Longitudinal Associations of Neighborhood Disorganization and Maternal Corporal Punishment with Behavior Problems in Early Childhood

Purpose  Young children’s perception of neighborhood and parental influences are strongly dependent on their stage of development. Little research, however, has jointly considered the association of neighborhood and parenting processes with early childhood outcomes, mainly because of the perception that children in early childhood are less affected by factors outside the family compared to school-age children who are more exposed to routine, immediate neighborhood influences. To address this gap in the literature, this study explores the associations of neighborhood disorganization (i.e., lack of collective efficacy) and maternal corporal punishment with the longitudinal patterns of early externalizing and internalizing problems based on a nationally representative longitudinal study.

Methods  The sample for this study is comprised of 3,705 mothers and their child in Wave 2 (age 1), Wave 3 (age 3), and Wave 4 (age 5) of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. The outcomes were externalizing and internalizing behaviors at ages 3 and 5 that were reported by mothers. Mothers also reported the main predictors, neighborhood collective efficacy at ages 3 and 5 and frequency of maternal spanking at ages 1, 3, and 5. Longitudinal multilevel models examined the associations of collective efficacy and maternal spanking with child behavior problems at mean age (age 3) as well as with the rate of change in behavior problems between the ages 3 to 5. Interactions between the main predictors and child age tested whether neighborhood and parent relationships with child behavior varied over time.  A comprehensive set of covariates were included in the analyses to control for other child, parent, and neighborhood factors that might influence these associations. 

Results  Results indicate that children living in neighborhoods with higher levels of collective efficacy had lower externalizing (𝛽 = –0.037, p < .001) and internalizing (𝛽 = –0.026, p < .001) behavior at mean age, net of covariates. Maternal corporal punishment at ages 3 and 5 was significantly associated with externalizing and internalizing behavior at mean age. For example, compared with children who were never spanked in the past month, the average externalizing behavior of children who were spanked frequently in the past month was 0.147 units higher (p < .001). Child age did not moderate the relationships between maternal spanking and problem behavior. The significant interaction between the collective efficacy and child age on internalizing problems indicates that the protective effects of collective efficacy on internalizing behavior lessened as children became older (𝛽 = 0.008, p < .05).

Conclusions and Implications  The findings underscore the meaningful role of neighborhood processes even at a developmental stage during which children’s direct exposure to neighborhoods is thought to be more restricted and supervised by their caregivers. This provides evidence that community-based programs should incorporate ways to promote positive neighborhood processes into their services for families with young children. Additionally, given the current findings that even occasional corporal punishment at any stage in early childhood leads to increased behavior problems, practitioners and parent intervention programs need to advocate for the use of alternative disciplinary strategies.