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Published on: September 19, 2019
The Role of Neighborhood and Parenting in the Development of Effortful Control During Early Childhood
Edna Y Romero1, John V Lavigne1, Daniel Dickson2
1Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, 225 E. Chicago Ave, Box 10, Chicago, IL 60611 USA.
Background:
Effortful control (EC) is a self-regulatory ability that is linked to many individual child outcomes and is influenced by ecological variables (e.g., family, parenting). The influence of neighborhood-level variables has not been thoroughly examined.
Objective:
The present study examined poorer neighborhood quality as a predictor of EC development, and the moderating role of parenting in relation to poor neighborhood quality and EC development.
Method:
Latent growth curve modeling analyses were used to assess changes in EC across time in a community sample (N = 796) of 4 year-olds. Subsequent analyses were run to determine the impact of neighborhood quality and the moderating role of parenting in relation to EC development.
Results:
Analyses indicated that children experienced steady and significant improvements in EC across ages 4, 5, and 6. Independent of socioeconomic status, poorer neighborhood quality significantly predicted age 4 EC level and the growth in EC from ages 4 to 6. Hostile parenting emerged as a significant moderator of the relationship between poorer neighborhood quality and age 4 EC level.
Conclusions:
This study underscores the importance of examining neighborhood context in relation to individual child outcomes.
Supplementary Information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10566-025-09868-2.
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