The Role of Social Cohesion, Neighborhood Disorder and Neighborhood Decline on Internalizing Symptom Development in Children Aged 6 to 18

Aims: Neighborhood characteristics have been implicated as potential risk and protective characteristics in the development of internalizing disorders. However, few studies have used longitudinal designs or included pre-adolescent children. This study evaluates the association between three neighborhood-level characteristics (social cohesion, neighborhood disorder, and neighborhood decline) and the development of internalizing symptoms in children.
Study Design: This is a secondary data analysis of data from an accelerated cohort study.
Place and Duration of Study: Data are from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods conducted between 1994 and 2001.
Methodology: Generalized linear mixed modeling was used to examine 5 age cohorts (age 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15), each measured at three - three year intervals (except the age 3 and 15 cohort, where there were only two follow-ups included), permitting an evaluation of the role of neighborhood and individual characteristics on the growth of internalizing symptoms between ages 6 and 18.
Results: Quadratic growth of internalizing symptoms was demonstrated from ages 6 through 18 (P = .006). Higher levels of social cohesion slowed the progression of the developmental increase of internalizing symptoms from childhood to middle adolescence. For each point increase in neighborhood social cohesion score, the growth in internalizing score was truncated by -.72 points (P = .02). Greater neighborhood disorder was associated with lower mean levels of internalizing symptoms at age 6 (P = .02), but this association was not significant after adjusting for social cohesion (P = .61). Perception of neighborhood decline was not associated with internalizing symptom baseline levels (P = 0.88) or change over time (slope: P = .39, quadratic: P = .48).
Conclusion: Neighborhood social cohesion demonstrated a protective effect against the development of internalizing symptoms, particularly evident at a young age. Although neighborhood disorder initially appeared to act as a risk factor for increased internalizing symptoms, the effect was attenuated after controlling for social cohesion. However, significant correlations between neighborhood characteristics indicate the need for further research and care in over generalizing results.