Abstract
Background
Chronic parental stress may negatively impact health among both parents and children.
Adverse neighborhood social conditions like crime may increase stress while a supportive
neighborhood may buffer stress and promote well-being. Our objective was to examine
associations between neighborhood social factors and stress among mothers of young
children.
Methods
We surveyed 300 mothers/female caregivers of Medicaid-enrolled 2 to 4-year-old children
in Philadelphia. Maternal stress was measured via the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale
(range 0–40). Mothers’ perceived neighborhood safety and collective efficacy were
assessed using validated scales. Addresses were geocoded to link census tract-level
violent crime rates. We used multivariable linear regression to examine associations
of neighborhood safety, collective efficacy, and crime with maternal stress, adjusted
for demographics, household socioeconomic status, and neighborhood poverty.
Results
Among mothers (mean age 31, 60% Black/African American), higher perceived neighborhood
safety and collective efficacy were associated with lower stress scores after adjustment
for covariates. Each 1-point increase (on a 5-point scale) in perceived neighborhood
safety was associated with a 2.30-point decrease in maternal stress (95% CI: −3.07,
−1.53). Similarly, each 1-point increase in perceived collective efficacy was associated
with a 3.08-point decrease in maternal stress (95% CI: −4.13, −2.02). Police-recorded
violent crime rates were not associated with maternal stress.
Conclusion
Mothers of young children who perceive their neighborhood social environment more
favorably report less stress compared to those who feel their neighborhood environment
is less safe and cohesive. Future work is warranted to investigate whether interventions
that increase perceived neighborhood safety and collective efficacy reduce stress.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia), PeRC (Pediatric Research Consortium), REC (Recruitment Enhancement Core), PSS-10 (Perceived Stress Scale 10 item version), SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: March 25, 2022
Accepted:
March 21,
2022
Received:
June 21,
2021
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofFootnotes
The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 by Academic Pediatric Association
