Neighborhood Processes, Self-Efficacy, and Adolescent Mental Health

Abstract

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.

Paternal autonomy restriction, neighborhood safety, and child anxiety trajectory in community youth

“…This finding is consistent with previous work identifying neighborhood safety and low socioeconomic status (SES) as risk factors for higher levels of psychopathology, including anxiety (Essex et al, 2006; Grant et al, 2003; Johnson et al, 1999; Simning, van Wijngaarden, & Conwell, 2012; Slopen, Fitzmaurice, Williams, & Gilman, 2012). These findings may be best explained by research finding that low self-efficacy indirectly links neighborhood safety and internalizing problems among youth (Dupéré, Leventhal, & Vitaro, 2012). Although excessive autonomy restriction by parents may facilitate decreased self-efficacy when faced with anxiety provoking situations, for children living in unsafe neighborhoods, the daily threat they experience and lack of control over their environment may be a more salient predictor of their anxiety than their parent’s behavior.…”

Gender Differences in Longitudinal Links between Neighborhood Fear, Parental Support, and Depression among African American Emerging Adults

“…Developmentally, young people are expected to craft occupational, educational, and relational aspirations for their lives and futures. In addition to the reality of constrained geographies of opportunity [31,32], fear of neighborhood violence may add to perceived stress and reduce future orientation among African Americans [33]. In unsafe neighborhoods, maintenance of survival may become a priority for the residents [34].…”

Examining gendered pathways in the causal chain linking neighborhood navigational strategies and unstructured socializing to adolescent violent offending

“…A number of additional studies have demonstrated that youths with higher levels of street efficacy are less likely to be aggressive (Kirk & Hardy, 2014), to be anxious/depressed (Dupéré, Leventhal, & Vitaro, 2012), to be victimized (Gibson, Fagan, & Antle, 2014), to engage in violent behavior (Sharkey, 2006), and to witness community violence (Sharkey & Sampson, 2010). In short, street efficacy has been well-received as a theoretical and empirical contribution to the neighborhood effects literature (see Browning & Jackson, 2013).…”