A child?s first few years of elementary school have been referred to as a """"""""critical period"""""""" for development because academic achievement during the early years of school is one of the strongest predictors of a child?s long term academic success. This study will explore the influence of family and neighborhood characteristics on parent involvement in school and on the behavioral adjustment and academic achievement of elementary school children. The study design will include be cross-sectional with a short-term longitudinal follow-up, and the sample will include 480 first grade children and their families living in 60 different neighborhoods in Baltimore. Home interviews will be conducted during the fall of first grade, and a brief telephone survey will be conducted during the final few months of the academic year. Home interviews will consist of questions regarding parent attitudes and behaviors, parent perceptions of the neighborhood, and assessments of the child. Academic achievement information will be abstracted from school records. The follow-up telephone survey will include a parent report of the child?s adjustment to school and parent involvement in school. The following research questions will be addressed: (1) How do neighborhood structure (i.e., economic impoverishment, graffiti, vacant housing) and neighborhood climate (i.e., social cohesion) influence parental involvement in school, both directly and as mediated by neighborhood involvement processes (i.e., collective socialization practices)?; (2) Do neighborhood structure and climate, as mediated by parental involvement, influence a child?s behavioral adjustment to elementary school?; and (3) Do neighborhood structure and climate, as mediated by parental involvement, influence a child?s academic achievement in elementary school? Analysis methods will include the latest statistical tools for multilevel analysis and structural equations modeling.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD040419-04
Application #
6860118
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-SNEM-1 (01))
Program Officer
Griffin, James
Project Start
2002-02-19
Project End
2008-01-31
Budget Start
2005-02-01
Budget End
2008-01-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$139,412
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Texas Health Science Center Houston
Department
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
800771594
City
Houston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77225
Lima, Julie; Caughy, Margaret; Nettles, Saundra M et al. (2010) Effects of cumulative risk on behavioral and psychological well-being in first grade: moderation by neighborhood context. Soc Sci Med 71:1447-54
Caughy, Margaret O'Brien; Nettles, Saundra Murray; O'Campo, Patricia J (2008) The effect of residential neighborhood on child behavior problems in first grade. Am J Community Psychol 42:39-50
Caughy, Margaret O'Brien; Hayslett-McCall, Karen L; O'Campo, Patricia J (2007) No neighborhood is an island: incorporating distal neighborhood effects into multilevel studies of child developmental competence. Health Place 13:788-98
Caughy, Margaret O'Brien; Nettles, Saundra Murray; O'Campo, Patricia J et al. (2006) Neighborhood matters: racial socialization of African American children. Child Dev 77:1220-36