Adolescent place attachment, social capital, and perceived safety: a comparison of 13 countries

Predictors of waste management behaviours in coastal communities in Indonesia: The role of community attachment and environmental concern

The global challenge of marine plastic pollution requires systemic change in our relationship with plastic. The current linear plastic economy must transition to a sustainable circular model, but is hindered by behavioural change difficulties, particularly in coastal regions facing resource limitations and a lack of research attention. This study investigates waste management (WM) behaviours in Java and Bali, Indonesia, through a household survey (N = 506). By examining the roles of community attachment and environmental concern in WM behaviours, we contribute to the theoretical understanding of these concepts within a novel context. Our findings reveal that community attachment and environmental concern predict WM behaviours, yet lead to divergent outcomes. Furthermore, the provision of infrastructure is associated with changes in some, but not all, WM behaviours. These results underscore the importance of considering a variety of waste management behaviours and adopting a balanced approach that integrates both infrastructural and psychological interventions.

Factors influencing the guest-host knowledge transfer for pro-poor tourism in China's western ethnic-minority areas

The crucial transfer of knowledge through pro-poor tourism enables poor people to enhance their own endogenous-development dynamics. However, it is difficult to use existing knowledge transfer theories to explain the behavior of ethnic-minority villagers in western China, due to low levels of education and smallholder household-based tourism operations. The present study uses MOA theory to examine the influence of motivation, opportunity, ability, and trust on the guest-host transfer of knowledge in ethnic-minority villages in western China. Here, knowledge transfer opportunities are shown to be the main driver of the MOA framework, positively affecting the knowledge transfer effect. Knowledge transfer motivation and knowledge absorptive capacity have an indirect, positive impact on knowledge transfer opportunities. Although local people have a high level of trust in external knowledge sources, trust does not have significant moderating effect between knowledge transfer opportunities and effects. These findings can be used to strengthen the transfer of valuable knowledge to villagers and to cultivate rural tourism talents.

A moderated mediation model for explaining residents' environmental and cultural responsible behavior

Introduction

The sustainable development of tourism in ethnic minority regions critically hinges on local residents' adoption of environmentally and culturally responsible behaviors, yet the mechanisms and boundary conditions of the interplay among these core elements are unclear.

Methods

This empirical study integrates the theory of planned behavior (TPB), social capital theory (SCT), place attachment theory (PAT), and relative deprivation theory (RDT) to investigate factors influencing environmentally and culturally responsible behavior (RB) among residents in western Sichuan, China. Data were collected via an online survey of residents.

Results

Survey data reveal that environmental and cultural attitudes (ECA), government trust (GT), and place attachment (PA) directly promote RB, with perceived tourism impact (PTI) mediating these relationships. Additionally, relative deprivation (RD) moderates the influence of GT and PA on RB, as well as the mediating effect of PTI on the pathways from ECA and PA to RB.

Discussion

This study contributes to the existing literature on tourism sustainability and destination resident behavior by illustrating that improving local responsibility requires strengthening cultural attitudes in addition to environmental attitudes, building local trust in the government, and fostering place attachment. Furthermore, the effectiveness of these goals depends on mitigating communities' relative deprivation. These findings are significant for both theory and practice, and the conclusion contains policy insights and practical strategies for the sustainable development of ethnic minority area tourism communities.

A mixed methods comparison of adolescents' and researchers' observations of neighborhood characteristics in Latinx neighborhoods

We used a convergent mixed methods research design to compare and contrast researchers' neighborhood environmental assessments collected using systematic social observations with adolescents' neighborhood environmental assessments collected by semi-structured interviews with US Mexican adolescents. Using qualitative methods, we found that adolescents sometimes observed the same neighborhood environmental features as researchers. They also sometimes observed different environmental features altogether; in both cases they sometimes layered on additional meaning making. Using mixed methods, we found that there was a high degree of overlap between researchers and adolescents in terms of agreement on the presence of neighborhood environmental features, including physical disorder, physical decay, street safety, and sociocultural symbols. Adolescents expanded upon these neighborhood environmental features with references to positive and negative affect and neighborhood environmental resources. This work highlights the shared and unique aspects of researcher versus adolescent observations and how both data sources are critical to understanding Latinx neighborhood environments.

