Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

An Alternative to Residential Neighborhoods: An Exploratory Study of How Activity Spaces and Perception of Neighborhood Social Processes Relate to Maladaptive Parenting

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Child & Youth Care Forum Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

The environments where parents spend time, such as at work, at their child’s school, or with friends and family, may exert a greater influence on their parenting behaviors than the residential neighborhoods where they live. These environments, termed activity spaces, provide individualized information about the where parents go, offering a more detailed understanding of the environmental risks and resources to which parents are exposed.

Objective

This study conducts a preliminary examination of how neighborhood context, social processes, and individual activity spaces are related to a variety of parenting practices.

Methods

Data were collected from 42 parents via door-to-door surveys in one neighborhood area. Survey participants provided information about punitive and non-punitive parenting practices, the locations where they conducted daily living activities, social supports, and neighborhood social processes. OLS regression procedures were used to examine covariates related to the size of parent activity spaces. Negative binomial models assessed how activity spaces were related to four punitive and five non-punitive parenting practices.

Results

With regards to size of parents’ activity spaces, male caregivers and those with a local (within neighborhood) primary support member had larger activity spaces. Size of a parent’s activity space is negatively related to use of punitive parenting, but generally not related to non-punitive parenting behaviors.

Conclusions

These findings suggest social workers should assess where parents spend their time and get socially isolated parents involved in activities that could result in less use of punitive parenting.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Brauer, F., & Castillo-Chávez, C. (2001). Mathematical models in population biology and epidemiology. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Browning, C. R., & Soller, B. (2014). Moving beyond neighborhood: Activity spaces and ecological networks as contexts for youth development. Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, 16(1), 165–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton, L. M., & Jarrett, R. L. (2000). In the mix, yet on the margins: The place of families in urban neighborhood and child development research. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1114–1135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, H. L., & Steinberg, L. (2006). Relations between neighborhood factors, parenting behaviors, peer deviance, and delinquency among serious juvenile offenders. Developmental Psychology, 42(2), 319–331.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., Mermelstein, R., Kamarack, T., & Hoberman, H. (1985). Measuring the functional components of social support. In I. G. Sarason & B. R. Sarason (Eds.), Social support: Theory, research, and application (pp. 73–94). Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Coiera, E. (2013). Social networks, social media, and social diseases. BMJ, 346, f3007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coohey, C. (2007). Social networks, informal child care, and inadequate supervision by mothers. Child Welfare, 68(6), 53–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coulton, C., Crampton, D., Irwin, M., Spilbury, J., & Korbin, J. (2007). How neighborhoods influence child maltreatment: A review of the literature and alternative pathways. Child Abuse and Neglect, 31, 1117–1142.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coulton, C., Korbin, J., & Su, M. (1999). Neighborhoods and child maltreatment: A multi-level study. Child Abuse and Neglect, 23(11), 1019–1040.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, T., Jilcott Pitts, S., McGuirt, J., Keyserling, T., & Ammerman, A. (2014). Conceptualizing and comparing neighborhood and activity space measures for food environment research. Health and Place, 30, 215–225.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cuellar, J., Jones, D. J., & Sterrett, E. (2015). Examining parenting in the neighborhood context: A review. Journal of Child and Family Studies,. doi:10.1007/s10826-013-9826-y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorsey, S., & Forehand, R. (2003). The relation of social capital to child psychosocial adjustment difficulties: The role of positive parenting and neighborhood dangerousness. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 25(1), 11–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Sayed, A. M., Scarborough, P., Seemann, L., & Galea, S. (2012). Social network analysis and agent-based modeling in social epidemiology. Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations, 9, 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emery, C., Nguyen, H., & Kim, J. (2014). Understanding child maltreatment in Hanoi: Intimate partner violence, low self-control, and social and child care support. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29, 1228–1257. doi:10.1177/0886260513506276.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freisthler, B., & Gruenewald, P. J. (2013). Where the individual meets the ecological: A study of parent drinking patterns, alcohol outlets and child physical abuse. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 27(6), 993–1000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freisthler, B., Holmes, M. R., & Price Wolf, J. (2014). The dark side of social support: Understanding the role of social support, drinking behaviors and alcohol outlets for child physical abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 38, 1106–1119. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.03.011.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freisthler, B., & Maguire-Jack, K. (2015). Understanding the interplay between neighborhood structural factors, social processes, and alcohol outlets on child physical abuse. Child Maltreatment (in press).

