Beyond the Visible: The Predictive Power of Parents’Perceptions of the Neighborhood’s Impact on Children’s Social-Emotional Development

Abstract

The neighborhood is a fundamental context for the socialization and development of preschool-aged children. The perceptions of parents with young children about the neighborhood, may serve as important predictive mechanisms through which the effects of the neighborhood’s socioeconomic environment on children’s social-emotional development are captured.

Within the framework of ecosystem theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), this study investigated the role of sociodemographic factors and parents’ perceived perceptions of their neighborhood on children’s social-emotional development in a sample of 736 parents with children aged 2-6 years.

The research tool, entitled “Survey of perceptions of parents with preschool children about the role of the neighborhood and its relationship to children’s social-emotional development”, was composed of the PKBS-2 (Merrell, 2002), NCQ (Barnes, 1997) and PNSP (Weir et al., 2006).

The analysis of the survey findings revealed that neighborhood participation and sense of belonging are positively related to children’s social skills, while perceived insecurity, local pathogenicity and personal experiences of conflict are associated with increased behavioral problems in children.

Overall, the findings highlight the importance of perceived parental perceptions of the neighborhood as predictors and mediators of social-emotional development in preschool children, highlighting critical implications for prevention policies and interventions at the local community level.