The global development of community psychology as reflected in the American Journal of Community Psychology

This commentary presents a virtual special issue on the global growth of community psychology (CP), particularly, but not exclusively, as reflected in the American Journal of Community Psychology (AJCP). CP exists in at least 50 countries all over the world, in many of those for over 25 years. Yet, aside from several early Israeli articles, AJCP rarely published work from or about countries outside the US and Canada until the early 2000s, when the number of international articles began to rise sharply. The focus of CP developed differently in different continents. CP in Australia and New Zealand initially followed North America's emphasis on improving social service systems, but has since focused more on environmental and indigenous cultural and decolonial issues that are as salient in those countries as in North America, but have drawn much more attention. CP came later to most of Asia, where it also tended to follow the North American path, but starting in Japan, India, and Hong Kong and now in China and elsewhere, it is establishing its own way. The other two global hotspots for CP for over 40 years have been Europe and Latin America. The level and focus of CP in Europe varies in each country, with some focused on applied developmental psychology and/or community services and others advancing critical and liberation psychology. CP in Latin America evolved from social psychology, but like CP in Sub-Saharan Africa, is also more explicitly political due to a history of political oppression, social activism, and the limitations of individualistic psychology to focus on social change, overcoming poverty, and interventions by (not just for) community members. Despite those differences, CP literature over the past 23 years suggests an increasingly common interest in social justice, multinational collaborations, and decoloniality. There is still a need for more truly (bidirectional) cross-cultural, comparative work for mutual learning, sharing of ideas, methods, and intervention practices, and for CP to develop in countries and communities throughout the globe where it could have the greatest impact.

Impact of rural settings on the interpersonal and personal processes associated with young people supporting a peer who experienced a traumatic event

INTRODUCTION

There is limited research into informal support processes amongst young people supporting a peer through a traumatic event and how this process occurs specifically within a rural setting.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this research was to understand how the contextual environment impacts on the personal and interpersonal processes of rural-based young people supporting a peer who experienced a traumatic event.

DESIGN

Qualitative interviews were conducted with 22 young people (aged 14-19), who resided in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. A substantive theory was developed using Charmaz's (1) Constructivist grounded theory methodology.

FINDINGS

Young people who shared responsibility for supporting their peer went back to life as normal and felt connected to their community, whereas young people who maintained sole responsibility, experienced mental health problems, disconnected from their community and felt like an outsider. The contextual environmental factors (i.e., service accessibility, limited transport, and internet blackspots) impacted both negatively and positively on young people's ability to provide support as well as influenced whether they felt safe share responsibility.

DISCUSSION

This theory implies that providing pathways to reconnecting with place and community, are essential in guiding young people back to their foundations of support.

CONCLUSION

Integrating these insights can create new service models in rural areas, whilst also creating opportunities to form healthy foundations of support.

Neighbourhood socio-economic disadvantage and loneliness: the contribution of green space quantity and quality

Disadvantaged areas experience higher levels of loneliness than advantaged areas, though studies rarely identify environmental determinants of neighbourhood inequity in loneliness. We studied the contribution of the quantity and quality of green space to neighbourhood inequity in loneliness in three buffer sizes (400 m, 800 m, 1600 m), using cross-sectional data from 3778 individuals aged 48-77 years old living in 200 neighbourhoods in Brisbane, Australia. Levels of loneliness were significantly higher in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, and these neighbourhoods had less green space and less access to quality green space. However, there was no evidence that neighbourhood disparities in green space contributed to the association between neighbourhood disadvantage and loneliness. Possible methodological and substantive reasons for this result are discussed.

Distance-Dependent Migration Intention of Villagers: Comparative Study of Peri-Urban and Remote Villages in Indonesia

Rural-to-urban migration disturbs essential factors of rural development, including labor forces, land ownership, and food production. To avoid late responses to emigration, scholars have begun investigating earlier stages of rural emigration. However, prior studies have focused on a single spatial entity only while also leaning toward trends in developed countries. Therefore, this study fills gaps by focusing on the differences in migration intention between villages in less developed settings. In observing the differences, this research takes peri-urban and remote villages as cases located at different distances from their nearest urban destination. This study treats migration intention as the dependent variable while using single-indicator place attachment and multi-indicator information sources as the independent variables. This work applies the Mann–Whitney U, ANOVA, and Brown–Forsythe tests on three hypotheses. This research also uses SEM-PLS to investigate the correlation model of the observed variables for each case. The results show that information sources negatively affect migration intentions in peri-urban settings. Remote rural areas also show similar results for the information sources variable; however, place attachment in remote settings significantly contributes to migration intention. These results show that place attachment and information sources contribute differently, depending on the distance to the urban area. We argue that access to public services and infrastructure contributes to the results. The findings suggest that an increased availability of information sources impedes the formation of migration intentions. Thus, this study suggests the necessity of improving rural infrastructure and public services to improve information literacy. It helps the government control rural emigration while fulfilling its obligation for rural development. It also offers better rural livelihoods during the development progress, providing economic incentives for villagers to stay in villages.

