The protective effects of neighborhood collective efficacy on British children growing up in deprivation: a developmental analysis

Dev Psychol. 2009 Jul;45(4):942-57. doi: 10.1037/a0016162.

Abstract

This article reports on the influence of neighborhood-level deprivation and collective efficacy on children's antisocial behavior between the ages of 5 and 10 years. Latent growth curve modeling was applied to characterize the developmental course of antisocial behavior among children in the E-Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, an epidemiological cohort of 2,232 children. Children in deprived versus affluent neighborhoods had higher levels of antisocial behavior at school entry (24.1 vs. 20.5, p < .001) and a slower rate of decline from involvement in antisocial behavior between the ages of 5 and 10 (-0.54 vs. -0.78, p < .01). Neighborhood collective efficacy was negatively associated with levels of antisocial behavior at school entry (r = -.10, p < .01) but only in deprived neighborhoods; this relationship held after controlling for neighborhood problems and family-level factors. Collective efficacy did not predict the rate of change in antisocial behavior between the ages of 5 and 10. Findings suggest that neighborhood collective efficacy may have a protective effect on children living in deprived contexts.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Twin Study

MeSH terms

  • Antisocial Personality Disorder / psychology*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Diseases in Twins / psychology*
  • England
  • Family Relations
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Models, Psychological
  • Personality Assessment
  • Personality Development*
  • Psychosocial Deprivation*
  • Residence Characteristics*
  • Self Efficacy*
  • Sex Factors
  • Social Control, Informal
  • Social Problems / psychology
  • Wales