The Effects of Neighborhood Social Capital and Spatial Interaction on Child Health: Multilevel Analysis

Background: Across the United States, substantial geographic disparities in child health highlight the critical influence of neighborhood contexts on child development. Such spatial inequalities underscore that residential environments determine children's access to health-related resources and opportunities.

A key mechanism linking neighborhoods to child health is community social capital, defined as shared norms, mutual trust, and social networks among residents. Previous research demonstrates that neighborhood social capital positively influences child health by facilitating critical information exchange, enhancing mutual support, and fostering collective efficacy (Coleman, 1990; Kawachi & Berkman, 2000; Kana‘laupuni et al., 2005; Bartolini et al., 2003).

However, social capital formation and its distribution are influenced by broader structural factors, notably racial residential segregation—the systematic spatial separation of racial groups. Segregation shapes the availability and effectiveness of social capital by constraining institutional resources and limiting cross-group interactions, weakening local networks, reducing trust, and exacerbating health disparities (Williams & Collins, 2001).

Traditional neighborhood studies typically conceptualize neighborhood boundaries as fixed, assuming residents primarily interact within their immediate residential areas. Recent scholarship challenges this assumption by emphasizing that individuals frequently engage in social interactions beyond residential neighborhoods—such as in schools, workplaces, and recreational areas (Sampson et al., 2002). This dynamic perspective suggests the need to account for broader social spaces in individuals who experience segregation when examining neighborhood effects.

Collectively, these insights call for a nuanced investigation into how community social capital, shaped structurally by segregation and experienced dynamically across multiple contexts, influences child health outcomes.

This study addresses three research questions: (1) Does neighborhood social capital affect child health? (2) Does state-level homophily in mobility (age) – preference to interact with other neighborhoods sharing similar age structures – influence child health? (3) Is there an interaction between neighborhood social capital and state-level homophily in mobility affecting child health?

Methods: This study analyzed data from the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), comprising 12,935 children aged 6–11. Neighborhood social capital was measured using five parent-reported items assessing local trust, support, and child safety. State-level homophily in mobility (age) was derived from census-block origin-destination data of mobile users. Child health was assessed through a parent-rated item on a 5-point scale. Multilevel modeling examined the effects of neighborhood social capital, state-level homophily in mobility, and their interaction on child health.

Results: The main research findings are as follows: 1) Higher neighborhood social capital was positively associated with child health. 2) Homophily in mobility (age) significantly impacted child health. 3) The interaction effect was found to be non-significant.

Conclusions: The findings confirm that neighborhood social capital significantly improves child health outcomes, reinforcing its importance as a health-promoting mechanism. Additionally, lower state-level homophily in mobility (age) was associated with better child health, highlighting the adverse health effects of segregation beyond residential boundaries. These results suggest the necessity for policies enhancing neighborhood social capital and addressing structural inequalities linked to mobility-based segregation and homophily in mobility.