Well-Being as Human Development, Equality, Happiness and the Role of Freedom, Activism, Decentralization, Volunteerism and Voter Participation: A Global Country-Level Study

We propose and test a new model for predicting multiple quantitative measures of well-being globally at the country level based on the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), income inequality (Net Gini), and National Happiness Index (NHI; U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network world survey of life satisfaction). HDI consists of per-capita Gross National Income (economic well-being), average life expectancy (proxy for health well-being), and educational attainment (capabilities well-being). Using data on 105 countries representing 95% of the world's population, a history of grassroots activism (Global Non-violent Action Database), civil liberties and political rights (Freedom Score), political and fiscal decentralization, and voter participation (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) correlate with HDI and NHI. Citizen volunteering (Gallup Civic Engagement Index) predicts only NHI. In multivariate analyses, Freedom Score is the most robust predictor of all well-being measures, including income equality. Fiscal decentralization and voter turnout also predict HDI and NHI, controlling for other influences. Based on prior analyses in the Global Development of Applied Community Studies project, implications and recommendations are discussed for developing community human research and professional resources across 12 disciplines in countries where they are needed based on social justice, citizenship, well-being, inequality, human rights, and other development challenges. We recommend individual and community-level and qualitative analyses of the above predictors' relationships with these same conceptualizations of well-being, as well as consideration of other social, cultural and political variables and their effect on well-being.

Neighborhood structural characteristics, perceived neighborhood environment, and problem behaviors among at-risk adolescents

Neighborhood environment has been linked to behavioral outcomes in adolescence. The current study examined two potential mediators (i.e., perceived social capital, perceived neighborhood disorder) in the association between neighborhood structural characteristics (i.e., neighborhood disorganization) and problem behaviors (i.e., externalizing behavior, substance use) among at-risk adolescents with prenatal substance exposure. The study sample included 350 15-year-old adolescents recruited at birth. Adolescents' addresses were linked to census tract data. Neighborhood structural characteristics were not directly associated with adolescent problem behaviors in the presence of perceived social capital and neighborhood disorder. Greater neighborhood disorganization was associated with lower levels of perceived social capital, which was related to greater perceived neighborhood disorder, and then problem behaviors. The findings suggest that community practice needs to focus on subjective perceptions of neighborhoods when developing intervention programs on problem behaviors among at-risk adolescents.

Eroding Land and Erasing Place: A Qualitative Study of Place Attachment, Risk Perception, and Coastal Land Loss in Southern Louisiana

Southern Louisiana and its coastal bayous are sites of both frequent flooding and rapid coastal land loss, exacerbated by the increasing effects of climate change. Though much work has examined flood risk perceptions in coastal areas, few studies have considered the qualitative and contextual dimensions of perceptions of coastal land loss and its associated impacts, and how these perceptions relate to local culture, place, and intentions to mitigate personal exposure to risk. We conducted six focus groups in areas with distinct exposure to coastal land loss. Participants expressed strong attachment to community, culture, and place. Personal ties to land loss through family or social connections, experiences with fishing and water-based activities, and indirect impacts on Louisiana’s seafood industry and cuisine provided a lens for understanding the immediate impacts of coastal land loss. Participants felt that exposure to the risks of land loss was inevitable and that mitigation was beyond individual efforts, a feeling that manifested both as pessimism and as a resilient focus on collective action. Considering state history with political corruption, participants generally distrusted state-level mitigation initiatives. These findings shed light on the qualitative dimensions of coastal land loss perceptions in southern Louisiana and their relation to place attachment, mitigation intentions, and sources of risk information. While participants with personal ties to risk report feelings of exposure and inevitability, they are also embedded in communities with strong ties to place. This nuance only complicates the meanings that individuals associate with land loss and the actions that they are motivated to take; impacts of coastal land loss on the landscape and distinct place characteristics of southern Louisiana may lead to significant disruption to identity and well-being, but also provide a pathway for risk awareness and potential motivation of collective mitigation actions.

