No abstract

High school dropout is commonly seen as the result of a long-term process of failure and disengagement. As useful as it is, this view has obscured the heterogeneity of pathways leading to dropout. Research suggests, for instance, that some students leave school not as a result of protracted difficulties but in response to situations that emerge late in their schooling careers, such as health problems or severe peer victimization. Conversely, others with a history of early difficulties persevere when their circumstances improve during high school. Thus, an adequate understanding of why and when students drop out requires a consideration of both long-term vulnerabilities and proximal disruptive events and contingencies. The goal of this review is to integrate long-term and immediate determinants of dropout by proposing a stress process, life course model of dropout. This model is also helpful for understanding how the determinants of dropout vary across socioeconomic conditions and geographical and historical contexts. There have been repeated calls in the scientific literature to consider high school dropout not as an event but as a process (see Christenson & Thurlow, 2004;Rumberger, 2011). In this view, dropout is the endpoint of a long trajectory of disengagement starting as soon as, and even before, children enter school. This long-term approach has led to breakthroughs in our understanding of the roots of dropout. Longitudinal studies spanning the first two decades of life have illuminated the role that early family circumstances and school experiences play in putting some children on a high-risk trajectory for dropout (e. Beechum, 2014). Understanding the causes of dropout among students who do not follow a clearly identified pathway out of school is necessary to tailor interventions to their needs (Feinstein & Peck, 2008). Among these dropouts, precipitating factors (i.e., situations emerging for high school students not long before the decision to dropout is made) could play an important role (e.g., see Bowers & Sprott, 2012b; America's Promise Alliance, 2014).In addition, even among students already considered at risk when they enter high school, there is considerable heterogeneity in terms of timing and outcomes, with some leaving school later than others and others unexpectedly graduating (Bowers, Sprott, & Taff, 2013;Vitaro, Larocque, Janosz, & Tremblay, 2001). This heterogeneity could be determined in part by circumstances emerging late in students' schooling careers. In fact, improved circumstances in adolescence can close wide achievement gaps established during the elementary school years (Dobbie & Fryer, 2011). Conversely, peak vulnerability could arise when early failure intersects with challenging circumstances in high school, such as when students are under important stress or are offered new opportunities incompatible with schooling (e.g., a full-time job). Attention to such precipitating factors among students following a recognizable long-term problematic path could contribute to a ...

Several decades of research demonstrate a link between neighborhood residence and human development throughout the life course. This chapter goes beyond enumerating studies that have found such connections between neighborhoods and development; we focus on synthesizing findings from methodologically rigorous research to lay a foundation of what we know about how and why neighborhoods matter for children during the first two decades of life. We begin the chapter with an overview of the history and context of neighborhood research, with special attention to the intersections of research and policy. We next turn our attention to defining the neighborhood context for children. By addressing issues of theory and measurement in neighborhood research, we provide a framework for the third section on approaches to studying neighborhood influences on children's development. The fourth section presents a review of the current state of research in the field, integrating multiple aspects of the neighborhood context and synergies with related contexts and individual characteristics. The fifth section then considers the neighborhood as a unit of intervention. Finally, we offer a dynamic framework for the study of neighborhoods and child development before presenting our conclusions.

The goal of this study was to examine the mechanisms underlying associations between neighborhood socioeconomic advantage and children’s achievement trajectories between 54 months and 15 years old. Results of hierarchical linear growth models based on a diverse sample of 1,364 children indicate that neighborhood socioeconomic advantage was non-linearly associated with youths’ initial vocabulary and reading scores, such that the presence of educated, affluent professionals in the neighborhood had a favorable association with children’s achievement among those in less advantaged neighborhoods until it leveled off at moderate levels of advantage. A similar tendency was observed for math achievement. The quality of the home and child care environments as well as school advantage partially explained these associations. The findings suggest that multiple environments need to be considered simultaneously for understanding neighborhood-achievement links.

This study examined the relationship between objectively measured nocturnal hot flashes and objectively measured sleep in breast cancer survivors with insomnia. Twenty-four women who had completed treatment for non-metastatic breast cancer participated. All were enrolled in a study of cognitive-behavioral treatment for chronic insomnia. Nocturnal hot flashes and sleep were measured by skin conductance and polysomnography, respectively. The 10-minute periods around hot flashes were found to have significantly more wake time, and more stage changes to lighter sleep, than other 10-minute periods during the night. Nights with hot flashes had a significantly higher percentage of wake time, a lower percentage of Stage 2 sleep, and a longer REM latency compared to nights without hot flashes. Overall, hot flashes were found to be associated with less efficient, more disrupted sleep. Nocturnal hot flashes, or their underlying mechanisms, should be considered as potential contributors to sleep disruption in women with breast cancer who report poor sleep.

Potential explanations for the increased vulnerability of youth living in poor neighborhoods are discussed.

Children's neighborhood contexts are defined by rising socioeconomic inequality and segregation. This article reviews several decades of research on how neighborhood socioeconomic conditions are associated with children's development. The nonexperimental literature suggests that the most salient neighborhood socioeconomic condition depends on the outcome—disadvantage for social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes and advantage for achievement-related outcomes. Moreover, children's cumulative exposure to neighborhood socioeconomic conditions over the first two decades of life, and possibly especially in childhood, may matter most for later development. These findings are partially supported by the few experimental studies available, and across study designs, neighborhood effects are typically modest. In order to improve our understanding of this topic, we recommend methodologically rigorous designs—experimental and nonexperimental—and comparative approaches, particularly ones addressing the complexities of development in neighborhood contexts. To guide this research, we provide an integrated framework that captures a broad and dynamic perspective including macro forces, neighborhood social processes and resources, physical features, spatial dynamics, and individual differences.

Self-efficacy beliefs are central to mental health. Because adolescents' neighborhoods shape opportunities for experiences of control, predictability, and safety, we propose that neighborhood conditions are associated with adolescents' self-efficacy and, in turn, their internalizing problems (i.e., depression/anxiety symptoms). We tested these hypotheses using three waves of data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 2,345). Results indicate that adolescents living in violent neighborhoods tended to report lower self-efficacy beliefs, partly because they were more likely to experience fear in their neighborhood. However, moving out of Chicago neighborhoods marked by violence and low collective efficacy to neighborhoods outside of the city was associated with adolescents' increased self-efficacy (vs. staying in such neighborhoods), an association explained by adolescents' school-related experiences. Finally, through self-efficacy, these neighborhood processes had an indirect association with adolescents' internalizing problems. Results partially support a model linking neighborhood conditions, cognitions about the self, and emotions.