Citation

Bush NR, Lengua LJ, Colder CR. J. Appl. Dev. Psychol. 2010; 31(5): 351-361.

Affiliation

University of Washington, Seattle, Department of Psychology, Box 351525, Seattle WA 98195-1525, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.appdev.2010.06.004

PMID

20948973

PMCID

PMC2952635

Abstract

Although proposed by bioecological models, there has been minimal empirical examination of whether children's individual differences moderate neighborhood effects on development. We used an urban community sample (8-12 years, N = 316) to examine interactions among neighborhood characteristics (problems and social organization) and children's temperament (fear, irritability and impulsivity) in predicting psychosocial adjustment. The main effects of neighborhood and temperament on outcomes were consistent with previous research. Findings show that development is challenging in disadvantaged neighborhoods whatever one's temperament, however, some effects of neighborhood were conditioned by temperament, particularly children's fear and irritability. Neighborhood problems were more strongly related to lower social competence for fearful and for less irritable children. Neighborhood problems were more strongly related to higher internalizing problems for low-fear children. Neighborhood social organization was more strongly related to greater social competence for low-fear children. Findings are discussed in relation to "diathesis-stress" and "differential responsiveness" models of temperament.

Language: en