Where do People Interact in High-rise Apartment Buildings? Exploring the Influence of Personal and Neighborhood Characteristics

Early studies conclude that high-rise apartment buildings present challenges for people’s quality of life, resulting in social isolation, social annoyance and anonymity for residents. Nevertheless, empirical research into factors supporting social interaction in high-rise apartment buildings is still scarce. This study aims to investigate how often and where people in high-rise neighborhoods interact, and how this is affected by personal and neighborhoods characteristics. A mixture of both quantitative and qualitative methods was used including social interaction diaries and questionnaires among 274 residents, in-depth interviews with 45 residents and objective measurement of the physical environments in four high-rise apartment buildings for low in-income people in Hanoi, Vietnam. Results demonstrate that social interaction is influenced by a number of personal and neighborhood characteristics. Furthermore, most social interactions—also gathering and accompanying playing children—take place in the circulation areas of the apartment buildings. However, the use of these spaces for different purposes of interaction is found to have negative impact on people’s privacy, the feeling of safety and cleanliness of the shared spaces. The findings of this study provide information for planners and designers on how to design and improve high-rise apartment buildings that support social interaction.

'This is the place where I can be alone, no tension:' Photovoice evidence for adolescent perceptions of their microsystem and psychological adjustment

Adolescents experience myriad emotions which occur in relation to their immediate social space which may shape their perceptions of members within the microsystem. The photovoice method uniquely provides participants with the means to capture their life through the lens of a camera while also enabling them to express emotions and meanings they attach to their particular life situations. We explore the various emotions adolescents attach to the spaces they occupy and how they link them to socialization in the context of the microsystem. This study was conducted in rural and urban areas of Udupi taluk, southern India. A total of 21 participants, ranging from early to late adolescence participated and provided multiple forms of data with 112 photographs, 21 journals on their daily interactions and one-on-one interviews facilitated using the SHOWeD model. The analytical method involved compiling visual data from photographs, journal content and interview data pertaining to each participant as a single data file, developing codes using ATLAS.ti, version 8, and further developing sub-themes and themes as they emerged into narratives. Our study was able to elicit emotions and meanings that adolescents attached to social interactions with gendered nuances specific to the Indian cultural setting. Future applications of the photovoice methodology on research among adolescents have also been discussed.

How adolescents define their home neighborhoods conceptually and spatially

To advance person-centered methods of operationalizing youths' social environment, we explored adolescents' definitions of "home neighborhood" by integrating narrative data with geographic information systems. We gathered data using semi-structured interviews and sketch maps with 55 adolescents aged 11-19 (78% African-American) in urban neighborhoods. We analyzed transcripts for themes through an iterative coding process and geocoded neighborhood sketches and activity locations using ArcGIS software. Thematic analyses revealed that adolescents identify their home neighborhood based on relationships with residents, personal histories, and positive cognitive or affective responses to the area. Participants rarely drew polygons to represent neighborhoods, and their activities were often located outside of self-identified boundaries. Their views on the "home neighborhood" construct did not predict their strategies for defining spatial boundaries. Overall, the results suggest that adolescents hold idiosyncratic perspectives on their neighborhood spaces, shaped by their experiences and social identities, that have implications for place-based research and initiatives targeting youth.

Contextualizing negative sense of community and disconnection among urban youth of color: "Community…We ain't got that"

We explore the experiences of urban youth of color, as well as perceptions, of feeling disconnected and having an overall negative sense of community (SOC). Drawing on data from 11 focus groups, youth (N = 59) describe their communities and lived experiences. We document several themes put forward through the lens of SOC and community connection that highlight perceived lack of membership, needs fulfillment, influence, and overall emotional connection to their community. Unpacking youth's perceptions of their community, we suggest that-in the face of such realities-community-based organizations, such as those the youth find themselves in, aid in creating connectedness and help heal youth from the effects of social conditions experienced daily.

Social Cohesion, Neighborhood Collective Efficacy, and Adolescent Subjective Well-being in Urban and Rural Taiwan

This study investigates the association between neighborhood social cohesion, collective efficacy, and adolescent subjective well-being in a nationally representative sample of Taiwanese youth. The study represents a first to adapt and test a developmental ecological model within a Chinese cultural context. Data came from the Taiwan Youth Project, which assessed representative samples of seventh graders (n = 2,690) and ninth graders (n = 2,851) from both urban and rural counties. The analytic sample included 4,988 adolescents (M age = 14.4, SD = 1.14; 50% female) in Taiwan. A path analysis estimated the direct and indirect effects of social cohesion on adolescent well-being. The results suggest that neighbors can affect young people's well-being by reinforcing their perception of safety and enhancing their self-esteem. Comparisons between youth from urban and rural areas demonstrate a general similarity in the developmental processes, though the perception of safety is less of a concern in rural areas. Findings emphasize universal aspects of neighborhood collective efficacy and developmental-ecological models, as well as allude to culturally specific dimensions in a Chinese-based context.

