. Molenaar (Eds.), & R. M. Lerner (Editor-in-Chief), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science. Vol. 1: Theory and method ( 7th ed., pp. 9–62). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy102
10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy102 Google Scholar
- 9Elder, G. H., Shanahan, M. J., & Jennings, J. A. (2015). Human development in time and place. In M. H. Bornstein, T. Leventhal (Eds.), & R. M. Lerner (Editor-in-Chief), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science. Vol. 4: Ecological settings and processes in developmental systems ( 7th ed., pp. 1–49). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy402
10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy402 Google Scholar
- 10Sampson, R. J. (2012). Great American city: Chicago and the enduring neighborhood effect. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
10.7208/chicago/9780226733883.001.0001 Google Scholar
- 11Census Bureau, U. S. (2015). Geographical mobility: 2014 to 2015. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2015/demo/geographic-mobility/cps-2015.html
- 12Garboden, P., Leventhal, T., & Newman, S. (2017). Estimating the effects of residential mobility: A methodological note. Journal of Social Service Research, 43, 246–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2017.1282392
- 13Jacknowitz, A., Morrissey, T., & Brannegan, A. (2015). Food insecurity across the first five years: Triggers of onset and exit. Children and Youth Services Review, 53, 24–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.03.012
- 14Chetty, R., & Hendren, N. (in press). The impacts of neighborhoods on intergenerational mobility I: Childhood exposure effects. Quarterly Journal of Economics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjy007
- 15Schwartz, A. E., Stiefel, L., & Cordes, S. A. (2017). Moving matters: The causal effect of moving schools on student performance. Education Finance and Policy, 12, 419–446. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00198
- 16Roy, A. L., McCoy, D. C., & Raver, C. C. (2014). Instability versus quality: Residential mobility, neighborhood poverty, and children's self-regulation. Developmental Psychology, 50, 1891–1896. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036984
- 17Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2011). Changes in neighborhood poverty from 1990 to 2000 and youth's problem behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 47, 1680–1698. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025314
- 18Anderson, S., Leventhal, T., Newman, S., & Dupéré, V. (2014). Residential mobility among children: A framework for child and family policy. Cityscape, 16, 5–36. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26326856
- 19Leventhal, T., Dupéré, V., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2009). Neighborhood influences on adolescent development. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (Vol. 2, 3rd ed., pp. 411–443). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470479193.adlpsy002013
10.1002/9780470479193.adlpsy002013 Google Scholar
- 20Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). Adolescent development. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 2, 55–87. https://doi.org/10.1891/194589501787383444
10.1891/1945-8959.2.1.55 Google Scholar
- 21Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J. D., & Gannon-Rowley, T. (2002). Assessing “neighborhood effects”: Social processes and new directions in research. Annual Review of Sociology, 28, 443–478. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.28.110601.141114
- 22Astone, N. M., & McLanahan, S. S. (1994). Family structure, residential mobility, and school dropout: A research note. Demography, 31, 575–584. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2061791
- 23Duncan, G. J., Ziol-Guest, K. M., & Kalil, A. (2010). Early-childhood poverty and adult attainment, behavior, and health. Child Development, 81, 306–325. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01396.x
- 24Shonkoff, J. P., Boyce, W. T., & McEwen, B. S. (2009). Neuroscience, molecular biology, and the childhood roots of health disparities. Journal of the American Medical Association, 301, 2252–2259. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.754
- 25Shuey, E. A., & Leventhal, T. (in press). Neighborhoods and parenting. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting ( 3rd ed.). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis/Psychology Press.
- 26Dupéré, V., Leventhal, T., Crosnoe, R., & Dion, E. (2010). Understanding the positive role of neighborhood socioeconomic advantage in achievement: The contribution of the home, child care, and school environments. Developmental Psychology, 46, 1227–1244. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020211
- 27Lareau, A. (2011). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life, with an update a decade later ( 2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
10.1525/9780520949904 Google Scholar
- 28Crowder, K., & South, S. J. (2011). Spatial and temporal dimensions of neighborhood effects on high school graduation. Social Science Research, 40, 87–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.04.013
- 29Anderson, S., Leventhal, T., & Dupéré, V. (2014). Exposure to neighborhood affluence and poverty in childhood and adolescence and academic achievement and behavior. Applied Developmental Science, 18, 123–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2014.924355
- 30Chetty, R., Hendren, N., & Katz, L. F. (2016). The effects of exposure to better neighborhoods on children: New evidence from the moving to opportunity experiment. American Economic Review, 106, 855–902. https://doi.org/10.3386/w21156
- 31Galster, G., & Santiago, A. (2017). Do neighborhood effects on low-income minority children depend on their age? Evidence from a public housing natural experiment. Housing Policy Debate, 27, 584–610. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2016.1254098
- 32Hango, D. W. (2006). The long-term effect of childhood residential mobility on educational attainment. The Sociological Quarterly, 47, 631–664. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2006.00061.x
- 33Anderson, S., & Leventhal, T. (2017). Residential mobility and adolescent achievement and behavior: Understanding timing and extent of mobility. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 27, 328–343. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12288
- 34Ziol-Guest, K. M., & Kalil, A. (2014). Frequent moves in childhood can affect later earnings, work, and education: The impact of childhood moves between ages 6 and 10 reverberates long into adulthood. Chicago, IL. Retrieved from https://howhousingmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/How-Housing-Matters-Policy-Research-Brief-Frequent-Moves-in-Childhood-Can-Affect-Later-Earnings-Work-and-Education.pdf
- 35Anderson, S., Leventhal, T., & Dupéré, V. (2014). Residential mobility and the family context: A developmental approach. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35, 70–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2013.11.004
- 36Crowder, K., & Teachman, J. (2004). Do residential conditions explain the relationship between living arrangements and adolescent behavior? Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 721–738. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00049.x
- 37Kessler, R. C., Duncan, G. J., Gennetian, L. A., Katz, L. F., Kling, J. R., Sampson, N. A., … Ludwig, J. (2014). Associations of housing mobility interventions for children in high-poverty neighborhoods with subsequent mental disorders during adolescence. Journal of the American Medical Association, 311, 937. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.607
- 38Sampson, R. J. (2008). Moving to inequality: Neighborhood effects and experiments meet social structure. American Journal of Sociology, 114, 189–231. https://doi.org/10.1086/589843
- 39Browning, C. R., & Soller, B. (2014). Moving beyond neighborhood: Activity spaces and ecological networks as contexts for youth development. Cityscape, 16, 165–196.
- 40Odgers, C. L., Donley, S., Caspi, A., Bates, C. J., & Moffitt, T. E. (2015). Living alongside more affluent neighbors predicts greater involvement in antisocial behavior among low-income boys. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56, 1055–1064. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12380
- 41Wodtke, G. T., Harding, D. J., & Elwert, F. (2011). Neighborhood effects in temporal perspective. American Sociological Review, 76, 713–736. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122411420816
- 42Duncan, G. J., Magnuson, K. A., & Ludwig, J. (2004). The endogeneity problem in developmental studies. Research in Human Development, 1, 59–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2004.9683330
10.1207/s15427617rhd0101&2_5 Google Scholar
- 43Ludwig, J., Liebman, J. B., Kling, J. R., Duncan, G. J., Katz, L. F., Kessler, R. C., & Sanbonmatsu, L. (2008). What can we learn about neighborhood effects from the moving to opportunity experiment. American Journal of Sociology, 114, 144–188. https://doi.org/10.1.1.405.501
