Abstract
Objectives
The aim of our study is to explore the relationships between neighborhood context, perceived social support, and parenting for low-income mothers with young infants.
Methods
Data were collected during the first three time points from the Kids in Columbus Study, a 5-year longitudinal study on low-income families. Mother–child dyads (n = 228) were recruited from five Women, Infants, and Children Centers located in a Midwestern Metropolitan area. Data for the present study represents mother–child dyads that had completed time point 1 (infant age birth to 3-months), time point 2 (infant age 4 to 7 months), and 3 (infant age 9- to 12-months old).
Results
Social support and neighborhood quality were associated with both maternal perceptions and observed parenting outcomes. Social support positively predicted maternal perceptions of self-efficacy whereas neighborhood quality was positively related to parent involvement.
Discussion
Overall, social support and neighborhood quality were related to aspects of parenting in the first year of children’s lives. There was no evidence that the association between social support and parenting varied as a function of neighborhood quality. This finding suggests the neighborhood qualities captured in our study do not influence mothers’ ability to access social support during infancy.
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Funding
The activities of the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy (CCEC) are supported in part by a generous gift of the Crane family to The Ohio State University. We would like to thank the research team, and our partner, Columbus Public Health, without whom this study would not have been possible.
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Rhoad-Drogalis, A., Dynia, J.M., Justice, L.M. et al. Neighborhood Influences on Perceived Social Support and Parenting Behaviors. Matern Child Health J 24, 250–258 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-019-02861-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-019-02861-x