Collective Efficacy as a Key Context in Neighborhood Support for Urban Youth

Neighborhood context, including the physical and social environment, has been implicated as important contributors to positive youth development. A transactional approach to neighborhood asserts that place and people are mutually constitutive; negative perceptions of place are intrinsically bound with negative portrayals of stigmatized groups, including youth. Adult perceptions of neighborhood youth may contribute to an increased sense of alienation and youth antisocial behavior. This study uses street-intercept interviews with adults (N = 408) to examine the relationship between neighborhood conditions and adult support for neighborhood youth. A path model was used to examine the direct and indirect relationship of neighborhood constructs (safety, aesthetic quality, and walkability) on adult support for neighborhood youth. Neighborhood aesthetic quality and the walking environment were directly associated with adult support for youth, whereas perceived safety was indirectly associated. Collective efficacy partially explained these relationships. Findings support theorized relationships between people and places; improvements to neighborhood physical environment may directly impact resident adults' perceptions of neighborhood young people.

Loneliness of Older Adults: Social Network and the Living Environment

The social participation and integration of older adults are important aspects of healthy aging. However, in general, older adults have smaller social networks than their younger counterparts due to changes in their life cycle stage, such as retirement or age-related losses, along with a declining health and increasing mobility limitations. Consequently, with increasing age, an increasing proportion of older people experience feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Previous studies that have analyzed the relationships between loneliness, social networks, and the living environment have often been based on bivariate relationships or included only a limited number of variables. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze multiple relationships in a more comprehensive framework. Data were collected using a survey among 182 adults aged 65 years and over in the Netherlands. A Bayesian belief network (BBN) modeling approach was used that derives all direct and indirect relationships between the variables. The results showed that feelings of loneliness are directly related to satisfaction with one's social network and neighborhood attachment and are indirectly related to perceived safety and satisfaction with local amenities and services. This knowledge is relevant to urban planners and policy makers who focus on creating livable and healthy social neighborhoods for the aging population.

Perception of neighborhood safety and screen time in adolescents from Curitiba, Brazil

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the association between perceptions of neighborhood safety (PNS) and screen time among adolescents and to assess the moderating effects of sex, age and socioeconomic status.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study with school survey was conducted in Curitiba, Brazil. First, six schools (three public and three private) were intentionally selected. Next, one class within each educational level (from the sixth year of elementary school to the third year of high school) was randomly selected. PNS was assessed using a NEWS-Y scale, and daily screen time was defined as the time spent watching TV/videos/DVDs, playing video games and using the Internet. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to test the association between PNS and screen time, adjusting for the confounding variables.

RESULTS

The sample included 776 adolescents (boys and girls), aged between 11 and 18 years old. Perceived crime was associated with time playing video games among older teenagers (p < 0.05). Pedestrian and traffic safety was inversely associated with time playing video games among adolescents with high socioeconomic status (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The association between PNS and screen time is complex among adolescents and varies according to sociodemographic variables and the screen time outcome (TV/videos/DVDs, video games and the Internet).

How does social support relieve depression among flood victims? The contribution of feelings of safety, self-disclosure, and negative cognition

BACKGROUND

Depression is one of the most common post-trauma symptoms that can be alleivated by social support. The purpose of this study was to examine the multiple mediating effects of social support on depression via feelings of safety, disclosure, and negative cognition.

METHOD

One hundred and eighty-seven flood victims in Wuhu City, an area affected most severely by a flood during July 2016, were selected to complete a self-report questionnaire package.

RESULTS

Social support has four indirect negative effects on depression, including a one-step indirect path to self-disclosure, 2 two-step paths from feelings of safety to self-disclosure, and from self-disclosure to negative cognition about self, and a three-step indirect path from feelings of life safety via self-disclosure to negative self-cognition.

LIMITATIONS

All variables were measured using self-report scales.

CONCLUSION

Social support may relieve depression in flood victims by inducing feelings of safety and self-disclosure, and by relieving negative cognition.

Relationship status and perceived support in the social regulation of neural responses to threat

Strong social ties correspond with better health and well being, but the neural mechanisms linking social contact to health remain speculative. This study extends work on the social regulation of brain activity by supportive handholding in 110 participants (51 female) of diverse racial and socioeconomic origins. In addition to main effects of social regulation by handholding, we assessed the moderating effects of both perceived social support and relationship status (married, cohabiting, dating or platonic friends). Results suggest that, under threat of shock, handholding by familiar relational partners attenuates both subjective distress and activity in a network associated with salience, vigilance and regulatory self-control. Moreover, greater perceived social support corresponded with less brain activity in an extended network associated with similar processes, but only during partner handholding. In contrast, we did not observe any regulatory effects of handholding by strangers, and relationship status did not moderate the regulatory effects of partner handholding. These findings suggest that contact with a familiar relational partner is likely to attenuate subjective distress and a variety of neural responses associated with the presence of threat. This effect is likely enhanced by an individual's expectation of the availability of support from their wider social network.

