Abstract
Background
Children in kinship care may be placed in similar neighborhoods as their birth families, which are predominantly characterized as distressed neighborhoods with high poverty and crime rates, poor-quality housing conditions, and few social resources. Disordered neighborhoods are negatively correlated to social support, but this dynamic may vary by race or ethnicity. However, children’s previously established attachment and social bonding may offset the negative effects of distressed neighborhoods on child behavioral health.
Objectives
This study examined the relation between neighborhood disorder and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems among children in kinship care and tested caregivers’ social support as a potential mediator. Moreover, this study examined if race/ethnicity moderated the pathway from neighborhood disorder to social support, and from social support to children’s internalizing and externalizing problems.
Participants and Setting
This study used NSCAW II wave 3 data for a sample of children in kinship care.
Methods
Univariate, bivariate, and moderated mediation analyses were conducted using STATA 15.
Results
Neighborhood disorder was indirectly associated with children’s internalizing and externalizing problems through a mediator of social support. No racial/ethnic differences were identified.
Conclusions
Implications for improving social support for kinship caregivers to ameliorate the effects of neighborhood disorder on children’s behavioral health are discussed. Implementing effective neighborhood-level interventions could promote positive outcomes for children in kinship care.