Evidence suggests that, in disadvantaged and socially disorganized communities, parental problems are more likely to arise because of the stressful experiences (e.g., violence, criminal activity) to which families are exposed. Parents subjected to more stress are expected to be less effective at parenting, and less effective parents are less likely to promote social bonds with their children and less inclined to control and monitor their children's behavior.  Adolescents reared in such circumstances, in turn, are expected to display less adequate adjustment. 

This Spotlight presents findings from a study on whether parental variables-specifically African-American mothers' perceptions of their neighborhood-mediate neighborhood effects for African-American adolescents.  It also offers an overview of the research on the role of neighborhood or community factors in the adjustment and the social and psychological well-being of African-American adolescents. 

OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH  

Among the economic stressors facing many African-American families today are stressors-such as crime, neighborhood deterioration, and lack of important     resources-associated with the neighborhoods in which these families live.  Numerous studies have demonstrated links between neighborhood characteristics and aspects of adolescents' behavior reflecting their adjustment.  Teenage pregnancy and dropout rates increase among African-American youngsters as the proportion of high status (professional or managerial)    positions in the neighborhood declines. Community impoverishment has been associated with juvenile delinquency and teen childbearing.  Evidence suggests that the school performance of African-American males is negatively influenced by the concentration of jobless males in the neighborhood. 

The impact of living in stressful neighborhoods also affects parenting behavior.  Neighborhood ethnic diversity has been negatively associated with maternal warmth.  Mothers in neighborhoods at high risk for child maltreatment rated their neighborhoods more negatively as a place to raise children than mothers in low-risk neighborhoods, and the communities with the highest maltreatment rates were those with such conditions as poverty, unemployment, female-headed households, racial segregation, abandoned housing, and population loss. 
A neighborhood's negative influences, however, can be mediated by parental behavior.  In order to overcome risks associated with poverty-stricken neighborhoods, many parents actively monitor their children's behavior and associates, and work to create supportive relationships within and outside the home.  Other findings have shown that the more negatively mothers perceive their neighborhood, the more they talk to their children about the need to find a good job, worry about their child's future employment prospects, and hope for their child to earn good grades in school.  Some researchers have argued that African-American parents may employ practices that appear authoritarian and punitive by middle-class, European-American standards in order to protect adolescents from neighborhood dangers. 

There is little research directly linking parenting variables with neighborhood effects on African-American adolescents to determine if there is any mediating effect.  The research that has been conducted suggests that, in the context of poverty, parents may be less effective in controlling their children, and may be less affectionate and accepting, resulting in youngsters being at greater risk for adjustment problems. Poverty has been associated with less effective monitoring and with the erratic use of harsh/punitive discipline, which in turn have been associated with adolescents' delinquent behavior.  The negative effects, on school-age children's verbal IQ, of living in ethnically diverse neighborhoods have been found to be mediated by the family home learning environment.   Living in a neighborhood with high socioeconomic status neighbors has been associated with a better home learning environment, which in turn has been associated with fewer internalizing problems for school-age children. 
While some argue that African-American parents react to the stressors associated with urban life by restricting their children's behavior, others argue that sources outside the home (e.g., peers, stressful experiences) may undermine the effectiveness of parents in socializing their children. 

CURRENT STUDY 

For the current study, 37 male and 48 female adolescent subjects were given questionnaires to measure such adolescent variables as self-reliance, self-esteem, problem behavior, and psychological distress. 
Their parents were also given questionnaires but, because just four fathers completed them, only the responses of the mothers were included in the analyses. 
Maternal variables included perceptions of neighborhood characteristics and parenting behavior, and adolescent variables included self-reliance, self-esteem, problem behavior, and psychological distress.  Intercorrelations among the  variables were calculated (see Table 1). 

FINDINGS 

• Important features of neighborhoods (crime, physical deterioration, availability of resources) measured through mothers' reports were associated with adolescent functioning and mothers' parenting practices.  The more mothers reported that crime was a problem in their neighborhood, the lower their adolescents' self-esteem, and the more mothers reported that their neighborhood was physically declining, the lower their adolescents' self-esteem and self-reliance. An outcome of living in a dangerous environment may be less autonomy, with parents offering fewer freedoms in the face of a hostile environment. Adolescents living in poor conditions are more likely to develop negative views of themselves.
• The more mothers reported that important resources (bank, supermarket, library, police station, etc.) were accessible in their neighborhood, the higher their adolescents' self-reliance and self-esteem, and the lower their problem behaviors.  When important resources are available at acceptable levels, adolescents may function at a higher level, and they may face less stress when they and their families do not have to strive to obtain basic services.  This finding held true across socioeconomic lines, indicating the importance of considering not only whether families are financially able to afford services, but also how accessible services are.  Mothers' report of the availability of resources was positively associated with their acceptance of their adolescents. 
• The more mothers reported physical deterioration in their community, the higher their firm control of their adolescents. 
• The more accepting mothers are toward their children, the higher the adolescents' self-esteem and self-reliance, and the lower their problem behavior-indicating the importance of mothers' supportive behavior for children's functioning.

For a complete copy of this study, contact the Laboratory for Student Success at 800-892-5550.