Redefining community based on place attachment in a connected world

The concept of community is often used in environmental policy to foster environmental stewardship and public participation, crucial prerequisites of effective management. However, prevailing conceptualizations of community based on residential location or resource use are limited with respect to their utility as surrogates for communities of shared environment-related interests, and because of the localist perspective they entail. Thus, addressing contemporary sustainability challenges, which tend to involve transnational social and environmental interactions, urgently requires additional approaches to conceptualizing community that are compatible with current globalization. We propose a framing for redefining community based on place attachment (i.e., the bonds people form with places) in the context of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, a World Heritage Area threatened by drivers requiring management and political action at scales beyond the local. Using data on place attachment from 5,403 respondents residing locally, nationally, and internationally, we identified four communities that each shared a type of attachment to the reef and that spanned conventional location and use communities. We suggest that as human-environment interactions change with increasing mobility (both corporeal and that mediated by communication and information technology), new types of people-place relations that transcend geographic and social boundaries and do not require ongoing direct experience to form are emerging. We propose that adopting a place attachment framing to community provides a means to capture the neglected nonmaterial bonds people form with the environment, and could be leveraged to foster transnational environmental stewardship, critical to advancing global sustainability in our increasingly connected world.

Social Capital and Fear of Crime in Adolescence: A Multilevel Study

Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the relationships between social capital (at the individual, the neighborhood, and the regional levels) and adolescents' fear of crime, while controlling for the main individual (sociodemographics, television viewing, and bullying victimization), neighborhood (neighborhood size and aggregated victimization), and regional (crime rate and level of urbanization) variables. Data were analyzed using a three-level model based on 22,639 15.7-year-old (SD = 0.67) students nested within 1081 neighborhoods and 19 Italian regions. The findings revealed that individual and contextual measures of social capital, modeled at the individual, neighborhood, and regional levels simultaneously, showed negative associations with adolescents' fear of crime. Males and participants with higher family affluence were less likely to feel fear of crime, whereas victimization, both at the individual and neighborhood levels, had a positive association with fear of crime. Strengths, limitations, and potential applications of the study are discussed.

"That was the Last Time I Saw my House": The Importance of Place Attachment among Children and Youth in Disaster Contexts

Place attachment is important for children and youth's disaster preparedness, experiences, recovery, and resilience, but most of the literature on place and disasters has focused on adults. Drawing on the community disaster risk reduction, recovery, and resilience literature as well as the literature on normative place attachment, children and youth's place-relevant disaster experiences are examined. Prior to a disaster, place attachments are postulated to enhance children and youth's disaster preparedness contributions and reinforce their pre-disaster resilience. During a disaster, damage of, and displacement from, places of importance can create significant emotional distress among children and youth. Following a disaster, pre-existing as well as new place ties can aid in their recovery and bolster their resilience moving forward. This framework enriches current theories of disaster recovery, resilience, and place attachment, and sets an agenda for future research.

Environmental, behavioral, and psychological predictors of transit ridership: Evidence from a community intervention

Understanding who takes advantage of new transit (public transportation) interventions is important for personal and environmental health. We examine transit ridership for residents living near a new light rail construction as part of "complete street," pedestrian-friendly improvements. Adult residents (n=536) completed surveys and wore accelerometer and GPS units that tracked ridership before and after new transit service started. Transit riders were more physically active. Those from environments rated as more walkable were likely to be continuing transit riders. Place attachment, but not perceived physical incivilities on the path to transit, was associated with those who continued to ride or became new riders of transit. This effect was mediated through pro-city attitudes, which emphasize how the new service makes residents eager to explore areas around transit. Thus, place attachment, along with physical and health conditions, may be important predictors and promoters of transit use.