  • Gaudin, J. M., Wodarski, J. S., Arkinson, M. K., & Avery, L. S. (1990). Remedying child neglect: Effectiveness of social network interventions. Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 15(1), 97–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360–1380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guterman, N. B., Lee, S. J., Taylor, C. A., & Rathouz, P. (2009). Pa-rental perceptions of neighborhood processes, stress, personal control, and risk for physical child abuse and neglect. Child Abuse and Neglect, 33(12), 897–906.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, M. L. (1983). Affective and cognitive processes in moral internalization. In E. T. Higgins, D. N. Ruble, & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), Social cognition and social development: A sociocultural perspective (pp. 236–274). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inagami, S., Cohen, D. A., & Finch, B. K. (2007). Non-residential neighborhood exposures suppress neighborhood effects on self-rated health. Social Science and Medicine, 65, 1779–1791.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, M., & Pebley, A. R. (2014). Redefining neighborhoods using common destinations: Social characteristics of activity spaces and home Census tracts compared. Demography, 51, 727–752.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kamruzzaman, M., & Hine, J. (2012). Analysis of rural activity spaces and transport disadvantage using a multi-method approach. Transport Policy, 19, 105–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kermack, W. O., & McKendrick, A. G. (1927). A contribution to the mathematical theory of epidemics. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 115, 700–721. doi:10.1098/rspa.1927.0118.JSTOR94815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 309–337.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Limber, S. P., & Hashima, P. Y. (2002). The social context: What comes naturally in child protection. In G. B. Melton, R. A. Thompson, & M. A. Small (Eds.), Toward a child-centered, neighborhood-based child protection system: A report of the consortium on children, families, and the law (pp. 41–66). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, S. A. (2011). Spatial polygamy and the heterogeneity of place: Studying people and place via geocentric methods. In L. M. Burton, S. P. Kemp, M. Leung, S. A. Matthews, & D. T. Takeuchi (Eds.), Communities, neighborhoods, and health: Expanding the boundaries of place (Vol. 1, pp. 35–55). New York, NY: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Molnar, B. E., Buka, S. L., Brennan, R. T., Holton, J. K., & Earls, F. (2003). A multi-level study of neighborhoods and parent-to-child physical aggression: Results from the project on human development in Chicago neighborhoods. Child Maltreatment, 8, 84–97.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Noach, E. (2011). Are rural women mobility deprived? A case study from Scotland. Sociologia Ruralis, 51(11), 79–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oates, R. K., Davis, A. A., Ryan, M. G., & Stewart, L. F. (1979). Risk factors associated with child abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 3, 547–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, K., & Wang, W. (2013). Modern parenthood: Roles of moms and dads converge as they balance work and family. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J. D., & Earls, F. (1999). Beyond social capital: Spatial dynamics of collective efficacy for children. American Sociological Review, 64, 633–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sastry, N., Pebley, A. R., & Zonta, M. (2002). Neighborhood definitions and the spatial dimension of daily life in Los Angeles (CCPRWorking Paper 033-04). Los Angeles: California Center for Population Research, University of California–Los Angeles.

  • Straus, M. A. & Fauchier, A. (2011). Manual for the dimensions of discipline inventory (DDI). Durham, NH: Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire. http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/

  • Thompson, R. A. (2014). Social support and child protection: Lessons learned and learning. Child Abuse and Neglect,. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.06.011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Leeuwen, K. G., Fauchier, A., & Straus, M. A. (2012). Assessing dimensions of parental discipline. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 34(2), 216–231. doi:10.1007/s10862-012-9278-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whipple, E. E., & Richey, C. A. (1997). Crossing the line from physical discipline to child abuse: How much is too much? Child Abuse and Neglect, 21(5), 431–444. doi:10.1016/S0145-2134(97),00004-5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Widom, C. S. (1989). Does violence beget violence? A critical examination of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 106(1), 3. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.106.1.3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wolock, I., & Magura, S. (1996). Parental substance abuse as a predictor of child maltreatment re-reports. Child Abuse and Neglect, 20, 1183–1193.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This project was supported by Grant Number P60-AA-006282 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and a faculty fellowship from the John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism or the National Institutes of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Welfare, Luskin School of Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles, 3250 Public Affairs Building, Box 951656, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Bridget Freisthler, Crystal A. Thomas & Susanna R. Curry

  2. Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 180 Grand Avenue, Suite 1200, Oakland, CA, 94612-3749, USA

    Jennifer Price Wolf

Authors
  1. Bridget Freisthler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Crystal A. Thomas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Susanna R. Curry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jennifer Price Wolf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bridget Freisthler.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Ethical standard

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Freisthler, B., Thomas, C.A., Curry, S.R. et al. An Alternative to Residential Neighborhoods: An Exploratory Study of How Activity Spaces and Perception of Neighborhood Social Processes Relate to Maladaptive Parenting. Child Youth Care Forum 45, 259–277 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-015-9329-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-015-9329-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation