Family and child characteristics linking neighborhood context and child externalizing behavior

Abstract

Neighborhood conditions are related to children's externalizing behavior, although few processes that help explain this association have been identified. With data from 189 primarily low-income Anglo and Mexican American families, we tested a stress process model that included 3 potential mediators of this relationship. The results showed that child stressful life events, association with deviant peers, and parent-child conflict mediated the relationship between neighborhood context and child externalizing behavior when household income and maternal depression were controlled. The model explained more than 25% of the variance in externalizing behavior. Furthermore, differences in results for families with a U.S.-born versus Mexico-born mother showed that neighborhood influences on families and children may be quite complex.Child and adolescent conduct problems, including aggression and delinquency, are a serious mental health concern in the United States (Gacono, Nieberding, Owen, Rubel, & Bodholdt, 2001). In community samples, between 6% and 16% of boys and between 2% and 9% of girls under the age of 18 have been diagnosed as having clinical levels of externalizing behavior or conduct problems (American Psychiatric

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