Understanding resilience in armed conflict: social resources and mental health of children in Burundi

Little is known about the role of cognitive social capital among war-affected youth in low- and middle-income countries. We examined the longitudinal association between cognitive social capital and mental health (depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms), functioning, and received social support of children in Burundi. Data were obtained from face-to-face interviews with 176 children over three measurement occasions over the span of 4-months. Cognitive social capital measured the degree to which children believed their community was trustworthy and cohesive. Mental health measures included the Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS) (Birleson, 1981), the Child Posttraumatic Symptom Scale (Foa et al., 2001), and a locally constructed scale of functional impairment. Children reported received social support by listing whether they received different types of social support from self-selected key individuals. Cross-lagged path analytic modeling evaluated relationships between cognitive social capital, symptoms and received support separately over baseline (T1), 6-week follow-up (T2), and 4-month follow-up (T3). Each concept was treated and analyzed as a continuous score using manifest indicators. Significant associations between study variables were unidirectional. Cognitive social capital was associated with decreased depression between T1 and T2 (B = -.22, p < .001) and T2 and T3 (β = -.25, p < .001), and with functional impairment between T1 and T2 (β = -.15, p = .005) and T2 and T3 (β = -.14, p = .005); no association was found for PTSD symptoms at either time point. Cognitive social capital was associated with increased social support between T1 and T2 (β = .16, p = .002) and T2 and T3 (β = .16, p = .002). In this longitudinal study, cognitive social capital was related to a declining trajectory of children's mental health problems and increases in social support. Interventions that improve community relations in war-affected communities may alter the trajectories of resource loss and gain with conflict-affected children.

From sociocultural disintegration to community connectedness dimensions of local community concepts and their effects on psychological health of its residents

In a series of community mental health promotion studies in Lofoten, Norway, the concept of sociocultural integration is used to describe properties of a local community that are related to people's psychological health. Starting with Durkheim's description of a cohesive society, we compare different concepts that are related to sociocultural integration, for example, sense of community, social capital, and social cohesion. We then examine the relationship of various individual oriented social psychological concepts to sociocultural integration. These concepts often share theoretical and operational definitions. The concept of sociocultural integration in the Lofoten studies was proved to be very valuable in understanding how the properties of a community can affect people's mental health and their social psychological properties. It has also shown its value in the planning of mental health services and demonstrating its success in concrete community-based mental health promotion projects. Thus they could make important contributions to further studies and actions in local communities where the intersection between the individual, their social network, and their local community occurs.

How neighborhood structural and institutional features can shape neighborhood social connectedness: a multilevel study of adolescent perceptions

According to the norms and collective efficacy model, the levels of social connectedness within a local community are a function of neighborhood structural characteristics, such as socioeconomic status and ethnic composition. The current work aims to determine whether neighborhood structural and institutional features (neighborhood wealth, percentage of immigrants, population density, opportunities for activities and meeting places) have an impact on different components of neighborhood social connectedness (intergenerational closure, trust and reciprocity, neighborhood-based friendship and personal relationships with neighbors). The study involved a representative sample of 389 early and middle adolescents aged 11-15 years old, coming from 31 Italian neighborhoods. Using hierarchical linear modeling, our findings showed that high population density, ethnic diversity, and physical and social disorder might represent obstacles for the creation of social ties within the neighborhood. On the contrary, the presence of opportunities for activities and meeting places in the neighborhood was associated with higher levels of social connectedness among residents.

Childhood maternal support and social capital moderate the regulatory impact of social relationships in adulthood

For this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we assessed the impact of early social experiences on the social regulation of neural threat responding in a sample of 22 individuals that have been followed for over a decade. At 13 years old, a multidimensional measure of neighborhood quality was derived from parental reports. Three measures of neighborhood quality were used to estimate social capital-the level of trust, reciprocity, cooperation, and shared resources within a community. At 16 years old, an observational measure of maternal emotional support behavior was derived from a mother/child social interaction task. At 24 years old, participants were asked to visit our neuroimaging facility with an opposite-sex platonic friend. During their MRI visit, participants were subjected to the threat of electric shock while holding their friend's hand, the hand of an anonymous opposite-sex experimenter, or no hand at all. Higher adolescent maternal support corresponded with less threat-related activation during friend handholding, but not during the stranger or alone conditions, in the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus and left insula. Higher neighborhood social capital corresponded with less threat-related activation during friend hand-holding in the superior frontal gyrus, supplementary motor cortex, insula, putamen and thalamus; but low childhood capital corresponded with less threat-related activation during stranger handholding in the same regions. Exploratory analyses suggest that this latter result is due to the increased threat responsiveness during stranger handholding among low social capital individuals, even during safety cues. Overall, early maternal support behavior and high neighborhood quality may potentiate soothing by relational partners, and low neighborhood quality may decrease the overall regulatory impact of access to social resources in adulthood.

