Relevant social and spatial contexts for elementary school children: An examination of multiple scales

Jamie L Humphrey

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.06.003

Relevant social and spatial contexts for elementary school children: An examination of multiple scales

Health Place. 2016 Jul:40:178-84. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.06.003. Epub 2016 Jun 23.

Author

Jamie L Humphrey¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, 4001 Discovery Drive, Boulder, CO 80303, United States; Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1440 15th Street, Boulder, CO 80302, United States. Electronic address: Jamie.Humphrey@Colorado.edu.

PMID: 27344102
DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.06.003

Abstract

This study examined direct area-level effects of 4 common child well-being outcomes across multiple scales of residential and school neighborhoods to identify relevant contexts for measuring neighborhood effects on elementary school children. Results from growth curve models indicate that neighborhoods operationalized as residential and school census tracts exerted similar effect sizes while neighborhoods operationalized as school attendance zones showed attenuated effects. These results suggest that it may be reasonable to interchange residential and school census tracts when examining contextual effects on child well-being. In addition, results suggest that school attendance zones represent conservative, theoretically sound neighborhoods for elementary school children.

Keywords: Longitudinal; MAUP; Neighborhood; School attendance zone; School neighborhood.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Child Welfare
Female
Humans
Male
Residence Characteristics*
Schools*
Social Environment*
Socioeconomic Factors