Does neighbourhood social capital aid in levelling the social gradient in the health and well-being of children and adolescents? A literature review

Background

Although most countries in the European Union are richer and healthier than ever, health inequalities remain an important public health challenge. Health-related problems and premature death have disproportionately been reported in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood social capital is believed to influence the association between neighbourhood deprivation and health in children and adolescents, making it a potentially interesting concept for policymakers.

Methods

This study aims to review the role of social capital in health inequalities and the social gradient in health and well-being of children and adolescents. A systematic review of published quantitative literature was conducted, focussing on (1) the mediating role of neighbourhood social capital in the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and health-related outcomes in children and adolescents and (2) the interaction between neighbourhood social capital and socio-economic characteristics in relation to health-related outcomes in children and adolescents. Three electronic databases were searched. Studies executed between 1 January 1990 and 1 September 2011 in Western countries (USA, New Zealand, Australia and Europe) that included a health-related outcome in children or adolescents and a variable that measured neighbourhood social capital were included.

Results

Eight studies met the inclusion criteria for the review. The findings are mixed. Only two of five studies confirmed that neighbourhood social capital mediates the association between neighbourhood deprivation and health and well-being in adolescents. Furthermore, two studies found a significant interaction between neighbourhood socio-economic factors and neighbourhood social capital, which indicates that neighbourhood social capital is especially beneficial for children who reside in deprived neighbourhoods. However, two other studies did not find a significant interaction between SES and neighbourhood social capital. Due to the broad range of studied health-related outcomes, the different operationalisations of neighbourhood social capital and the conceptual overlap between measures of SES and social capital in some studies, the factors that explain these differences in findings remain unclear.

Conclusions

Although the findings of this study should be interpreted with caution, the results suggest that neighbourhood social capital might play a role in the health gradient among children and adolescents. However, only two of the included studies were conducted in Europe. Furthermore, some studies focussed on specific populations and minority groups. To formulate relevant European policy recommendations, further European-focussed research on this issue is needed.

Perceived neighborhood social resources as determinants of prosocial behavior in early adolescence

The present study aims to develop an integrative model that links neighborhood behavioral opportunities and social resources (neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood friendship and neighborhood attachment) to prosocial (sharing, helping, empathic) behavior in early adolescence, taking into account the potential mediating role of perceived support of friends. Path analysis was used to test the proposed theoretical model in a sample of 1,145 Italian early adolescents (6th through 8th graders). More perceived opportunities and social resources in the neighborhood are related to higher levels of adolescent prosocial behavior, and this relationship is partially mediated by perceived social support from friends. The results offer promising implications for future research and intervention programs that aim to modify social systems to improve child and adolescent social competencies.

Social Capital and Feelings of Unsafety in Later Life

The aim of this study was to examine the relation between social capital, defined in terms of social ties, place attachment, and civic participation, and feelings of unsafety in later life. Survey data for 24,962 people aged 60 years and older from 85 municipalities across Belgium provided the empirical evidence for the analysis. The results of the multiple regression analysis reveal that a lack of opportunities for political participation is the most important factor in interpreting feelings of unsafety. In addition, several features of place attachment proved to be associated with feelings of unsafety, such as neighborhood satisfaction and neighborhood involvement. Finally, some recommendations to reduce feelings of unsafety among older people are discussed. The results point to the need to enhance opportunities to give older people a voice in the process of political decision making as an important action in reducing feelings of unsafety.

The influence of social involvement, neighborhood aesthetics, and community garden participation on fruit and vegetable consumption

OBJECTIVES

We considered the relationship between an urban adult population's fruit and vegetable consumption and several selected social and psychological processes, beneficial aesthetic experiences, and garden participation.

METHODS

We conducted a population-based survey representing 436 residents across 58 block groups in Denver, Colorado, from 2006 to 2007. We used multilevel statistical models to evaluate the survey data.

RESULTS

Neighborhood aesthetics, social involvement, and community garden participation were significantly associated with fruit and vegetable intake. Community gardeners consumed fruits and vegetables 5.7 times per day, compared with home gardeners (4.6 times per day) and nongardeners (3.9 times per day). Moreover, 56% of community gardeners met national recommendations to consume fruits and vegetables at least 5 times per day, compared with 37% of home gardeners and 25% of nongardeners.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study results shed light on neighborhood processes that affect food-related behaviors and provides insights about the potential of community gardens to affect these behaviors. The qualities intrinsic to community gardens make them a unique intervention that can narrow the divide between people and the places where food is grown and increase local opportunities to eat better.